Browse Items (218 total)

We mourn the loss of a persevering and inspiring member of the Hokie community. James Godek did a lot of things in his life, but one thing he never did is quit. The Corps of Cadets, the navy, Ironman triathlons, and brain cancer — Godek pushed…

James Boone, born July 25th, 1915 is among the earliest Virginia Polytechnic students to be interviewed for VT Stories. He grew up in Holland and Ivor, Virginia, and arrived in Blacksburg in 1933. While at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, he studied…

James "Bud" Robertson was born and raised in Danville, Virginia. There was a railroad close to his house, which led him to become interested in them (which he maintained throughout his entire life). The yardmaster understood his interest and offered…

Dr. Jack Evans grew up in California before moving to Colorado for several years. He moved again in high school to Reno, Nevada, where he then attended undergraduate at University of Nevada, Reno and majored in biology. After graduation, he planned…

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…

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.…

George Fox, born in Charleston, West Virginia, grew up in a Virginia Tech household. His father from Virginia Polytechnic Institute for industrial engineering in 1941 and claimed that their extended family has more than twenty graduates.…

Since childhood, General Carlton Everhart has strongly believed in the importance of honesty, integrity, and humility. He has lived life with these ideals prioritized first – from his humble beginnings on his family farm to his influential military…

Gene James grew up in Blacksburg, Virginia, born to a Virginia Tech family. His father and two brothers all graduated from Virginia Tech, which played an influential role in his decision to attend. He graduated in 1953, majoring in animal sciences,…

Frank Nolen grew up in Macon County, North Carolina, raised with school in mind. In high school, he decided to attend North Carolina State College, but dropped out after encountering college chemistry. He transferred to Gaston Technical Institute, a…

Frank Beamer was born in Mount Airy, North Carolina in 1946, but grew up just across state lines in Fancy Gap, a suburb of Hillsville, Virginia. Growing up on a farm, hard-work was instilled in him from an early age, along with the value of higher…

Marguerite Laurette Harper Scott, also known as Chick, grew up in Norfolk, Virginia in a family of Virginia State graduates. Although she intended on doing the same, when Virginia Polytechnic recruiters visited her high school, her father decided it…

Dr. Ezra A. “Bud” Brown grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana knowing he was expected to attend college. After graduating high school, he attended Rice University and after switching majors a few times, ultimately chose math. When he graduated from…

Eugene Banks, class of 1950, had never even seen Virginia Tech before the day he enrolled. Banks began his education in 1946 at the age of 16. While he never visited the campus due to the United States’ gasoline rationing in the early 1940s, Banks…

Duston Scarborough was born in Anchorage, Alaska. As his mother was in the Navy, he frequently moved around, living in places like Puerto Rico and Texas. Upon settling down in Hampton Roads, he got involved in 4-H and took part in Congresses which…

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.…

Captain Douglas J. Beaver was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. During his childhood, his father’s naval career took them all over the world to places like: Japan, Washington, DC; Newport, Rhode Island; San Diego, California; the Philippines; and Germany. Of…

Doug Montgomery grew up in Radford, Virginia, playing baseball and golf, knowing that he would continue in higher education. Now a proud triple Hokie of industrial engineering, Doug graduated with a BS, MS, and Ph.D in 1965, 1967, and 1969…

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…

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…

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…

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,…

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…

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…

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 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 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 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.…

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…

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,…

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…

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…

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.

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…

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…

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…

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,”…

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…

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…

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…

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…

First Black Woman to Graduate from Virginia Tech

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…

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…

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…

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 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…

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,…

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…