EDHE 6064: Higher Education in the United States: Photographs & Video Materials

Locating photographs and videos

Below is a list of some collections that contain significant photographic or video content AND are related to the history of education, the history of higher education, or Virginia Tech university history in some way. You can search our collections for those containing photographs or videos on ArchivesSpace or Virginia Heritage.

Photograph collections and collections with photographs

April 16, 2007 Community Photograph Collection (Ms2013-022)
A collection of 41 framed photographs having to do with the aftermath of the April 16, 2007 shootings. Photographers were community members who submitted images to be considered for an exhibition at Squires' Perspective Gallery in April 2008. Collection also includes additional digital images not framed for the show.
Faculty/Staff Photograph Collection (Photographs.003)
The Faculty/Staff Photograph Collection at Special Collections consists of the photographs, portrait reproductions, and negatives of Virginia Tech employees, dating back to the 1890s.
Historical Photograph Collection (List of Subjects) (Photographs.001)
The photograph collection at Special Collections consists primarily of historical photographs of Virginia Tech, dating back to the 1890s. The collection is also home to historic images of Blacksburg, Montgomery County, the New River Valley, and Southwest Virginia in general. A photograph collection of faculty and staff from the university is maintained separately.
Named/Individual Photograph Collections (Photographs.002)
The Named/Individual Photograph Collections include images from alumni and former faculty and staff, or individuals with ties to campus and the New River Valley. Collections (c.1890-present) depict campus life and events, railroad history, agricultural extension research, Blacksburg and surrounding areas, and some local families.
Records of the Office of the Virginia Tech Recycling Coordinator, Larry Bechtel (RG 6/3/11a)
The Records of the Office of the Virginia Tech Recycling Coordinator, Larry Bechtel include correspondence and reports, photographs and slides, four VHS tapes, three floppy disks, recycling logs, and publications and newspaper articles concerning Virginia Tech Recycling (VTR) and Larry Bechtel's position as its Coordinator from 1991-2007.
Records of the Virginia Tech Black Organizations Council (RG 8/2/6e)
The Black Organizations Council (BOC) was founded on the Virginia Tech campus in 1985, and is the umbrella and resource body for the Black student organizations. According to the organization, BOC serves to ensure the betterment of the Black community through providing a unified voice for the Black community in a university population where the Black community lacks adequate representation. The collection includes documents, photos, VHS tapes, and posters.
Records of War Memorial Chapel (RG 6/3/9)
The Records of War Memorial Chapel contain architectural records, posters, photographs, and prints pertaining to Virginia Tech's War Memorial Chapel - including the Memorial Court, pylons, and cenotaph - and its construction in the 1950s and early 1960s. There are also a few pamphlets detailing the dedication and commemoration of the chapel, as well as records from the chapel after it was opened.
Virginia 4-H Horse Program Records (RG 26/4/2)
The Virginia 4-H Horse Program Records, RG 26/4/2, include photographs, slides, negatives, and audiotapes from Virginia 4-H State Shows, State Fairs, and other events throughout the state. 4-H programs began in Virginia in 1908, and since then, the Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech, and Virginia State University have hosted the Virginia 4-H Horse Program, which emphasizes equine selection, nutrition, management, riding, and horsemanship.
Virginia Tech April 16, 2007 Archives of the University Libraries (Ms2008-020)
The Virginia Tech April 16, 2007 Archives of the University Libraries consists mainly of condolence items received by the university in the wake of April 16, 2007 in which 32 faculty and students were killed. The subseries organization is by type of item. The bulk of materials were received in the first few months following April 16, 2007. There also is a very small series with items specifically sent to or relating to those killed, which is organized alphabetically by name.

Digital photographs

125th Anniversary of Virginia Tech Collection
This collection includes materials included in an 1997 online exhibit created for the 125th anniversary of the university. The original exhibit was a series of webpages with images, digitized text, maps, newspaper clippings, and more. In the course of migrating the exhibit to a newer platform, digitized items were moved to this collection. In some cases, text-based pages were captured as pdf files and included in this collection.
Campus Panoramic Photographs
From the Historical Photograph Collection. A collection of panoramic photographs taken around the Virginia Tech campus, including the Drill Field, Duck Pond, Horticulture Gardens, Lane Stadium and West End Market. Most photographs were taken in 1995, several were taken in 2000.
ImageBase
ImageBase contains a large portion (though not all) of our historical photograph collection.
Solitude Photographs and Papers (Ms1993-024)
This collection consists primarily of thirty-four mounted photographs from Eleanor Stover McEver's collection of various views and details of Solitude, with identifying labels. Eleanor and her husband Herbert Macauley "Mac" McEver lived in Solitude. It also includes other papers, such as newspaper clippings and postcards, with information about Solitude. The paper materials have not been digitized. Solitude is a historic home of Blacksburg, Virginia, built by the Preston family in the early 1800s. It was purchased by the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Virginia Tech) in 1872, and remains the oldest building on campus.

Video materials

Denim Day 40th Anniversary Oral History Collection (Ms2019-001)
This collection includes oral history accounts of the first Denim Day LGBTQ+ awareness event at Virginia Tech in January 1979.
Records of the Virginia Tech Black Organizations Council (RG 8/2/6e)
The Black Organizations Council (BOC) was founded on the Virginia Tech campus in 1985, and is the umbrella and resource body for the Black student organizations. According to the organization, BOC serves to ensure the betterment of the Black community through providing a unified voice for the Black community in a university population where the Black community lacks adequate representation. The collection includes documents, photos, VHS tapes, and posters.
VPI Film Vault
This collection has had minimal processing. It is a collection of films from Virginia Tech University Relations spanning the years from the 1930s through the 1970s.

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Land Acknowledgement

Virginia Tech acknowledges that we live and work on the Tutelo / Monacan People’s homeland, and we recognize their continued relationships with their lands and waterways. We further acknowledge that the Morrill Land-Grant College Act (1862) enabled the commonwealth of Virginia to finance and found Virginia Tech through the forced removal of Native Nations from their lands in western territories. We understand that honoring Native Peoples without explicit material commitments falls short of our institutional responsibilities. Through sustained, transparent, and meaningful engagement with the Tutelo / Monacan Peoples, and other Native Nations, we commit to changing the trajectory of Virginia Tech's history by increasing Indigenous student, staff, and faculty recruitment and retention, diversifying course offerings, and meeting the growing needs of all Virginia tribes and supporting their sovereignty.

Labor Recognition

Virginia Tech acknowledges that its Blacksburg campus sits partly on land that was previously the site of the Smithfield and Solitude Plantations, owned by members of the Preston family. Between the 1770s and the 1860s, the Prestons and other local White families that owned parcels of what became Virginia Tech also owned hundreds of enslaved people. We acknowledge that enslaved Black people generated wealth that financed the predecessor institution to Virginia Tech, the Preston and Olin Institute, and they also worked on construction of its building. Not until 1953, however, was the first Black student permitted to enroll. Through InclusiveVT, the institutional and individual commitment to Ut Prosim (that I may serve) in the spirit of community, diversity, and excellence, we commit to advancing a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive community.

Full and short versions of the acknowledgements can be found on InclusiveVT's website.

This guide was adapted with permission from a course LibGuide originally created by Kira Dietz.