Yule Log Celebration

About Virgie Williams

Virgie Williams (née Webb) owned and operated The Triangle Restaurant, also known as the Paradise Cafe, in Williamsburg’s Triangle District. Once a cultural hub and business center for the Williamsburg Black community, the Triangle District was redeveloped by the City of Williamsburg during a 1970s urban renewal project. Williams was a graduate of the Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute (now Virginia State University), a historically Black college located in Petersburg, VA. These handwritten recipes were recorded in Williams’s 1926 home economics and cooking notebooks. An entrepreneur, teacher, and devote parishioner at the First Baptist Church, Williams was an invaluable member of the Williamsburg community. 

Virgie Williams’s daughter, QuoVadis Wright, kept historical records of Williamsburg’s Black community. Wishing to make her records accessible, Wright donated her collected histories and family papers to Swem Special Collections Research Center. The Lemon Project and Dr. Jody Allen facilitated Swem Special Collections’ 2016 acquisition of Wright’s papers. In addition to her mother’s recipes, the QuoVadis Wright Family Papers include photographs, sketches, and handwritten reflections. In a 2016 Virginia Gazette article, “Recalling how the past paved way for present,” Wright detailed her experiences as a Williamsburg resident. Read her account of life during segregation and notes of changes she saw within the Williamsburg community.

As an independent project, senior students in William & Mary’s undergraduate American Studies Program researched the history of the Triangle District. View their compiled research and learn more about local Black history, the Triangle Block, Williams and other Black entrepreneurs.

Cocoa

Ingredients:
¼ C. cocoa
3 C. milk
1 C. water
¼ to ½ C. sugar
¼ tsp. salt

Instructions:
Mix cocoa and water and boil for 10 min. Add the milk and sugar to the mixture, and cook over hot water for ½ hour. Add salt, beat well and serve. Vanilla may be added if desired.

View Virgie's original handwritten recipe (jpg)

Dutch Apple Cake

Ingredients:
2 C. flour
½ tsp. salt
3 tsp. baking powder
½ C. butter
¼ tsp. cinnamon
1 egg
⅔ C. milk
2 sour apples
2 tsp. sugar

Instructions:
Mix and sift dry materials except sugar and cinnamon, cut or rub in butter, add the milk and beaten egg. Spread ½ inch thick on a shallow pan, pare and cut the apples in sections lengthwise and set in rows on the dough with edges pressed lightly into the dough. Sprinkle the top with sugar and cinnamon. Bake in a hot oven (450°F) 25 or 30 minutes. Serve hot with lemon or hard sauce.

View Virgie's original handwritten recipe (jpg)

Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:
1 C. sugar
2 eggs
½ C. milk
1 C. raisins (and nuts)  
1 tsp. vanilla
½ C. melted butter
1 even tsp. soda
2 C. flour
3 squares chocolate

Instructions:
Mix the melted butter with sugar. Add the beaten yolk and melted chocolate to this. Add soda to milk and then add milk to ½ the flour to the sugar and eggs. Mix well. Add the raisins with the remainder of the flour. Add beaten whites and vanilla and beat well. Drop from the spoon to bake on buttered baking sheets. (May be frosted with fudge frosting.)

View Virgie's original handwritten recipe (jpg)

Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:
2 C. flour
4 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
2-4 tblsp. shortening
⅔-¾ cup liquid (half milk + half water)

Instructions:
Mix and sift dry ingredients, cut in the shortening, lightly work in the milk and water mixture, and treat as follows. Roll to ¼ inch thickness; spread with melted butter and then a layer of cinnamon and sugar mixture (raisins may be added if desired). Roll the dough (as a jelly roll) and cut off ½ inch slices. Place these, cut surface down on baking pan or in muffin rings. Sprinkle some of the cinnamon and sugar mixture on the top of each roll; allow to stand 11 minutes and bake in a hot oven (450°F) 12 minutes. Note: instead of cinnamon and sugar mixture one may use butter and brown sugar, butter and jelly or preserves, or maple sugar and nut mixture.

View Virgie's original handwritten recipe (jpg)

Enjoy the Sights & Sounds of the Great Hall Fireplace

The burning of the Yule log within the fireplace of the Great Hall of the Wren Building is a highlight of this annual ceremony. Now you can watch a video of the lit fireplace anytime, or cast it on a screen to set the mood for your own Yule Log watch party.

Love holiday music? Bring the joy of W&M a cappella into your celebration and watch a special version featuring performances by the Botetourt Chamber Singers, Accidentals and The Gentlemen of the College.

Share Festive Stickers & GIFs

• Explore the W&M GIPHY channel for all the festive GIFs and stickers available for #wmYuleLog.
• Add W&M-themed stickers to your Stories — search your favorite apps for #wmYuleLog or #williamandmary stickers.
• Download the W&M Mobile app to get the full W&M sticker pack for iOS in your Messages and FaceTime apps.

Consider a Gift to Williamsburg House of Mercy

Williamsburg House of Mercy is a non-profit organization that seeks to support individuals experiencing homelessness, and seeks to provide emergency assistance and supportive services to those who struggle to maintain housing. The Williamsburg House of Mercy provides a safe and welcoming environment for and helps them work toward regaining stability.

Gifts are welcome online or via Venmo. To give with Venmo, scan or tap the QR code using your phone, or search the Venmo website and mobile app for @WilliamsburgHouseOfMercy.

Make a Gift Online

Find Alumni Celebrations Near You

Join William & Mary alumni, parents, family and friends around the world as we share in this beloved holiday tradition!

Every December, the William & Mary community celebrates new beginnings with Yule Log ceremonies. This holiday tradition began in the 1930s and has been part of the William & Mary experience for generations of alumni. The cares and worries of the year burn away with the holly in the Yule fire, and our community — on campus and around the world — comes together with shared hope for the future.

Find celebrations & register

Program

• Prelude featuring music from the William & Mary Choir.
• Welcome featuring Sarah Larimer '23, Vice President of Omicron Delta Kappa and Abigail Hartless '23, Vice President of Mortar Board.
• Land acknowledgement read by the American Indian Student Association and acknowledgement of the role of enslaved people in William & Mary’s history by the Lemon Project.
• "’Twas the Night After Finals" featuring Ginger Ambler '88, Ph.D. '06, Vice President for Student Affairs.
• Reflections on peace, joy and gratitude featuring the the Black Student Organization, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, W&M Hillel, the Hindu, Sikh, and Jain Students Association, and the Muslim Student Association.
• Holiday reading featuring President Katherine A. Rowe.
• Sing-along featuring the Barksdale Treble Chorus and William & Mary Choir. 
• Tradition of the Yule log featuring Colleen Grace '23, President of Mortar Board, and Kathryn Webb '23, President of Omicron Delta Kappa.
• Yuletide Medley featuring The Gentlemen of the College.
• Log procession and the Alma Mater led by the W&M Choir.
• Tossing of the holly.
• Following the ceremony, all are invited to listen to live music by the Wham Bam Big Band, the Cleftomaniacs and Double Take.