Lucy Gentilhomme

Lucy English Gentilhomme (Educ ’77) and her siblings, Ellen English, Lloyd English, Margaret McLewin and cousin, Otis Douglas, commissioned and donated to the University a portrait of their great-grandfather, former Board of Visitors Rector, Sen. C. Harding Walker (Col 1882). The portrait by Bradley Stevens hangs in the board wing of the Rotunda. 

Walker was a member of the BOV from 1917 to 1934 and served in the Virginia Senate for 22 years, during which time he was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1901-02 and president pro tempore.

In 1930, a resolution penned by Dr. Alderman on behalf of the BOV officially stated a “permanent acknowledgement of their obligation to Cyrus Harding Walker for his efficient services as rector, his unfailing courtesy, his sense of justice, his high-minded and unselfish devotion to the interest of the University and his far-seeing vision of the duty and dignity of his Alma Mater.” At the time of Walker’s death in 1934, the board noted that he was “deeply religious and profoundly a Christian” and “broadminded in his tolerance of others who differed from him.” “A man of well developed and firmly held convictions yet he agreed with Thomas Jefferson that the freedom of the mind of every man should be protected. He believed in a popular education that trained men to be trusted, and in a democracy that gave opportunity to all such men to be fairly heard. On his personal side, Walker cultivated and radiated a genial charm. He possessed a benevolent countenance and the light of kindliness shown in his eyes. His spirit was gentle; his heart was pure and he lived a life of good service and died with honor.”