A Guide to the Christiansburg [Virginia] Industrial Institute Historical Documents, 1866-1991
A Collection in
Special Collections
Collection Number Ms91-033
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Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Contact Information:University Libraries
P.O. Box 90001
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Blacksburg, Virginia 24062-9001
USA
Phone: (540) 231-6308
Fax: (540) 231-3694
Email: specref@vt.edu
URL: http://spec.lib.vt.edu/
Processed by: Clayton McGahee Special Collections Staff
Funding: Web version of the finding aid funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
© 2001 By Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Administrative Information
Access
Collection is open to research.
Use Restrictions
Permission to publish material from the Christiansburg Industrial Institute Historical Documents must be obtained from the Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
Preferred Citation
Christiansburg [Virginia] Industrial Institute, Historical Documents, 1866-1991, Ms91-033, Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Alternate Form Available
Virginia Tech's Imagebase contains more than 1200 digital images from the Christiansburg Industrial Institute Historical Documents. Images include scrapbooks and yearbooks, magazine and newspaper articles, and annual reports.
Biographical/Historical Information
The Christiansburg Industrial Institute (CII) was founded in 1866 in Cambria (now Christiansburg), Virginia, by Civil War Union Captain Charles S. Shaeffer as a private primary school for black children. Through the support of the Friends Freedmen's Association in Philadelphia (a Quaker organization), Shaeffer received financial backing for the school. In 1896 Booker T. Washington molded the program to one that would emphasize technical training for blacks. A 185-acre farm was purchased as the school's campus in 1905. In 1934 the Montgomery County School Board began its management of the school. CII was converted in 1947 to a regional high school for blacks, and closed in 1966 when the local schools were integrated.
Scope and Content Information
The CII materials consist of photocopied historical documents about the school, its history, and the alumni association. Many of the materials are from the Edgar A. Long papers (Long served as principal of the school from 1905 to 1924), and include Long's handwritten drafts of lectures, writings, speeches, sermons, and lessons. Also included are copies of the 1902-03 and 1925-26 catalogs and the 1908 annual report. "Poems for Children and Letters," compiled by Nerissa Long Milton, "Married Life" compiled by Dora E.W. Spratt, and "Art Letters and Poetry of Audrey Long Whitlock", compiled by Amanda De Hart, are part of the alumni records. The bulk of the material was compiled under the title "Christiansburg Industrial Institute History and the Edgar A. Long Papers, 1866-1986" by Mrs. Amanda Edwin De Hart, archivist and historian for the CII alumni association.
For additional Christiansburg Industrial Institute resources available online or in print, see:
Arrangement
The collection is arranged according to subject matter.