Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use

The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials. Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction . Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication . Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Herman Bruce Hawkins Papers, Ms1974-014, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Source of Acquisition

The Herman Bruce Hawkins Papers were donated to Special Collections in 1974.

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement, and description of the Herman Bruce Hawkins Papers commenced and was completed in May 2012.

Biographical Note

Herman Bruce "Bill" Hawkins, son of William B. and Alice G. Slayton Hawkins, was born in Waverly, Virginia, in 1889. He graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute with a BS in electrical engineering in 1910. Hawkins worked for General Electric in Schenectady, New York from 1910 until 1913, when he was hired as an electrical engineer for Canadian Explosives, Ltd., in Montreal. Hawkins founded the Hawkins-Hamilton Company in Richmond, Virginia in 1914, and served as the company's president until retiring in 1959. He was an active alumnus of Virginia Tech, serving as the alumni association's first vice president and president and was also a member of the association's board of directors and the Alumni Fund Council. Hawkins married Mary Edith Lynn in 1919; the couple had two children. Herman B. Hawkins died on March 1, 1981 and was buried in Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery.

Charles Taylor Adams (more widely known as Taylor Adams) was born in Richmond, Virginia on November 18, 1888. The son of Robert Lee Adams, he entered Virginia Polytechnic Institute as a sophomore in the school's horticultural program in 1908. As editor of the school newspaper, The Virginia Tech , Adams became involved in at least one controversy relating to editorials issued under the title "Asbestographs." In response to criticism, Adams on Februrary 2, 1910, issued a "spotless edition" of the paper; the issue contained only only advertising, all text columns remaining blank. Adams left school in 1910 and was hired as a reporter by The Lynchburg News . Later, he moved to New York, where he spent nearly 50 years working in advertising. Following the death of his first wife, Adams married Muriel Haynes--also an advertising executive--in 1956. Charles Taylor Adams died on in New York on December 10, 1981.

Scope and Content

This collection contains the papers of Herman Bruce Hawkins, a graduate of Virginia Tech (BS, electrical engineering, 1910), president of the Virginia Tech Alumni Association, and 1961 recipient of the university's Distinguished Alumni Citation. The collection includes correspondence and printed materials.

Much of the collection focuses on Charles Taylor Adams (more widely known as Taylor Adams), a classmate of Hawkins. The collection includes two files of correspondence exchanged between Hawkins and Adams, largely concerning the topics of communism, civil rights, and nuclear disarmament. Adams, an avowed communist, rails against the ills of western society, especially those of the southern United States, and extolls the virtues of communism in Russia and China, foreseeing a utopian ideal in the distant future. Adams frequently advocates civil rights for African Americans and, in doing so, encloses a number of printed materials from the NAACP and CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) concerning Freedom Riders; Robert F. Williams; events in Monroe, North Carolina; and (briefly) desegregation of schools in Prince Edward County, Virginia. Elsewhere, Adams writes of nuclear disarmament, enclosing printed materials to support his views. Hawkins, meanwhile, defends capitalism and the existing social structure, concluding that a utopian society would be "frightfully dull... a world of ants." Also within these folders are a few letters exchanged between Hawkins and Virginius Dabney (editor of the Richmond Times-Dispatch ), with whom Hawkins was surreptitiously sharing some of Adams' correspondence.

In addition to the correspondence file is a subject file on Adams, mostly relating to his attempt to remotely organize a protest march at Virginia Tech in response to a 1969 campus appearance by U. S. Army Chief of Staff General William Westmoreland. Included are copies of advertisements placed by Adams in The Virginia Tech school newspaper, letters to the editor from Adams and others, and correspondence (regarding Adams) exchanged between Hawkins and others, including Virginia Tech President T. Marshall Hahn.

The collection also contains a folder of material relating to Hawkins as recipient of the Virginia Tech Distinguished Alumni Citation. Included are correspondence, memoranda, biographical material, and printed materials.

Arrangement

Arranged by subject matter.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Students and alumni
• University History
• Virginia Polytechnic Institute (1944-1970)
• Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (1970-)

Rights Statement for Archival Description

The guide to the Herman Bruce Hawkins Papers by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 ( https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/ ).