Administrative Information

Access

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from the Rudolph Dixon Michael Papers must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.

Preferred Citation

Rudolph Dixon Michael Papers, Ms1960-005 - Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Acquisition Information

The Rudolph Dixon Michael Papers were donated to Newman Library in two accessions: 1960 and 1988.

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement and description of the Rudolph Dixon Michael Papers occurred in January 2004.

Biographical/Historical Information

Rudolph Dixon Michael, Virginia Tech alumnus and agricultural information editor, was born in Berwick, Pennsylvania on January 5, 1994. The son of William Ellis and Laura McHenry Michael, he graduated from Virginia Tech in 1926 with a degree in agricultural engineering. (He would later also obtain a degree from Kansas State University.) An active student, Michael was a member of the basketball team and several clubs; he also served as editor of the student newspaper and as president of the senior class. Michael became an English instructor at Virginia Tech in 1928, while also serving as an assistant in publications. In 1930, he became director of broadcasting and assistant agricultural editor of the Agricultural Extension Division. In 1943, he was promoted to agricultural editor, a position from which he retired in 1965. Michael served on the Blacksburg Town Council for ten years and later in life served as chairman of the VPI-Blacksburg Sanitation Authority. He was a member of several community organizations and a deacon at Blacksburg Baptist Church. Michael and his wife, Mary Spiggle Michael, had two daughters. He died January 5, 1994.

Scope and Content Information

This collection contains the papers of Virginia Tech alumnus and agricultural information editor Rudolph Dixon Michael. The collection includes a small group of correspondence, much of which dates from 1929 to 1930, and concerns the Preston family, Smithfield Plantation, and the university's effort to restore the cemetery there. The correspondence is complemented by a number of notes and essays regarding the history of Blacksburg, the Preston family, Smithfield Plantation, and Whitethorne; and maps of Smithfield Plantation, its landscaping, and the cemetery. The collection also contains a small group of printed materials relating to Virginia Tech, including a commencement program and pictorial calendar from 1926, a booklet for a 1929 alumni celebration (including biographical material on Julian Burruss and an overview of his administration), and an informational booklet on the Blacksburg-VPI Sanitation Authority. Three large photographs of campus scenes are also included, as well as reproductions of the Virginia Tech seal and Phi Kappa Phi charter certificate.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged by document type, then chronologically.

Index Terms

Family Names:

• Preston family, Montgomery County, Va.

Subjects:

• Blacksburg (Va.)
• Faculty
• Local/Regional History and Appalachian South
• Montgomery County (Va.)
• University Archives
• University History
• Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute
• Virginia Polytechnic Institute
• Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University