Interview with Carla Finkelstein for the Voces of a Pandemic oral history project in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin. Carla is an associate professor and director of the Virginia Tech Molecular Diagnostics Lab. She works at the…
Interview with Marisa Benavidez for the Voces of a Pandemic oral history project in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin. Marisa is a stay home spouse, mother of 5, member of the Catholic church, born in Mexico. Her family has slightly…
Interview with Pablo Isaza for the Voces of a Pandemic oral history project in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin. Pablo, 21, works for an engineering firm while working towards his BA degree. The pandemic has affected his employment,…
Interview with Esther Jae de la Mora for the Voces of a Pandemic oral history project in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin. Jae de la Mora is an artist, translator, and single mother from Mexico who acquired her green card at the…
Natalie Strawn Kelly grew up in Blacksburg, and was nearly predestined for Virginia Tech. She graduated in 1974, majoring in Elementary Education. In this interview, she talks about her time at Virginia Tech, taking classes, living in Northern…
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,…
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…
In this VT Stories oral history interview, Ren Harman interviews Jerry Hulick, Class of 1973. Hulick discusses his time at Virginia Tech during the protests of the Vietnam War and the changing landscape of the culture in Virginia Tech and Blacksburg.…
In this VT Stories interview from 2018, Manisha Sharma interviews the former Director of University Publications Clara Cox in the Holtzman Alumni Center. In this oral history Cox talks about her rise through the ranks of university relations, her…
In this nearly hour long interview, Ren Harman, Project Manager for VT Stories, interviews Kevin Crofton, Class of 1982, in the Holtzman Alumni Center on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA. In this interview, Kevin reflects on his time…
Bob Quisenberry, Class of 1962, discusses his life and
career, including his time as a student at Virginia Tech and his continued involvement with the university in the decades since.
Ida Powell graduated from Virginia Tech in 1958 with a bachelor's degree in home economics. In this hour-long interview, Powell discusses her experience as a female student attending Virginia Tech's campus in the 1950s as well as her humanitarian…
In an hour and 10 minute interview of Mary Nolen
Blackwood and Willis Blackwood, Ren Harman asks about
their lives as they connect to Virginia Tech. Along with
early life at Virginia Tech and family life, this interview
touches on their continued…
Roger H. More was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland in 1942. From an early age he knew that he would attend college, but planned on going to Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. These plans changed when his best friend and his bother went to…
Gerald Miller grew up on a farm in Harrisonburg, Virginia. From an early age, he had responsibilities and schooling expectations drilled into him, which heavily guided his career. He attended Virginia Tech and graduated in 1965, majoring in Agronomy.…
Douglas Martin, Ed.D. is Director Emeritus in the
Department of Human Resources at Virginia Tech. This
nearly hour-long interview contains his first-hand account
of several impactful people and events that shaped Tech in
the last half century.…
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…
Jim Hatch went to Lynchburg College as an undergraduate, majoring in management. Upon graduating, he attended Virginia Tech for a Master’s of Accounting and graduated in 1972. Afterwards, he began working as a public accountant and remained active in…
William Simpkins discusses his experience coming to Virginia Tech as a student from the local area in the late 1990s and coming out as gay while here. He talks about the history of gay student groups at Virginia Tech in the late 1990s and their…
Susan Manero talks about her time at Southern Seminary College (now Southern Virginia University) decision to transfer to Virginia Tech, surprise at the lack of denim on Denim Day in 1979, coming out, the gay and lesbian community in Blacksburg, 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.
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..
Jessie Eaves graduated from Christiansburg Industrial Institute in 1965 and was one of the first black students to attend Radford College. Jessie grew up in Wake Forest, Montgomery County, Virginia and served as 1st Vice President for the…
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…
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.
A staged reading of articles and letters to the editor about Denim Day from the 1979 Collegiate Times interspersed with clips from the Denim Day at Virginia Tech 40th Anniversary Oral History Collection.
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.