Elbert Lee Trinkle

Governor Trinkle

Elbert Lee Trinkle (March 12, 1876 – November 25, 1939) was an American politician who served as the 49th Governor of Virginia from 1922 to 1926. While at the University of Virginia, he served as manager of the Virginia Glee Club during the Glee Club 1897-1898 season.

On March 12, 1876, Trinkle was born in Wytheville, Wythe County, Virginia, as the youngest son of the prominent Trinkle family. After graduating from Hampden-Sydney College, he studied law at the University of Virginia and later opened a Wytheville law practice. Trinkle served as the chairman and an elector of the Democratic Party in 1916. He served two terms in the Virginia Senate before his election as governor. Trinkle also acted as a delegate for Virginia to the Democratic National Convention in 1924 and 1928. On November 25, 1939, he died in Richmond and was interred in East End Cemetery in Wytheville. Trinkle Hall (formally known as Trinkle Library) on the campus of the University of Mary Washington and Trinkle Hall on the campus of the College of William and Mary are both named in his honor, as he helped secure funding to construct the buildings. Trinkle Hall on the Radford University campus is also named for him.