The Roller-Bottimore Foundation, located in Richmond, Virginia, was established in 1981 by Elizabeth Roller Bottimore to serve her family’s interest in history and historic preservation.

Ms. Bottimore was the daughter of John Edwin Roller and Lucy Brown Cabell of Rockingham County, Virginia. Her father was a lawyer and successful businessman in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Ms. Bottimore was a graduate of Wellesley College. Her husband, William G. Bottimore, an alumnus of Emory and Henry College, was a teacher and insurance executive.

Ms. Bottimore served as a Director of the Foundation from its first Board meeting in December 1981 until her death in May 1993. Until 2019, the Board consisted of one or more Directors who were members of the Roller or Bottimore families.

Since its origins and original corpus of $100,000, the Foundation has provided grants to hundreds of organizations. These funds have promoted historic preservation and renovation, major capital projects, publications and archives, archaeology, and other projects and programs in keeping with the Foundation’s original mission.