Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

None

Use Restrictions

Consult repository for information.

Preferred Citation

Anne Wilkins Collection, MSS 06-57, Virginia Room, Fairfax County Public Library

Acquisition Information

Gift of Dorrie Brooks, granddaughter of Anne Wilkins, in November 2007. Papers on Civil Defense and Fairfax County Water Bond Referendum donated by Anne Wilkins on an unknown date.

Processing Information

Chris Barbuschak, April 2015
EAD generated by Ross Landis, 2024

Historical and Biographical Information

Anne Johnston Anderson was born in Rock Hill, South Carolina on April 23, 1914 to John Wesley and Anne Luckey ‘Jenks’ Anderson. She attended Winthrop Training School and enrolled in Winthrop College where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and English. As a college student she organized the Roosevelt-Garner Club and the Young Democratic Club of York County and went on to be selected as the Young Democrats national committeewoman from South Carolina in 1933.

After graduating in 1934, she attended George Washington Law School. While studying there she met Donald Wilkins, an assistant dean and roll-keeper for one of her classes. They married on September 4, 1937. In 1938 she graduated with her L.L.B. while her husband received his Master’s degree in the same ceremony. That same year she also passed the District of Columbia Bar.

In 1939 the Wilkins family moved to Fairfax County living in a small house in Lee Boulevard Heights where Anne raised their two children, Gary and John. In 1943 the Wilkins’ bought and moved into the Munson Hill estate. The house, built in 1859, saw many encounters between Confederate and Union forces during the Civil War, including J.E.B Stuart’s occupation of the hill.

The public health situation of Fairfax County stimulated Wilkins’ involvement in local politics. Her children attended a local school and she felt that the health department did not give adequate attention to communicable disease control. Wilkins met with the local public health officer to raise her concerns and he inspired her to organize citizen support for public health facilities. As a result, she founded the Lay Health Association which sought to broaden the scope of the health department.

Wilkins went on to become very active in civic affairs. In 1941 she and her husband founded the Fairfax County Federation of Citizens Association. She also worked bringing about community change with the Community Chest, the League of Women Voters, the Good Government Committee and the PTA.

In 1947 the County Board proposed rezoning land near Seven Corners for the construction of Willston Apartments, a large unwanted apartment complex that would dramatically increase the community’s population. With plenty of support, Anne Wilkins led the opposition to the rezoning. Nevertheless, the County Board rezoned it, and her defeat inspired Wilkins to get more involved with politics to instigate change.

In 1950, Anne and Donald acted as leaders in the campaign to change the inefficient form of the county government. Under the old form, voters separately elected all heads of government, the county suffered a lack of budget control, and the government was unprepared for the rapid influx of population in the area. Through their involvement with the Federation of Citizens Association and League of Women Voters, they successfully won this campaign. On November 5, 1950 Fairfax County voters approved the county executive form of government to be implemented in 1952.

In 1951 with the help of the League of Women Voters, Wilkins set up a grassroots campaign to get her elected to the Board of Supervisors. She successfully acquired the Democratic nomination for supervisor in the Falls Church District over incumbent C.B. Runyon. She went on to win the general election over Republican Frank Clem, which made her the only woman board member in Virginia at that time. In 1955 she ran for reelection in the Mason District defeating Republican James L. Deaver, and again in 1959. In 1958, she served as the board’s first female chairman and again in 1960 and 1961. She lost her campaign for a fourth term in 1963 to Republican Stanford E. Parris.

Wilkins accomplished a tremendous amount of progress in her twelve years on the Board and is credited for single-handedly shaping the direction of Fairfax County’s growth and development. During her first year on the Board in 1952, Wilkins oversaw the implementation of the county executive form of government. During the change, elected officials transitioned into appointed offices.

As one of the first advocates for a countywide master plan, she immediately initiated the master plan studies which resulted in the county’s first long-range Master Plan for land use. The Master Plan formed the basis for all future development in the county. While on the board, she planned and built a county-wide sewer and water system, set up modern county police and fire departments, provided garbage collecting services, and created guidelines for storm drainage. She helped build modern schools, improved school standards, aided in the formation of George Mason University, and successfully led Fairfax County through integration despite substantial resistance. In addition to setting up a modern public health department and constructing new clinics, Wilkins helped establish Fairfax Hospital, the county’s first hospital. Wilkins also fought a losing battle for annexation of the City of Fairfax.

