Charles Edward Wilkerson

Charles Edward Wilkerson of Essex County, Virginia (4/1/1921-2/20/2014 (buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery)) was the youngest of six children. He completed the Virginia Tech’s five-year architecture program in four years, graduating valedictorian in 1943 after securing scholarships. He enlisted in the Army and soon was taking on his first structural projects: fortifying beachheads in the South Pacific with the Corps of Engineers.  His final professional project, as a managing partner of Wright, Jones & Wilkerson Architects in Richmond, was the design of the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington in 1991.  In 1955, he became a partner in the firm of Walford & Wright, Architects at the same time Hubert Lefebvre Jones was made a partner. When he became managing partner on January 1, 1962, the name of the business, then at 22 E. Cary St., changed to Wright, Jones & Wilkerson.  The firm designed numerous prominent buildings on state campuses, including Vaughan Chapel at Ferrum College, Andrews Hall and the Swem Library at the College of William and Mary, and Russell and Goolrich halls at the University of Mary Washington, as well as more on the campuses of Virginia State University, James Madison University and the former Southern Seminary College.  One of his longer-term projects was a renovation of Coburn Hall at Virginia Union University after the Gothic building was gutted by a 2 a.m. fire in May 1970. On the job a week after the fire, he persisted for 21 years to finish the project while the school and Baptist churches raised the $1.5 million renovation cost.  For his work on the horse center, Mr. Wilkerson traveled across the country studying other equine attractions to inform his design. When it opened, the center contained 3 acres under its roof with room for 3,800 spectators. The internationally renowned attraction also spurred a local cultural comeback when the Rockbridge Regional Fair opened there after a 50-year hiatus.  The American Institute of Architects honored him with the William C. Nolan Award for his financial contributions and educational efforts in 1982 and named him to its College of Fellows.  Mr. Wilkerson sold the business in 1991 to Robert A. Boynton, John M. Rowland III and James G. Rothschild.