The Bridgetown gravesite of former Northampton Superintendent George J. Oliver and his wife, Machipongo native Clara Bell.
One hundred years ago this summer, Dr. George J. Oliver began work as the newly hired principal of Capeville High School.
It must have seemed like a remote outpost for someone with an Ivy League education.
He spent 17 years in Northampton County, his career on an upward trajectory.
Before it ended, Olliver would be the first president of the school that became Virginia Commonwealth University, where today an academic building stands in his honor.
It’s probably a piece of obscure Eastern Shore trivia that the namesake of Oliver Hall, the massive building that houses VCU’s School of Education, has a humble burial plot at Hungars Episcopal Church in Bridgetown, near Machipongo.
Oliver spent seven years as principal of Capeville High, from 1920-27, and then he was named superintendent of Northampton County Public Schools, a position he held for a decade.
A native of Clarke County, Oliver came to the Eastern Shore particularly well-credentialed. He held an undergraduate degree from William and Mary, and his master’s and doctoral from Columbia University in New York City.
Oliver married the former Clara Ellen Bell of Machipongo while living in Northampton County. They had a son who became a surgeon.
Oliver then was superintendent of Henrico County Schools and later served as the supervisor of high schools and director of instruction for the State Department of Education.
He then held several positions at William and Mary, including dean of the school of education, before becoming the first president of Richmond Professional Institute, now called VCU. He retired in 1967 and died in 1973.
His widow died in 1997. Her body was interred next to his at Hungars Episcopal. While his name adorns a building at VCU, a gravestone is the only place in the county to display the name of one of its more prominent educators.
