Browse Items (227 total)

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,…

Jean Elliott is the Director of Communications for the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at Virginia Tech. Before coming to VT in 1999, she earned degrees from Western Maryland College and Salisbury University, then worked in sports…

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..

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…

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,…

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…

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.

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…

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

Howard Feiertag, an instructor of hospitality and tourism management in the Pamplin College of Business, has been a Virginia Tech faculty member since 1989. In 2015 he was awarded one of the Top 30 CMP Influencers Award, which recognizes the top 30…

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…

In this interview, Helene talks about realizing her sexuality in Catholic school in the early 1970s and her time as a lesbian at Virginia Tech in the late 1970s. She talks about the difficulty being out while keeping that part of her life separate…

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…

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…

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…

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,…

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.

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.…

Elaine Dowe Carter graduated from Christiansburg Industrial Institute in 1948. Elaine grew up in Elliston, Virginia and served as president of the Christiansburg Institute Alumni Association.

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,…

Interview with Edward Pineiro for the Voces of a Pandemic oral history project in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin. Edward was born in Brooklyn, NY to a Puerto Rican family. He is now the cleaning staff supervisor for the Fralin…

In this interview, Sewell discusses the classes he was teaching as a member of the Department of Communications in 1979 during Denim Day. He recalls some of the responses he observed to the event, including the university's official stance on the Gay…

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.

Interview with Dulce Diaz for the Voces of a Pandemic oral history project in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin. Dulce Diaz, 30, is a single mother from Honduras who moved to Roanoke, VA a year ago from New Jersey. She lost her…

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

Class of 1958 first black graduate of Virginia Tech

Dolly Davis is a former Virginia Tech student, who is a self-employed architect in Roanoke, Virginia. She is also a transgender activist who works closely with VT students and alums. Recently, she became involved in healthcare activism in southwest…

David Hernandez attended Virginia Tech from 2010 to 2014 and graduated with a degree in Computer Science. In Fall 2012, Hernandez founded the Virginia Tech chapter of Out in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (oSTEM), an organization…

Interview with David Hernandez for the Voces of a Pandemic oral history project in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin. David is originally from Mexico. He is married with children and his family was affected financially by the…

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…

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…

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,…

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.

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…

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.…

Interview with Carolina Smales for the Voces of a Pandemic oral history project in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin. Carolina Smales, 40, is a healthcare analyst originally from Venezuela with several family members who have died of…

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 Brigitte Sanchez Robayo for the Voces of a Pandemic oral history project in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin. Brigitte Sanchez Robayo is an instructor for public school math teachers and very active in the Colombian…

In this interview, Bill Kenealy discusses what it felt like to return to campus after forty years, the Gay Student Alliance in the late 1970s, summer resort jobs in New England, gay discos, Denim Day preparations, his time in the United States Navy…

In this interview, Beth Benoit talks about computer science classes and the campus climate for gay men and lesbians at Virginia Tech in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She recounts how it felt to come out publicly in the school paper while having…

Ann Kilkelly is a Professor of Theatre Arts and Women's Studies at Virginia Tech. She teaches a variety of performance and theater classes, women's studies seminars and undergraduate courses about community and culture, and tap classes. Since coming…

Andrew Alvarez was a founding member of the Gay Student Alliance in the late 1970s. In his interview, he talks about living on campus at Virginia Tech, being a guest speaker for the Social Deviance class in the sociology department, planning and…

Interview with Andrea Mosquera for the Voces of a Pandemic oral history project in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin. Andrea, 30, is a single mother from Colombia seeking a degree in public administration. She, her mother, and her…