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Former Virginia state Senator William B. Hopkins Sr. died on 11 December 2012 at the age of 90.  During World War II, Hopkins joined the Marines and saw combat in the Pacific theater of the war.  Hopkins, a Democrat, represented the Roanoke area as a state senator from 1960 to 1980 and was Senate majority leader from 1972 to 1976.

Hopkins’ service to country and commonwealth is well documented in the collections of the Library of Virginia.  A copy of his World War II separation notice is in the records of the Virginia World War II History Commission.  Numerous collections related to the Virginia General Assembly document his legislative activities.  Senator Hopkins is best known for chairing the Commission on State Governmental Management from 1973 to 1978.  The Commission, also known as the Hopkins Commission, made recommendations to reorganize and modernize state government.  “That’s what he was most proud of,” his son William Hopkins Jr. told The Roanoke Times, “the work of the Hopkins Commission and how it improved state government.”

W.B. Hopkins, enlargement from The Senate of Virginia, 1976.

The records of the Hopkins Commission, both published reports and 30 cubic feet of manuscript material (accession 29887), are part of the Library’s collection.  Hopkins may no longer be with us, but his legacy lives on at the Library of Virginia.

-Roger Christman, Senior State Records Archivist

Roger Christman

Senior State Records Archivist

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