Wilkins served on the Planning Commission and involved herself in many land-use and zoning issues. She convinced the federal government of moving the proposed metropolitan area airport from Burke to Chantilly. The government had already purchased the land in Burke for the construction of the airport, despite major protest from the community. After consulting soil scientists, Wilkins discovered that Burke had insufficient soil and an abundant amount of granite that would be costly to remove for the construction of runway foundations. The Chantilly location had adequate soil which would prove to be more economical for construction. While the government later cited the traffic pattern for moving the airport to Chantilly, her argument convinced them enough to cease pursuing the Burke location and re-evaluate their plans. She later successfully lobbied for a sufficient right of way for the Dulles Toll Road.

While on the Board of Supervisors, Wilkins also acted as a charter member of the Washington Metropolitan Regional Conference, now known as the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. She served on several of its committees including Transportation in which she laid the groundwork for future development of the Metro. While on the Water Supply and Pollution Abatement Committee, she succeeded in cleaning up the Potomac River and adopted water quality standards. As Chairman of the Civil Defense and Public Safety Committee she sought standards for protection against the effects of nuclear weapons.

When she lost reelection in 1963, Wilkins drifted away from politics. She became a real estate broker with Edward R. Carr, Inc. handling Carr’s land and commercial sales in Springfield and Annandale. In 1972 she started her own real estate business, Anne Wilkins & Associates, and went on to make a major land sale that became the planned community of Lake Ridge in Prince William County.

After leaving politics, her family suffered multiple tragedies. In 1966, the Alexandria Federal Court convicted Donald Wilkins of income tax evasion. Accused of submitting fraudulent tax returns that cheated the government out of almost $23,000, Wilkins served a brief prison sentence. Anne had filed joint returns with her husband but the government did not charge her with misconduct. In 1977, Wilkins’ son, John, died suddenly of an aneurysm at age 33. Anne retired from her real estate business in 1993 and moved to Merry Point, Virginia. She died at her home of breast cancer on September 9, 1996.

Scope and Content

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1935-1972

Sub-Series 1-1: Personal Records, 1936-1995, Box 1
This series contains college transcripts; biographical information; records of affairs booklet; a birthday poem to Anne Wilkins; Anderson family reunion address book; and a handwritten excerpt from the book Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss. Subjects include Winthrop College and George Washington University Law School.

Sub-Series 1-2: Law Certificates, 1935-1972, Box 7
This series contains law certificates from members of the Wilkins’ family. Certificates issued to Anne Wilkins, Donald Wilkins, and John Wilkins.

Series 2: Presidential Activities, 1949-1979

Sub-Series 2-1: Presidential Memorabilia, 1949-1979, Box 1
This series contains memorabilia from Anne Wilkin’s encounters with the Executive Office of the President of the United States. Items included are invitations for the Presidential Inaugurations and Inaugural Balls of Harry S. Truman and John F. Kennedy. Also included are materials relating to the funding for construction of the John F. Kennedy Library; a book of Congressional eulogies on the death of President Kennedy; a White House Christmas Card from Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter; a letter written by Wilkins’ daughter, Gary Brooks, to Gerald Ford denouncing his pardoning of Richard Nixon; and an “Impeach Nixon” bumper sticker.

Sub-Series 2-2: 1964 Presidential Campaign, 1964, Box 1
In October 1964 Anne Wilkins wrote a “Letter to the Editor” to a couple of South Carolina newspapers calling for the South to support Lyndon Johnson in the 1964 Presidential campaign. This series contains related correspondence; news clippings; Johnson campaign pamphlets; and a paperback book, "A Texan Looks at Lyndon: A Study in Illegitimate Power" by J. Evetts Haley.

Series 3: Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, 1951-1993

Sub-Series 3-1: Supervisor Papers, 1955-1993, Box 1
This series contains materials relating to Wilkins’ involvement with the Board of Supervisors. Items included are programs; a newsletter; articles written by Wilkins concerning the Master Plan; Wilkins’ unpublished manuscript on Fairfax County Government’s history; and her notes regarding the 50th Anniversary of the Planning Commission. Subjects comprise of the Seven Corners Shopping Center; Willston Apartments; and American Legion Fairfax Post No. 177.

Sub-Series 3-2: Campaign Materials, 1951-1963, Boxes 1 and 7
Anne Wilkins ran for the Board of Supervisors on four occasions in 1951, 1955, 1959, and 1963. This series contains materials from some of those elections including campaign pamphlets; campaign posters; an election card; her 1963 campaign platform; an “I’m For Anne” bumper sticker’ and a scrapbook which chronicles her first campaign for the Board of Supervisors in 1951.

