Local/Regional History and Appalachian South

In general, vertical files at Special Collections include newspaper clippings, photocopies, ephemera, unpublished and/or informal publications, and other papers relating to a specific subject area. Files in this collection relate to individuals and families connected to the local area (Blacksburg, Montgomery County, and Southwest Virginia) and/or to Virginia Tech. Each individual/family below has at least one folder and many include cross references.

Color image of Alexandria, Virginia, with key that identifies locations of interest.

The Black Appalachians Oral History Project consists of approximately twenty-five taped interviews conducted by Dr. Michael Cooke of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University concerning black life in Appalachia, especially in Montgomery County, Virginia. The interviewees represented communities such as Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Elliston, Riner, Shawsville, and Wake Forest. Transcripts are currently available for six of the interviews.

Map shows the Black Cemetery in Blacksburg, Virginia, between Roanoke and Lee Streets.

Map shows identified plots in the Black Cemetery in Blacksburg, Virginia.

The collection contains a bill detailing medical service provided to the family of Rev. William A. Wade by Dr. Harvey Black. The bill includes the cost of services, as well as a note from Black forgiving payment.

Full text of interviews with some of those who have shaped the history of the university and of the New River Valley. http://spec.lib.vt.edu/archives/blackhistory/.

Lieutenant in the 12th Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry in the Civil War, writing his wife on October 21, 1864, from Bolivar Heights, Virginia (now West Virginia). Writes about the Battle of Cedar Creek (October 19, 1864) and efforts to recruit new troops to replace those lost in the battles. 

Papers and artifacts of an interrelated family prominent in Blacksburg's history. Includes the Civil War letters of Confederate surgeon Dr. Harvey Black, the Civil War diary of hospital steward John S. Apperson, cotton books and correspondence of Germanicus Kent, nineteenth-century account books of a Blacksburg general store, 1912 European travel diary, and the political scrapbooks of State Senator and Attorney General Harvey B. Apperson.