ASSOCIATION FOR THE PRESERVATION OF VIRGINIA ANTIQUITIES
The Yorktown Branch – 1921-1986
(excerpt from “The First Sixty-Five Years”)
The Yorktown Branch of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (APVA) was organized February 18, 1921, during an evening meeting at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Conway H. Sheild. Their home, the oldest home in Yorktown continuously occupied by Yorktown residents, was built by Thomas Sessions prior to 1699. Mrs. Sheild had been designated by the Virginia APVA to organize the Branch. Nineteen persons attended the meeting, forming the charter membership of the Branch.
Members of the Board included native Yorktown folk, newcomers to the Yorktown area and officers assigned for duty at military installations in the Yorktown area. All shared a deep feeling of respect and enthusiastic commitment to preservation of Yorktown’s special place in the history of our nation.
OFFICERS
Directress: Mrs. Conway H. Sheild (1921-1946)
1st Assistant Director: LTDCDR Gerald Bradford. U.S. Navy
2nd Assistant Director: Capt. Peter Conachy, U.S. Marines
Secretary: Mrs. George Chenoweth (1921-1951)
Treasurer: Mrs. A. J. Renford
DIRECTORS
1921 – 1946 Catherine S. Sheild (Mrs. Conway H.)
1947 – 1952 Lucy H. O’Hara (Mrs. Leslie R.)
1952 – 1966 Catherine S. Ballentine (Mrs. John 1.)
1966 – 1970 Blanche Pitz (Mrs. Otto G.)
1970 – 1972 Charles A. Williamson
1972 – 1974 Isabel T. Hall (Mrs. Lewis H., Jr.)
1974 – 1976 Margaret C. Penzold (Mrs. August F.)
1976 – 1978 Ann I. Elksnin (Mrs. Henry)
1978 – 1980 Theresa B. Gammage (Mrs. Charles E.)
1980 – 1982 Doris H. Donely (Mrs. Philip)
1982 – 1984 Margaret C. Penzold (Mrs. August F.)
1984 – 1986 Frank Edwards
2001 – 2002 Frank Edwards
2003 – 2006 Nancy Lee Clark
2007 – 2008 Alec Gould
2009 – 2010 Bonnie Karwac
2011- Frank Edwards