Collections : [Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University]

The collection contains an Abraham Lincoln gem size 3/4" x 1" campaign tintype issued for the 1864 Presidential race.

Architect Wena Dows earned her B.A. in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1950 and began working independently, specializing in residential remodeling, in 1954. Along with her architectural commitments she also worked as a nutritionist. The Wena Dows Architectural Collection contains drawings, supporting text documents, photographs and slides of Dows' addition and renovation projects for residences in California from 1952 to 2005, along with information about a few commercial projects.

This collection cotains a letter from A. B. Renker, a cotton broker from Lynchburg Va., to a Mr. Samuel G. Murphy of Richmond. Renker informs Mr. Murphy that the people who purchased the cotton had an issue with the price quality of the cotton and that they were refusing to pay unless they recieved a discount on the product.

The Books That Made the Difference Project Collection consists of subject files, clippings, correspondence, manuscript drafts, and audio-visual materials. The project was conceived in l980 by Ann Heidbreder Eastman, formerly of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and executed by Gordon A. Sabine, formerly a professor at this university, and his wife Patricia, who interviewed people across the country, asking what book made the greatest difference in their lives, and what was that difference. The responses were collected for a book, Books That Made the Difference: What People Told Us, published by Shoe String Press in 1983. The theme of "Books Make a Difference" has been, and still is, used by public libraries for public relations campaigns. Noteworthy aspects of the collection include the 1983 book and the 1985 abridged version published by the Book-of-the-Month Club, and the original cassette tapes used by the Sabines to record the interviews.

This collection contains the papers and artifacts of an interrelated family prominent in Blacksburg's history. It includes the American 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.

The Virginia Hummel Papers consist of materials created and gathered by Virginia Holden Hummel of Blacksburg. An amateur historian especially interested in Blacksburg history and genealogy, she collected many materials related to the region, including newspaper clippings, research notes, photographs, maps, and blueprints.

This collection includes the papers of L. Jane Hastings, architect in Seattle, WA, founder and owner of The Hastings Group - Architects. Includes drawings, presentation boards, photographs, and printed material relating to Hastings' professional and design activities.

The Piedmont Tuberculosis Sanatorium (Burkeville, Virginia) Collection includes materials from 1926-1971. The collection contains information relating to the operation of the sanatorium from 1918-1965. The collection contains administrative papers, published works of doctors, ephemera, and images.

This collection contains manuscripts donated by Devota Pack that include letters, newpaper clippings, and publications.

This collection contains 19th century tax records and personal correspondence of the Sullivan family of Christiansburg, Virginia.