Records of the Office of the President, Paul B. Barringer

Access and use

Location of collection:
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Special Collections, University Libraries (0434)
Newman Library
Virginia Tech
P.O. Box 90001
560 Drillfield Drive
Blacksburg, VA 24062-9001
Contact for questions and access:
Phone: (540) 231-6308
Fax: (540) 231-3694
Restrictions:

The collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

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.

Preferred citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Records of the Office of the President, Paul B. Barringer, RG 2/6, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Summary

Extent:
2.4 Cubic Feet 3 boxes and 1 oversize folder
Creator:
Barringer, Paul B.
Language:
The materials in the collection are in English.
Preferred citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Records of the Office of the President, Paul B. Barringer, RG 2/6, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains mainly incoming and outgoing correspondence (1907-1913) concerning college activities and issues of Barringer's administration. Topics include academic standards; hazing; Hog Cholera outbreak (1908); fires; prohibition; water/sewage system; refrigeration plant; and advantages and dangers of football. A few letters from Barringer are to United States presidents: Theodore Roosevelt; William Howard Taft; and Woodrow Wilson. Also included with the collection are the following items: ledger of Board of Visitors Executive Committee minutes, handwritten (September 24, 1904 - November 1, 1904, and October 2, 1906 - June 12, 1908); inventories (1908-1911); letters of application for faculty positions (1909); several items relating to charges against Barringer by Lawrence Priddy, president of Alumni Association, and ensuing investigation (1910); correspondence and other items concerning Mess Hall investigation (1911); purchase orders (1911); reports to the Board of Visitors (1911); leases and contracts; report by Barringer to Board of Visitors on professors, giving names, ages, teaching hours per week, salary, degrees, and Barringer's personal remarks on each (no date).

Biographical / historical:

The Board of Visitors elected educator and physician Paul B. Barringer (1857-1941) as the sixth president of Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute (VPI) on May 17, 1907. Accomplishments of his administration include entrance requirements raised from four to fourteen units; a Farmer's Winter Course established; and summer school expanded.

Barringer's tenure as president was not a smooth one, hampered by several investigations. From the start, he was determined to develop the agricultural facet of VPI until it was at least equal to the engineering component, which caused some dissatisfaction among certain alumni and faculty. In 1909, the Chairman of the Alumni Association Welfare Committee, Lawrence Priddy, attempted to have the Board of Visitors oust Barringer. The Board ordered an investigation and a public hearing was held March 25, 1910, at which Priddy's charges were dismissed as "unwarranted" and "inaccurate." However, this was not the end of Barringer's problems.

In the fall of 1911, the Board again called for an investigation when a former Commandant of Cadets accused Barringer of "countenancing immorality" on campus. The investigation concluded that the charges were "without foundation."

Having survived those investigations, Barringer next ran afoul of Governor William H. Mann, who wanted the College to become involved in agriculture extension work. Barringer did not agree, so Mann said he would appoint a Board of Visitors antagonistic to Barringer if he did not resign. On June 10, 1912, Barringer resigned, but the Board asked him to remain in office another year until a new president was selected.

In 2020, Barringer Hall, a dorm on the Virginia Tech campus named for the president, was renamed Whitehurst Hall after James Whitehurst, the first Black student to live on campus and the first African American on the VT Board of Visitors. According to the Virginia Tech August 13, 2020 press release entitled "Board of Visitors Executive Committee approves new names for residence halls", Barringer's "public speeches and writings that were popular throughout the South prior to, during, and subsequent to his time as university president demonstrated and celebrated his personal views as a white supremacist who favored pro-slavery and anti-Black positions."

Acquisition information:
This collection was transferred to Special Collections and University Archives in 1960, 1973, and 1978. Additional materials were transferred prior to 2020.
Processing information:

The processing, arrangement, and description of the Records of the Office of the President, Paul B. Barringer were completed prior to 2001.

Arrangement:

This collection is divided into two series, each arranged alphabetically.

  • Series I. Correspondence
  • Series II. Administrative files