Born Victoria Santopietro in Providence, Rhode Island on July 7, 1937, Lederberg attended Classical High School from 1951-1955. She went to Brown University where she received an A.B in Biology (1959), an A.M in Biology (1961), and a PhD in Psychology (1966). In 1976, she received her J.D. from Suffolk University Law School. In 1959, she married Seymour Lederberg, and the couple had two children born in 1964 and 1967.
In 1968, Victoria Lederberg began working as an Associate Professor of Psychology at Rhode Island College and later became a Professor of Psychology in 1978. From 1974-1983, she was a state representative in the Rhode Island General Assembly and later was elected to the Rhode Island Senate in 1985, serving until 1991. In 1982, she ran for Secretary of State of Rhode Island, however she lost to Susan Farmer. In 1990, Lederberg was one of the candidates running for mayor of Providence, bust lost in the primary to Andrew Annaldo. From 1977-1989, she worked as an attorney with Licht & Semonoff before starting a private practice in 1989. Lederberg also served as a judge in the Providence Municipal Court from 1991-1993, before becoming a member of the Rhode Island Supreme Court in May of 1993. Victoria Lederberg died in 2002.
This collection contains materials relating to the life and accomplishments of Victoria Lederberg. Included are resources utilized by Lederberg whilst campaigning for different political offices, as well as advertisements and endorsements for her campaigns. The collection also contains materials relating to legislative actions taken, committees formed, and bills passed with Lederberg’s involvement during her time in the General Assembly. Much of this concerns state education programs and the funding of public schools. Also included in the collection are materials and resources from Lederberg’s time serving on the Rhode Island Supreme Court. The collection contains many materials from different organizations and communities Lederberg was active in. Also included in the collection are materials from Lederberg's time working as a professor at Rhode Island College, articles written by Lederberg, and newspaper clippings reporting her accomplishments, campaigns she ran, and projects she was involved in.
Researchers are advised to contact Rhode Island College Special Collections for questions regarding permissions to reproduce, distribute, or otherwise publish material from this collection. Although Rhode Island College has physical ownership of the collection, it does not necessarily hold literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
The collection is open for research.
Victoria Lederberg papers, MSS-0139, Special Collections, James P. Adams Library, Rhode Island College.
The collection is loosely arranged by record type and subject matter.
The collection was donated in 2013 and 2014 by Sarah Stone, Victoria Lederberg’s daughter.
The collection was originally arranged by Special Collections staff around 2016. In 2024, the collection was described by Hydin Stallman, Special Collections student worker, under the supervision of Veronica L. Denison, Digital Archivist and Special Collections Librarian.
Duplicates, news clippings, and readily available published documents were removed from the collection. Please contact Special Collections for further information.
The collection has not been digitized and is not available online.