Lindsay West Papers
Scope and Contents
The Lindsay West Papers span the years 1975-1996. The bulk of the collection is comprised of subject files West kept while she was serving on the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors in southwest Virginia. These files contain inter- and intra- office county government correspondence and memos, legal opinions, government documents, reports and studies, many of which include maps; and clippings. Most of the correspondence and documents are photocopies of county government documents distributed by the county staff to each member of the Board. The papers document Montgomery County government during a period of rapid growth and change in the New River Valley. Subjects include: annexation actions, the proposed Ingles Mountain Landfill in Radford, a proposed alternate for Route 460, and a proposal to develop a shopping mall along Route 460.
The collection also contains records documenting the following entities: New River Community Action, the New River Valley Workshop, and the Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library Board Blacksburg Library Building Committee, including a poster announcing the dedication of the new building in 1996.
Dates
- Creation: 1975 - 1996
Creator
- West, Lindsay Butte, 1934-2018 (Person)
Access Restrictions
The collection is open to research.
Use Restrictions
Permission to publish material from the Lindsay West Papers must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Biographical/Historical Information
Lindsay Butte West (born 1934) was a member of the Montgomery County (Virginia) Board of Supervisors from 1976-1987. One of six new supervisors elected in 1976, she was the first woman elected to the Board. She was vice-chair in 1976-1977 and chair in 1979-80 and 1986-87.
Taking a particular interest in human service and environmental and land-use issues, West represented the Board of Supervisors on the Montgomery County Social Services Board, the New River Community Action Board, and the Montgomery County Public Service Authority (1982-1989; chair, 1984-1985). Shortly after she was elected, West led an unsuccessful effort to reverse the decision of the previous Board to tear down the historic Montgomery County Courthouse building in Christiansburg.
While on the Board of Supervisors, West also served on the state Local Government Advisory Council (1981-1985) and the Local Government Advisory Committee of the Governor's Commission of Transportation (1986- 1987). She was Chair of the Montgomery County Democratic Committee from 1988-1997 and has been active in a variety of other community organizations and causes in Montgomery County, including the restoration of the Lyric Theater in Blacksburg. She also served on the Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library Blacksburg Branch Building Committee in 1990. Lindsay West was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1934 and grew up in New York. She earned a B.A. from Radcliff College in 1956 and moved to Blacksburg in 1962.
Note:
Gina Beasley, "Lindsay West: Long Live the Lyric," Western Waters, Winter 2002, 40.
Full Extent
1.5 Linear Feet (2 boxes; 2 oversize folders)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
The papers are arranged into the following series: Montgomery County Board of Supervisors (the bulk of the collection), Local Government Advisory Committee to the Commission on Transportation in the Twenty- First Century, Montgomery - Floyd Regional Library Board Blacksburg Area Branch Building Committee, New River Community Action, New River Valley Workshop, Virginia Tech Horticulture Farm Rezoning Request Review Committee, Speeches and Writings, and Personal Papers (two folders comprised primarily of clippings).
Processing Information
The Lindsay West Papers were processed in 2003.
Subject
- West, Lindsay Butte, 1934-2018 (Person)
- Title
- Guide to the Papers of Lindsay West, 1975-1996
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Catherine G. OBrion, Digital Library and Archives Staff, in 2003.
- Date
- © 2003 By Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- Description is in English
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections, Virginia Tech Repository
Special Collections, University Libraries (0434)
560 Drillfield Drive
Newman Library, Virginia Tech
Blacksburg Virginia 24061 US
540-231-6308
specref@vt.edu