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Blacksburg - Virginia Polytechnic Institute Civilian Defense Council Records,

 Collection
Identifier: Ms-1979-005

Scope and Content Note

This collection contains records of the Blacksburg - Virginia Polytechnic Institute Civilian Defense Council, organized to administer and promote local civilian defense efforts during World War II. The collection includes correspondence, reports, and printed materials.

A large majority of the collection relates to the activities of the council's salvage committee. Included are correspondence and reports documenting the committee's administration of local scrap drives for paper, metal, rubber, cooking fat, and silk. Also included are memoranda and circulars issued by the Blacksburg committee and other local salvage committees, as well as a commendation awarded to H. W. Jackson.

From the Virginia State Salvage Committee, the collection includes a number of bulletins as well as other communications issued both to local salvage committees and to the public, all with a view toward promoting the collection of scrap. The collection also contains printed materials issued by national agencies to assist local committees in promoting and conducting scrap campaigns. Included are booklets, flyers, and posters.

The collection holds only a few materials not relating to the activities of the salvage committee. Included is a civilian defense armband as well as items relating to gas- and sugar-rationing, air raid defense, and victory loans. From the council, the collection holds information on the organization's structure and the minutes of a 1944 council meeting.

Dates

  • Creation: 1942 - 1945

Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from the Blacksburg - Virginia Polytechnic Institute Civilian Defense Council Records must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.

Historical Note

The Blacksburg - Virginia Polytechnic Institute Civilian Defense Council was one of several thousand such local councils organized in the early months of World War II to administer and promote civilian defense efforts. Within the council's organization were committees devoted to salvage, transportation, war funds and campaigns, farm labor, victory gardens, consumer interests, nutrition, child welfare, library service, and health. The council's salvage committee was charged with organizing and promoting salvage campaigns; arranging the collection and disposal of salvage materials; and coordinating the salvage activities of local organizations engaged in salvage. In doing so, the committee worked with the Virginia Salvage Committee of the State Defense Council and the War Production Board's Bureau of Industrial Conservation. The committee was first chaired by H. P. C. Vandenberg, who was succeeded by Herbert W. Jackson in August 1942.

Full Extent

0.4 Cubic Feet (1 box; 1 oversize folder)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Records--including correspondence, reports, and printed materials--of a local civilian defense council organized in Blacksburg, Virginia during World War II.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged by subject matter, then by document type.

Acquisition Information

The collection was donated to Special Collections in 1960.

Related Materials

The Virginia Newspaper Collection contains issues of The Blacksburg Citizen, published by the council's information committee.

Physical Characteristics

0.4 cu. ft. 1 box; 1 oversize folder

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement, and description of the Blacksburg - Virginia Polytechnic Institute Civilian Defense Council Records commenced and was completed in July, 2012.

Title
A Guide to the Blacksburg - Virginia Polytechnic Institute Civilian Defense Council Records, 1942-1945
Subtitle
A collection in Special Collections.
Author
John M. Jackson
Date
©2012 By Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. All rights reserved.
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections, Virginia Tech Repository

Contact:
Special Collections, University Libraries (0434)
560 Drillfield Drive
Newman Library, Virginia Tech
Blacksburg Virginia 24061 US
540-231-6308