Born in Virginia in 1821, Viola Case moved to Victoria in 1848, where she taught at the Victoria Female Academy founded by her husband, the Rev. John R. Shive. She continued the school after his death in 1853 and after the death of her second husband, the Rev. Joel T. Case, in 1868. By 1870 the academy, known as Mrs. Case's Select School, was coeducational and widely respected. She remained in charge until her death in 1894. Until 1973 the Victoria Bronte Public Library, which began as a collection of Mrs. Case's books, was supported by the Bronte Club, a literary society she founded in 1873.