Sub-Series 3-3: Civil Defense Activities, 1955-1962, Boxes 1-2
In 1961 Anne Wilkins was appointed Chairman of the Civil Defense and Public Safety Committee of the Washington Metropolitan Regional Conference in which she sought standards for civil defense protection against nuclear attack in Fairfax County. Items in this series include papers; correspondence; brochures; pamphlets; bulletins; newspaper clippings; meeting minutes and agendas; and a map. Subjects include the Civil Defense and Public Safety Committee of the Washington Metropolitan Regional Conference; Fairfax County Medical Advisory Committee on Civil Defense; Department of Defense Office of Civil Defense; Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization; Federal Civil Defense Administration; civil defense planning; and fallout shelters.

Sub-Series 3-4: Water Bond Referendum and Sewers, 1954-1955, Boxes 3 and 7
This series contains materials relating to the November 8, 1955 $30,000,000 Water Bond Referendum that sought to develop an integrated Fairfax County water system. Items include news clippings; papers; correspondence; handwritten notes; reports; scrapbooks; and a map. Subjects include the planning of the Fairfax County integrated sewer system; plans for the attempt to provide adequate storm drainage; the purchase of the Alexandria Water Company; and the creation of the Fairfax County Water Authority.

Series 4: Correspondence, 1952-1998, Box 3

This series contains letters between Anne Wilkins; Donald Wilkins; Gary Brooks; and other members of her family. Subjects covered in the letters include private family correspondence; Wilkins’ work with the Board of Supervisors; death of family members’ and letters to editors of newspapers.

Series 5: News Clippings and Periodicals, 1951-1982, Boxes 3-4

This series consists of news clippings; newspapers; a newsletter; and a magazine saved by Anne Wilkins. She often pasted news clippings into personal scrapbooks. Clippings document issues she dealt with in the county, public appearances she made, her political campaigns, and other miscellaneous articles. News clippings are arranged by subject and periodicals are arranged by date.

Series 6: Photographs, 1950-1977

Sub-Series 6-1: General Photographs, 1950-1977, Boxes 5, 7, and 8
This series consists of photographs depicting Anne Wilkins at home; political events; public appearances; groundbreaking ceremonies; construction sites; her family; and other general photographs. Many photographs have unidentified individuals accompanied with Anne Wilkins. Some photos have been personally inscribed to her. Of particular note is the oversize cartoon ink drawing of the 1956-1960 Fairfax County Board of Supervisors by Evening Star cartoonist Gil Crockett which was presented to the Board at the annual banquet of the Fairfax Federation of Citizens’ Associations on February 16, 1956. Subjects in this series include the Seven Corners Shopping Center; Bailey’s Elementary School; Fairfax Hospital; Fairfax County Board of Supervisors; and Water Supply and Abatement Committee.

Sub-Series 6-2: 1956 Presidential and 10th Congressional District Campaign, 1956, Box 5
The photographs in this series depict scenes from the 1956 Presidential campaign of Democrat Adlai Stevenson and the 10th Congressional District of Virginia campaign of Democrat Warren Quenstedt. Most of the photos in this series are from a barbecue-rally launching Quenstedt’s campaign for the 10th Congressional District seat against Republican Joel T. Broyhill. Presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson and former Virginia governor John S. Battle joined over 7,000 people at the kickoff rally held at the Walnut Hill estate of George Faraco near Annandale, Virginia. Photos in this series also include the opening of Quenstedt’s campaign headquarters; other events from his campaign; an autographed photo of Adlai Stevenson and Charles Fenwick; and portraits of Adlai Stevenson and Vice Presidential candidate Estes Kefauver.

Sub-Series 6-3: Portraits, 1951-1974, Box 6
The photographs in these series are portraits of Anne Wilkins. Porter Studios of Falls Church took several of the photos. A portrait photo of Donald Wilkins is also included.

Related Material

An Interview with Mrs. Anne Wilkins of Bailey’s Crossroads, Virginia. Interviewed by W. Joseph Coleman on May 20, 1974

Separated Material

Removal of a damaged scrapbook covers and picture frames.

Index Terms

• Fairfax County Board of Supervisors
• Fairfax County Master Plan
• Quenstedt, Warren
• Stevenson, Adlai
• Wilkins, Anne
• Wilkins, Donald

Adjunct Descriptive Data