Browse Items (818 total)

Reverend Kenneth B. Wright was born and raised in Elliston, Virginia. Wright attended Montgomery County Public Schools, Virginia Union University, and
graduated from Roanoke College before becoming a pastor. In this interview, Wright describes the…

Roxie I. Bryson was born and raised near Shawsville, Virginia in Kirk’s Hollow. Bryson spent her life working in a local restaurant in the post office. In her free time, Bryson was a member of the Independent Order of St. Luke. In this interview,…

Sarah J. Wade grew up in Accomack County Virginia, and she moved to Blacksburg, Virginia when she was fourteen years old in search of domestic work opportunities. She married Thomas C. Wade, and they raised their family in Blacksburg. Their son,…

James C. Wade was born and raised in Blacksburg, Virginia. Wade graduated from Christiansburg Institute in 1959, and served in the Army before moving back to the Montgomery County area. In this interview, Wade describes race relations in Blacksburg,…

Reverend Dr. Ellison Adger Smyth was born and raised in Blacksburg, Virginia. He attended Blacksburg schools, and he graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1925 with a degree in electrical engineering before answering the call to ministry.…

James E. Sherman--who also went by Steve Sherman--was born in Whitethorne, Virginia and grew up in the Wake Forest community. Sherman attended Christiansburg Institute and spent his life working in the coal mines. In this interview, Sherman describes…

Homer C. Sherman was born and raised in Wake Forest, Virginia. Sherman attended a local, one-room school until the eighth grade. After primary school, Homer Sherman went to work in the mines with his father. Lack of work opportunities in the…

Valerie Dow Scott was born in 1904, and she grew up in Montgomery County, Virginia. Scott’s parents--the Dow family--sent Valerie to high school in Nottoway County, Virginia. After completing her education there, Scott worked as a teacher, briefly,…

William Waymon Pack was born in Montgomery County on August 7, 1920, and he grew up in Riner, Virginia. Pack attended a local primary school before attending Christiansburg Industrial Institute. Due to financial difficulties, Pack had to drop out of…

Christine Paige Price was born in Giles County Virginia on July 21, 1915. Her family moved to the Blacksburg area when Price was young in search of better educational opportunities for Christine and her siblings. Price and her family--the Paige…

Joseph Homer Pack was born in 1910, and he grew up in Riner, Virginia. Pack attended his local primary school, a two room schoolhouse, before briefly attending Christiansburg Institute. Later in life, Pack worked in a variety of job positions…

Walter Lewis was born in 1926, and he grew up in the Radford-Blacksburg area. After graduating from Christiansburg Institute, Lewis served in the Navy during WWII; later in life, he worked for Virginia Tech. In this interview, Lewis describes his…

Thompson V. Lester, Sr. was born in Christiansburg, Virginia in 1915. Thompson Lester met and married his wife, Elizabeth, in New Jersey. After serving in the Navy, Lester returned to Christiansburg, where he worked for his family's dry cleaning…

Charles A. Johnson was born in Wake Forest, Virginia, where he grew up and received his primary education. Johnson graduated from Christiansburg Institute in 1953 before serving in the Army. When Johnson returned from the Army, he began cutting hair…

William Burrell Morgan, who went by Burrell, was born in Iowa before he moved to the Christiansburg area. Morgan attended Hill School and graduated from Christiansburg Industrial Institute; later, he operated his family's taxi service, which had been…

Rosa Thomas Holmes, originally born in Beckley, West Virginia, grew up in the Christiansburg area. Holmes attended Hill School in and Christiansburg Industrial Institute before attending Virginia State College. She worked as a teacher in Florida…

Rice Dobbins grew up in Riner, Virginia in an area called Piney Wood. Dobbins primarily worked as a farmer in the Montgomery County area, specifically on Heth Farm (present day Heathwood Apartments). He moved to Blacksburg in the late 1930s, where he…

Leola Burford, a resident of Christiansburg, worked as a teacher in the Richmond area before getting married, and, eventually returning to the Christiansburg area. In this interview, Burford recalls her experiences at CI and Hampton University and…

Frank Bannister was born in Wake Forest, Virginia in 1913, and his family members were descendants of Kentland Plantation slaves, which is now Kentland Farm in Whitethorne, Virginia. Bannister describes growing up in Wake Forest, working in the…

Megan Nguyen is a Queer Vietnamese American originally from Northern Virginia. They attended Virginia Tech from 2012 to 2016 and studied Biology. They found the LGBTA, now HokiePRIDE, early during their time at Virginia Tech. They were involved in…

Rev. Phillip Harmon Price and his sister, Anna Christine Price integrated Blacksburg High School in 1961

Ebony Wilson is a 2001 graduate of Virginia Tech. She grew up in Norfolk, VA and was a member of the Corps of Cadets. She continued her service in the Navy.

graduated from Virginia Tech in December of 2000. She majored in Mechanical Engineering. She served in the Air Force at Wright-Patterson base in Ohio, while pursuing an advanced degree..

received his Ph.D in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, with an emphasis in Higher Education Administration at Virginia Tech in December 2000. He is presently Director of Summer and Winter sessions.

