Finding aid to the William Jay Nichols Scrapbook

JONES MEMORIAL LIBRARY
2311 MEMORIAL AVENUE
LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA 24501
(434) 846-0501
WILLIAM JAY NICHOLAS (1911-2001) SCRAPBOOK
The scrapbook (1940-1996) kept by William Jay Nicholas includes
correspondence and clippings of his career in Lynchburg as executive secretary of the
Lynchburg Retail Merchants Association.
WILLIAM JAY “NICK” NICHOLAS (1911-2001)
William Jay “Nick” Nicholas, son of James and Amelia Nicholas, was born
September 11, 1911, in Kingston, Pennsylvania. He attended Brown University and
graduated from the Ithaca Conservatory of Music. He also did graduate work at
Pennsylvania State College, Lynchburg College, and the College of William and Mary.
William J. Nicholas taught music in the Patton (Pa.) High School from 1937 until
1939. In 1939, he moved to Lynchburg where he continued his education and taught in
the Lynchburg school system. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Navy (19431945). He was director of music at E.C. Glass High School from 1945 until 1947 and
was president of the Band and Directors’ Association of Virginia during that time. In
1947, he was employed by Guggenheimer’s Department Store in Lynchburg as personnel
manager and sales promotion manager.
On October 12, 1939, William Jay Nicholas married Cornelia Key.
On May 1, 1954, Nicholas became the executive secretary of the Lynchburg
Retail Merchants Association and served in that position until his retirement in 1979. He
also served as president of the Credit Bureau of Virginia.
Mr. Nicholas was an accomplished musician and directed music at Centenary
United Methodist Church and Quaker Memorial Presbyterian Church. He died February
11, 2001 in Lynchburg, Virginia.

[William Jay Nicholas Scrapbook, MS1230, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Va.; Obituary, News and
Daily Advance (Lynchburg, Va.), 14 February 2001, Sect. C, p. 2 col. 4.]

MS1230