Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Papers of Dr. John Kern, Accession #2010.1.04, Roanoke Public Libraries, Roanoke, VA

Acquisition Information

Donated by Dr. John Kern

Biographical Note

John Kern was born on January 28, 1940 in Iowa City, Iowa. After earning his bachelor’s degree at Swarthmore College in 1961, he served two years in the Peace Corps in Tunisia. He earned his master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1968, and he became interested in black history while earning his doctoral degree in American history at the same institution in 1976. He came to Roanoke in 1989 to become the regional director of Virginia’s newly created Department of Historic Resources. The office nominated many Southwest Virginia historic sites and areas to state and national registries. Some of his accomplishments include the successful nomination of the Historic Gainsboro District to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005 and the placement of the Pearisburg Downtown Historic District on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places. He taught courses in black history at Hollins University until 2008. He has published work in Dictionary of Virginia Biography, Florida Memorial College Academic Review, Notes on Virginia, From Here to There, and Delaware History. One of his former Hollins students, Arleen Ollie, said of Kern, “John is much like one of the treasures he has resurrected.� He was called “a fervent steward of history� by The Roanoke Times. Kern retired from the Department of Historic Resources in 2010. He received an Education Award from the Roanoke Valley Preservation Society in the same year.

Scope and Content

The Kern Papers are comprised of documents, photographs, and newspaper articles that are a product of the research done by Kern during his time as Roanoke Regional Director for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources at the Department of Historic Resources. The collection includes copies of nominations of historic sites in Southwest Virginia to the National Registry of Historic Places and the research that went into those nominations, including records, photographs, and newspaper articles. Also included in Kern’s papers is his research of several areas in Southwest Virginia, including sites in Roanoke, Henry, Montgomery, Pulaski, Rockbridge, Smyth, Franklin, Floyd, Washington, Giles, and Russell Counties as well as in Roanoke City, Blacksburg, Wytheville, Buena Vista, and Covington, that were not nominated, research on Robert J. Boland and John Willis Chappelear, Jr, that were submitted to the Dictionary of Virginia Biography series, articles and research on subjects related to black history in Southwest Virginia, and documents related to workshops and conferences on black history that Kern helped organize. Research and a paper done under Kern’s supervision by an intern on Roanoke’s segregation ordinances is included as well. Many of the reports and nominations included can also be accessed online at www.dhr.virginia.gov.

Arrangement

Documents are arranged roughly by geographical location.