Viola Osborne Baskerville

Viola Osborne Baskerville, class of 1973, recalled that there were only "about 12 undergraduate African-American students and three or four graduate students on campus" when she came to the College of William and Mary in 1969. She was one of six African-American students to enter the College for the fall term. [1]

Baskerville was a member of the House of Delegates representing the 71st House District in Richmond, Virginia from 1997-2005 and a member of the Richmond City Council, 1992-1997. In addition to her BA from the College of William and Mary, she also earned a JD from the University of Iowa and was a Fulbright scholar in Germany.[2] [3] In 2005, Baskerville stepped down from her Delegate position to run for the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor, but was unsuccessful in her bid. In December 2005, Baskerville was picked by incoming Virginia Governor, Tim Kaine to be Secretary of Administration.[4]

Her personal papers are at the Library of Virginia.

References

• "All of Us: The African-American Experience on Campus," Clenise Platt, class of 1994, William and Mary Alumni Magazine, Winter 2003/2004, Vol. 69, No. 2.

Need help?

To search for further material, visit the Special Collections Research Center's Search Tool List for an overview of the Special Collections Database, W&M Digital Archive, Flat Hat-William & Mary News-Alumni Gazette index, card catalogs, and other tools available to help you find material of interest in William & Mary Libraries Special Collections Research Center.

Questions? Contact the Special Collections Research Center at spcoll@wm.edu or 757-221-3090, or visit the Special Collections Research Center in the Earl Gregg Swem Library at William & Mary.

A Note About The Contents Of This Wiki

The information available in this wiki is the best available from known documents and sources at the time it was written. Unfortunately, many of the early original records of William & Mary were destroyed by fires, military occupation, and the normal effects of time. Information in this wiki is not complete as new information continues to be uncovered in Swem Library's Special Collections Research Center and elsewhere. Researchers are strongly encouraged to use the Special Collections search tools for their research as the information contained in this wiki is by no means comprehensive.