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,…
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…
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…
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…
Charles Johnson graduated from Christiansburg Industrial Institute in 1953 and served as President of the Christiansburg Institute Alumni Association. Johnson employed the barbering trade he acquired at CI for many decades in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Mary Smith Mills attended Christiansburg Institute from 1941 to 1945. Mary grew up in Christiansburg, Virginia and later became the first black woman to work at a clothing store in downtown Blacksburg.
Esther Jones graduated from Christiansburg Industrial Institute in 1939. Esther used the skills she acquired at CI to assist her husband in running a mine in Wake Forest, Montgomery County, Virginia.
Gladys Sokolow graduated from Christiansburg Industrial Institute in 1953. Gladys grew up in Pulaski County, Virginia and later resided in Christiansburg, Virginia. Gladys served as Treasurer for the Christiansburg Institute Alumni Association Board…
Naomi Davidson graduated from Christiansburg Industrial Institute in 1954. Naomi grew up in the Wake Forest community in Montgomery County, Virginia, and later retired in Pulaski County, Virginia.
Jacqueline “Jackie” Eaves graduated from Christiansburg Industrial Institute in 1964 and was a member of the Alumni Association. Jacqueline was born in Radford, Virginia and raised in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Matt Winston Sr., Virginia Tech class of 1959, was born in Norfolk, Virginia in 1938, the youngest of three children. Though he grew up in a time of warfare and racial segregation in a poor family, he enjoyed his childhood. He remembers being hardly…
Photograph of "Negro school house" building (ca. 1948) in Blacksburg. From "A Negro Neighborhood for Blacksburg, Virginia," by Martha Shupp Phillilps. Master's Thesis in Architecture (1948),
A photograph of a tenant farmer known as Aaron with a horse. Taken around 1930, while Aaron was working a piece of land on the John T. Lewis, Jr., estate in Clarksville, Virginia.
This photograph shows a tenant farmer known as Aaron and two other unidentified people on the front porch of a tenant house on the John T. Lewis, Jr., estate in Clarksville, Virginia. Taken around 1930.
This photograph depicts the house of a tenant farmer known as Aaron working a piece of land on the John T. Lewis, Jr., estate in Clarksville, Virginia. Taken around 1930.
This photograph depicts the tenant house of a tenant farmer known as Aaron working a piece of land on the John T. Lewis, Jr., estate in Clarksville, Virginia. Taken around 1930.
Photograph of the home of a tenant farmer known as Aaron working a piece of land on the John T. Lewis, Jr., estate in Clarksville, Virginia. Taken around 1930.
Jeffrey Thomas Wilson (1843-1929) was a former slave who spent most of his life in and around Portsmouth and Norfolk, Virginia. He outlived four wives and had at least twelve children. Wilson's diaries include entries on a range of topics from local…
The Virginia Republican Party Flyer is a list, titled "The Republican Ticket" and printed on newsprint, of the so-called " Lily Black" Republican ticket of 1921 (an African American offshoot of the Republican party). Sought-after offices include:…
A video recording of the teach-in event. The event description read:
This teach-in aims to demonstrate the interdisciplinary ways that the discipline of English and its sub-fields contained within the English department here at Virginia Tech…
Program for the Faculty Women of Color in the Academy 5th Annual Conference, which includes photographs of Henrietta Mann, Nikki Giovannia, and Menah Pratt-Clarke, among others.
This year’s theme was Say (Her, Their, Our) Name and this year's…
Correspondence between two members of the Blacksburg chapter of the Household of Ruth, a women's auxiliary organization to the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows.
Printed booklet listing membership questions and handwritten answers for the Household of Ruth, the women's organization for the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows. Answers include names, signatures, birth location, age, etc.
Badge featuring three female allegorical figures with coat of arms in front of two ships. Back has label of "J.L.B Forrester/Books, Cards, Badges/811 N. 5th Street/Richmond, Va."
Souvenir program for biennial Order of Odd Fellows conference held in Charlotte, NC. Includes greeting, photographs of officers, and local advertisements.