Catherine G. OBrion has joined the Virginia Supreme Court Law Library as Librarian-Archivist.
Catherine grew up in Richmond, Virginia, in the Bon Air area. She attended the University of Virginia, where she earned both undergraduate and master's degrees in history and, in 1997, a Ph.D. in history. In 2002, she earned a graduate certificate in archives and records management from Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington. Catherine has worked as an archivist at Virginia Tech, the Presbyterian Historical Society in Montreat, North Carolina, and, most recently, the Library of Virginia.
She is married to Chris OBrion, who is also from Richmond. They have two daughters, Carrington, who just started her first year of college, and Grace, who is in the fifth grade. Catherine lives in western Henrico County. She enjoys trying new restaurants, going to plays, shows, and movies, reading history, hiking with her two dogs, and visiting historical sites and parks with her husband and daughters.
In addition to responsibility for identifying, appraising, documenting and directing the safekeeping of judicial branch archival records, both print and electronic, and other historically valuable items in the Supreme Court of Virginia Archives, Catherine will coordinate the Oral History Program and other projects of the Supreme Court of Virginia Historical Commission. She is already busy processing items in our archival collection including the personal papers of four justices, historical court records, manuscripts, photos, and other items, supervising the library's student interns from VCU's history department, and, last but not least, assisting judicial staff and researchers by identifying appropriate research materials, retrieving items, and assisting in their use.
VALL welcomes Catherine and looks forward to seeing her at upcoming meetings.
