The collection is open for research.
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.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Records of the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors, RG 1, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The Records of the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors were transferred to Special Collections and University Archives prior to 1980. The Thomas S. Bocock Papers and General G. C. Wharton Paperswere received in 1955. Additional items were transferred in multiple accruals between 2003 and 2019.
Contact Special Collections and University Archives for a digital copy of the Board of Visitors Official Minutes, 1910, and for the reports from Radford College to the Board of Visitors, 1960-1962.
Copies of official minutes held by Records Management are also available from Special Collections and University Archives.
Some of this collection has been digitized and is available online.
The processing, arrangement, and description of the Records of the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors was completed in 2017. The processing, arrangement, and description of additions was completed in November 2019.
The legislation that created Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University) provided for the establishment of a board of visitors as a governing body. Consisting of both appointed and ex-officio members, the board was empowered to select the president and faculty, determine salaries, handle all matters of discipline and student life, and be responsible for all property of the College.
Governor Gilbert C. Walker appointed the first board on March 19, 1872, the day he signed the bill creating the college, and the first meeting was held March 25 and 26 in Richmond. Board appointments are still made by the governor and subject to confirmation by the Virginia Senate. Since its inception, the board has been chaired by a Rector.
Various changes have occurred throughout the years concerning the composition of the board, primarily relating to number and qualifications of appointees and offices to be represented ex-officio. The first board was composed of nine appointed members, with the president of the State Agricultural Society and members of the State Board of Education serving ex-officio. The next year, the makeup was changed so only the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and the president of the Agricultural Society served ex-officio. Later, the president of the Agricultural Society was eliminated as an ex-officio member, but the State Superintendent of Public Instruction remained until 1966. The president of the Board of Agriculture and Immigration (now Consumer Services) became an ex-officio member after 1902, now being the only ex-officio member serving with thirteen appointed members. Four non-voting members have been added to represent the faculty, staff, graduate students, and undergraduate students.
The Records of the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors includes unofficial minutes, correspondence, reports, Executive Committee minutes and reports, material from and about individual members of the Board, and reports to the Board of Visitors.
This collection is divided by material type and RG subgroup number. Each subgroup is divided by RG subgroup number and chronologically.
The majority of material from this body, including the official minutes, are housed in the Records Management office. Permission for access should be obtained through the Virginia Tech Office of the President or the Secretary to the Board of Visitors.
Digital copies of some of the official records are available on the Board of Visitors website.
An index to Board of Visitors' official minutes from 1898 through 1959 that are held by Records Management is available in the Special Collections and University Archives reference collection. (This index does not include the 1910 official minutes in this collection.)
See also the Records of Radford College, the Women's Division of Virginia Polytechnic Institute, RG 24.
The guide to the Records of the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your- work/public-domain/cc0/).
Includes Statement of Account from Planters Bank and Trust Co. as Trustee of VPI under Agreement Dated Dec. 29, 1927 covering Period Dec. 29, 1943-Dec.29, 1944
The Executive Committee also served as Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station Board of Control.
The two volumes of Executive Committee minutes contain mostly handwritten minutes from 1896-1933 and documents pertaining to the Experiment Station. Volume 1 covers 19 February 1896 to 18 January 1907. Volume 1 contains some loose items, including: notes of meeting of April 2, 1906; papers relating to cattle quarantine regulations; a request of J.G. Ferneybough, State Veterinarian, to appear before the Executive Committee, and a typed page of College Estimates for 1906/07.
Volume 2 encompasses 17 April 1907 to 5 October 1933. Volume 2 has some typed items.
These cards were removed from a binder during processing.
These cards were removed from a binder during processing.
Thomas S. Bocock was a member of Board of Visitors, 1873-1875.
Thomas Salem Bocock (1815-1891) was a lawyer and politician. He served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1842 through 1844 and the U.S. House of Represensentatives from 1847 until 1861. As an owner of enslaved persons, he supported the Confederacy during the American Civil War, even serving in the Confederate House of Representatives from 1861 through 1865. After the war, Bocock served on the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College's Board of Visitors from 1873 through 1875, and he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates from 1877 through 1879.
This collection consists of fifteen letters and papers, 1874-1876, received by Bocock in his capacity as a member of the Board, including two letters from C.L.C. Minor, President of VAMC; one letter from G.D. Thomas, Secretary of the Board; an injunction against Henry S. Branson, brickmaker; a printed application with testimonials for position of Farmer from W.F. Pattullio; handwritten application for position of Farmer from Philip Withers, with nine letters of reference.
General G. C. Wharton was a member of Board of Visitors, 1874-1877, and served as the Board's Rector, 1875-1877.
Gabriel Colvin Wharton was born in Culpeper County, Virginia on July 23, 1824. After graduating from Virginia Military Institute in 1847, Wharton became a civil engineer, working in Arizona and elsewhere. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Wharton was appointed a major within the 45th Virginia Infantry. Soon after, he was promoted to colonel, commanding the 51st Virginia Infantry. In July 1863, Wharton was promoted to brigadier general, commanding a brigade guarding southwestern Virginia railroads and participating in the battles of New Market and Cold Harbor, among others. Wharton married Nannie Radford in 1863; following the war, the couple made their home in Radford, Virginia. Wharton resumed his civil engineering career and was instrumental in building a railroad in the New River Valley. He was a member on the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College's Board of Visitors from 1874 through 1877, serving as the Rector from 1875-1877. Gabriel Wharton died in Radford in 1906.
The collection contains twenty-seven letters, 1874-1878, either addressed to him or forwarded to him. Correspondents include: Charles Martin, C.L.C. Minor, Dr. Harvey Black, John W.C. Davis, C.H. Mellen, V.E. Shepherd, and W.R. Boggs.
See the Gabriel C. Wharton Correspondence, Ms2009-012, also at Virginia Tech Special Collections and University Archives.