Suffolk man joins Virginia Historical Society board

Published 9:05 pm Saturday, March 23, 2013

Five new trustees have been named to serve the Virginia Historical Society through 2018. From left are Suffolk’s William C. Wooldridge and fellow new trustees Charles L. Cabell, George C. Freeman III, William H. Fralin Jr. and Cordel L. Faulk.

Five new trustees have been named to serve the Virginia Historical Society through 2018. From left are Suffolk’s William C. Wooldridge and fellow new trustees Charles L. Cabell, George C. Freeman III, William H. Fralin Jr. and Cordel L. Faulk.

A Suffolk man is among five new trustees who will serve the Virginia Historical Society through 2018.

Williams C. Wooldridge has been named to the Board of Trustees for the organization, along with Charles L. Cabell, Cordel L. Faulk, William H. Fralin Jr. and George C. Freeman III.

A private nonprofit organization, the VHS is a history museum and research library committed to connecting people to America’s past through the story of Virginia.

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The VHS board includes 21 trustees, six honorary vice chairmen, and one regional vice chairman.

“The Virginia Historical Society takes its statewide mission seriously and strives to maintain a board reflecting the geographic diversity of the state,” said J. Stewart Bryan III, VHS honorary vice chairman and chairman of the nominating committee.

“These five new trustees bring with them a wealth of knowledge and experience that will be beneficial in successfully guiding the VHS.”

Wooldridge, who lives in Suffolk, is a retired vice president of Norfolk Southern Corp. He is a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Virginia School of Law.

Wooldridge served as an officer in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps, including two years as an assistant to the General Counsel, Secretary of the Army. He joined Norfolk and Western (which became Norfolk Southern) in 1973 and became Vice President-Law in 1996.

Wooldridge, an accomplished writer and historian, authored Uncle Sam the Monopoly Man in 1970 and Mapping Virginia: From the Age of Exploration to the Civil War in 2012. He has served as president of the John Marshall Foundation, president of the Norfolk Historical Society, and on the boards of public radio station WHRO and of the Library of Virginia Foundation.

The VHS, located at 428 North Boulevard in Richmond’s Museum District, is the only museum with all of Virginia’s history under one roof — all centuries, all regions, and all topics are covered.

Although designated the Official State Historical Society, the VHS is a privately funded non-profit organization that relies on contributions from individuals, corporations, and foundations to sustain its operations.

For more information, visit www.vahistorical.org or find the VHS on Facebook and Twitter.