Elizabeth Williams (1945-2004) was a lawyer, judge, farmer, and historic preservationist in the rural Shenandoah Valley of Virginia who made a local and regional difference. She started her career as an investigative journalist, went to law school, was one of the first two women admitted to the bar in Clarke County where she was born and died, and became the first female judge on the 26th Circuit Court of Virginia. She was the last immediate descendant of her family who had owned the 18th century 360-acre Clermont Farm for 185 years. Wanting to preserve not only the historic buildings but also the entire continuing agricultural landscape in the face of increasing development, she gave the farm to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources and she created The Clermont Foundation to use the landscape in providing education programs in agriculture, history, and historic preservation, today serving students, working farmers, and the citizens of her community and the Commonwealth.