Browse Items (218 total)

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,…

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

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…

Frederick C. Boucher, better known as Rick, was born on August 1st, 1946 in Abingdon, Virginia.

Rick's long career in law and public service was heavily influenced by his upbringing and parents. His mother, Dorothy Buck Boucher, was a pioneer of…

In this second part of the oral history interview, former Congressman Rick Boucher focuses this interview on the legislative achievements he was involved in during his time in the State Senate and U.S. House of Representatives.

After getting…

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…

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,…

Interview with Sandra Escobar for the Voces of a Pandemic oral history project in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin. Sandra is originally from Bogotá, Colombia. She currently lives with her husband and son in Blacksburg, VA and has…

Scott Beadle was a member of the Gay Student Alliance during the first Gay Awareness Week and helped to plan Denim Day in 1979. During his time at Virginia Tech, he studied engineering and theater arts and served as president of the Gay Student…

Shelli Fowler was a member of the Virginia Tech faculty from 2003 to summer 2015, serving as an associate professor of English and senior director for Networked Pedagogies and Professional Development in Technology-enhanced Learning and Online…

Sherry Wood was the editor of the Collegiate Times in 1979 when the first Gay Awareness Week, and Denim Day, occurred. In this interview, she discusses the volume of letters to the editor received by the Collegiate Times in response to Denim Day and…

In this interview Steve Noll discusses accepting his sexuality as a young man, the unnamed gay student group before the Gay Student Alliance and the support it received from Cooper House, and reactions to Denim Day from the communities surrounding…

In this interview, Sueann Brown talks about realizing her sexuality and becoming involved with the Gay Student Alliance at Virginia Tech, her experience of Denim Day in 1979, and her experience as an openly lesbian architect with the National Parks…

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…

Interview with Thania Torres for the Voces of a Pandemic oral history project in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin. Thania Torres, 32, is the volunteer coordinator for Casa Latina in Roanoke, VA. Casa Latina is a non-profit social…

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…

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…

Tom Brobson graduated from Virginia Tech in 1982. After working in Washington, D.C., for several years, he returned to work for Tech in 1989, working as a fundraiser for the Department of University Relations. A diabetic himself, Brobson went on to…

Tori Elmore grew up in Wytheville, VA, and graduated from Virginia Tech in 2009 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. Elmore currently lives in the Blacksburg area and works as a maintenance engineer at the Celanese chemical plant in Narrows, VA. In…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Interview with Yulizia Otanez for the Voces of a Pandemic oral history project in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin. Yuliza Otanez, 21, is a retail worker and a student at Liberty University. Her parents in Roanoke, grandmother in…

First Black Woman to Graduate from Virginia Tech

April Cheek-Messier arrived at Virginia Tech for her master's degree in history in 1996. Prior to coming to Blacksburg, she attended undergraduate school at Hollins, and got a master's degree in both history and English. In the master's program at…

As part of a military family, Apryl Alexander, class of 2005, grew accustomed to a lifestyle that took her to many parts of the world. At Virginia Tech, however, Apryl found a community and a home in which she could finally settle down. Due to the…

Bertram Kinzey, Jr. arrived in Blacksburg as an architectural engineering student in 1940. While living in Richmond, Kinzey enrolled in the engineering extension program, which led him to Virginia Tech for his final two years of undergraduate. As a…

On the residential side of campus, there is an academic building where researchers from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) and College of Natural Resources and Environment (CNRE) work diligently to find solutions to environmental…

Bill Roth grew up in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania playing ice hockey. He attended Syracuse University studying multimedia journalism, wanting to work in sports broadcasting. After graduating, he was hired at Virginia Tech as the “Voice of the Hokies,”…

William (Bill) Starnes, Jr., Virginia Tech class of 1955, never seriously considered any other school. Bill always knew that he was going to college, and because his father attended the university, having graduated in 1924, it seemed like the perfect…

Judy Swecker Slaughter was born into a Virginia Tech family as her father graduated class of 1935. Growing up in Woodstock, Virginia, she had decided to follow her father's footsteps and also attend. She arrived in 1966, studying psychology and…

Education has always been important in the life of Robert “Bob” Bates, former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (now College of Science). Both of his parents were college-educated, and his mother was a teacher, while his father worked for the…

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.

Brooks Whitehurst grew up in Wytheville, Virginia, and from a young age he knew his future as an engineer. His father decided his path, but allowed him to choose chemical engineering at Virginia Tech. Brooks graduated from Virginia Tech in 1951, and…

Virginia Tech has always been an integral part of the life of George Edwin Russell, Class of 1952. Russell, known to most as Buddy, grew up on a country farm working with pigs, dairy cows, and beef cattle. This led Russell to join the 4H club as a…

A proud alumnus, Charles Tynan is no stranger to the Blacksburg area or Virginia Tech. From the years of 1947 to 1952 he was an undergraduate student, living in dorms and a cadet in the Corps. He spent the majority of his time devoted to academics,…

In this final installment of an oral history series, Chris Kappas is joined by his wife, Maria Kappas, to talk about their life working in the restaurant industry and raising a family in Blacksburg.

In this interview, Maria recounts emigrating…

The first in a special series of interviews with Chris Kappas, a local Blacksburg businessman, land lord, and restaurateur. Born in Greece in 1938, Chris Kappas is the son of Nick Kappas, early Greek immigrant and restaurateur in Southwest Virginia.…

The second session in a series of oral history interviews with Chris Kappas, local Blacksburg restaurateur and land lord.

In this interview, Chris Kappas recounts his early life growing up in the Greek countryside during World War II while…

The third installment of a series of oral history interviews with Blacksburg local, restauranteur, and active community member Chris Kappas.

This oral history interview begins with Chris talking about his childhood growing up in war-torn Greece.…

The fourth oral history interview in a series with Chris Kappas, longtime Blacksburg local and restauranteur.

In this interview, Chris Kappas talks about becoming principal partner in the Greek's restaurant with his father's former business…

The fifth oral history interview in a series about the Greek community in Blacksburg, local history, and the restaurant industry with Chris Kappas.

In this interview, Kappas talks about establishing Souvlakis in the Blacksburg community as a…

Christopher Columbus Kraft, Jr. is a Class of 1944 Virginia Tech graduate born. He was born on February 28, 1924 in the small town of Phoebus, Virginia, which later merged into Hampton, Virginia. Growing up, Chris knew everyone in his town, and they…

Christina Daves attended Virginia Tech from 1985 to 1988, majoring in Political Science and German. In this interview, she talks about her time on campus during a turbulent era, work in her sorority Chi Omega, and her career after. After graduating,…

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…

Curry Roberts grew up not too far from Virginia Tech’s campus in a small village in the western part of Bedford County. His parents grew up in the depression, and they met after WWII. Curry’s older brother also graduated from Virginia Tech, and Curry…

A life fully lived accurately sums up the the life of David Lowe. Lowe, class president of 1963 details his humble beginnings of growing up in a small working-class family in West Virginia. Lowe’s parents were both teachers, and in his story he…