Class of 1971, one of six charter members of Groove Phi Groove

Class of 1971, first black scholarship athlete at Virginia Tech

Class of 1959, one of the first three black graduates of Virginia Tech

Irving Linwood Peddrew III was the first black student at Virginia Tech

A bound volume of recipes, handwritten or clipped from newspapers. The recipes are in no particular order and include main dishes, sides, and some breakfast items. The majority are dessert recipes. Some examples include "Grapenut pudding," "Deviled…

A recipe book handwritten in German. The book is broken up into sections, but only about one-third contain recipes. Most of the recipes are in the "Backwerk" or "Baking" section. Some examples of recipes include: "Kartoffelsalat" (potato salad),…

The Hertford Receipt Book is a recipe book written in Hertford, England (a county town of Hertfordshire) from 1800 to 1833. The recipes were documented by several people as handwriting changes throughout the volume. Some recipes are…

The collection consists of an illustrated scrapbook, detailing the set up for a household, possibly compiled for a new bride or a school assignment. Each room is mapped out and illustrated with magazine pictures and includes a price list of…

Katherine Staats was born in Landstuhl, Germany and currently resides in Austin, Texas. She graduated from Tech with her Bachelors on the PreMed track in 2008 and now has a residency at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. In her…

The Lobdell Car Wheel Company had its beginnings in 1830, when Jonathon Bonney and Charles Bush established a small foundry in Wilmington, Delaware. By 1867, the year it was incorporated as the Lobdell Car Wheel Company, the business had added…

Toby Quaranta was born in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and now lives in San Francisco, California. Quaranta received his bachelor in Political Science at Virginia Tech in 2006 and now works as an Account Executive for the Salesforce Foundation. In his…

Michelle Oshinski was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and is currently earning a degree in English Education with a minor in Theatre, hoping to graduate in the Spring of 2016. Oshinski details her identity as a pansexual. She discusses how her…

Gwendolyn Coleman was born in Nankudo, Namibia before moving to Mays Landing, New Jersey. Gwen graduated from Virginia Tech in Spring 2015 with a degree in the Biological Sciences. In her oral history Coleman discusses her progressive views on…

Crysta Highfield was born in Dallas, Texas and now lives in Berkeley, California where she attends school at the University of California at Berkeley. She graduated from Virginia Tech in 2008 with a BS and MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering…

Interview with Caroline Ickes regarding her affiliations with the LGBT community at Virginia Tech and in her personal life. Ickes discusses her identity as a straight individual who has been and advocate for and associated with the LGBT community.…

Aaron Wilson was born in Lynchburg, Virginia and currently resides in Palo Alto, California. Wilson graduated from Virginia Tech in 2006 with a BS in Computer Science. He works as a Software Engineer at Olark in San Francisco, California. In Wilson’s…

John Gray Williams is a Career Advisor in Career Services at Virginia Tech. From 2005 to 2008 he also attended Virginia Tech as an undergraduate student in the Bachelor of Arts in Public and Urban Affairs program. He has been active in LGBTQ activism…

Mark Alan Weber, class of 1987, was born and raised in Northern Virginia. When he was a student at Virginia Tech, he served first as secretary and then as president of the gay student group, Lambda Horizon. He earned a bachelor’s of business…

Jo Ann (Murphy) Underwood pioneered tolerance of sexual minorities on the Virginia Tech campus. She and her family came to Blacksburg in the mid-1970s. She worked as a registered nurse at Virginia Tech’s Student Health Services and was appointed the…

Michael Sutphin was a student at Virginia Tech from 2002-2006. While at Tech, he was a student activist involved with LGBTA (now HokiePRIDE) and a writer and editor for the Collegiate Times. During his time on campus he organized the first Freedom to…

Dr. Edward Spencer worked in student affairs administration at Virginia Tech from 1982 to 2012, most recently serving as Vice President for Student Affairs from 2008 to 2012. From 1983 to 1989 he served as Director of Housing and Residence Life,…

Aaron Slusher was a student at Virginia Tech from 1988 until 1992. He graduated from Virginia Tech in 1992 with a degree in Biology. In 2011, Aaron returned to Virginia Tech to pursue a degree in Veterinary Medicine. In 2012, he transferred to…

Christian Matheis is a Doctoral Candidate in the Virginia Tech Alliance for Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought (ASPECT) Program working on a dissertation concerning liberation. He has several research interests including philosophy,…

Jeff Mann is Associate Professor of English and Director of the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program at Virginia Tech. Mann started as an instructor in the English department in August of 1989, was appointed Assistant Professor in 2003,…

Mr. Eugene Lawson and Mr. Scott Sterl are both graduates of Virginia Tech, where they met and began their relationship that is still continuing today over 42 years later. As a couple they have been very active in the communities they have lived in,…