Page 7 - Florida Sentinel 7-9-21

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Popular Retired Educator, Author, Entrepreneur Dies
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
A popular retired educator passed away on June 23, 2021 at his home in Maryland. Mr. William Bernard Robert- son was 88-years-old.
A native of Roanoke, Vir- ginia, Mr. Robertson en- rolled at HBCU Bluefield State College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Secondary Education in 1954. He also earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education two years later.
Mr. Robertson was work- ing on his memoir “Lifting Every Voice: My Journey from Segregated Roanoke to the Corridors of Power.” It was slated to be published in the spring of 2022.
Of his many accomplish- ments, Mr. Robertson was
the first African American to be nominated by a major political party in the City of Roanoke, Virginia; the first to serve on the administrative staff of a Vir- ginia Governor; the first to be selected as the Virginia Jaycees Outstanding Young Man in Vir- ginia; and one of the first two African Americans to graduate from Radford University, where he earned his Master’s degree.
He served as a teacher, prin- cipal and supervisor in the Roanoke City School System. In 1969, he was asked to run for the Virginia House of Delegates and lost by a narrow margin. However, the newly elected governor appointed Mr. Robertson as the first African American to serve on a Gover- nor’s Executive staff. He is re- sponsible for the hiring of the first Black State Troopers, the
MR. WILLIAM B. ROBERTSON
first ranking Black officials in the penal system, Black toll tak- ers, Black ABC inspectors, and opened other State positions to people of color.
After his service in Rich- mond, Mr. Robertson was
appointed to the President’s Committee on, then called, Mental Retardation by Presi- dent Richard Nixon. He was also appointed Peace Corps Di- rector in Kenya during the Ford Administration, and served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs under President Ronald Reagan.
Following his Federal serv- ice, Mr. Robertson worked as an international consultant, serving as liaison between lead- ers of foreign governments and U. S. government and business leaders.
The Library at Bluefield State College was renamed after him in 2019. He retired from this career in 1995. He founded this facility forty-five years ago. During this period, more than 45,000 people have been served. Mr. Robertson came out of retirement to head
a $3 million capital campaign to ensure the perpetuity of Camp Virginia Jaycee.
After retiring a second time, Mr. Robertson moved to Tampa and became a classroom teacher at Sligh Middle School. He retired in 2012 from Sligh Middle School.
While at Sligh, Mr. Robert- son met Ross Anderson, founder of Men of Vision, Inc. The meeting brought about a partnership that allowed sev- eral members of Men of Vision, Inc., to visit Camp Virginia Jaycees.
Beginning in July 2008, Mr. Robertson sponsored 38 of his students and 12 teachers from Sligh and Van Buren Mid- dle Schools’ Men of Vision Pro- gram and Girls Empowered by Mentoring Programs to Camp Virginia Jaycee. The camp closed in 2017.
FRIDAY, JULY 9, 2021 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY PAGE 7-A