Learning Resources: Digging in the Archives
History as seen through materials in the Christiansburg Institute Museum and Archives (CIMA) and the Christiansburg Institute Digital Archives (CIDA). #DiggingintheArchives
Curated by Sasha Halfon-DeLay
What could be a better way to introduce the story of the Christiansburg Industrial Institute (CII) than with the stone lions that once stood at the entrance gate to the school, welcoming students as they arrived on campus?
CI operated for 100 years, from 1866-1966. It was founded through collaboration between locals and an agent of the Freedmen’s Bureau, who had been tasked with reconstructing the south after the Civil War. The school’s main goal was to educate formerly enslaved African Americans, of whom many were denied access to the ability to read or write.
By the turn of the century, and after persevering through many hardships, the school had grown to be the largest secondary school for Black children in the region. Its campus occupied nearly 200 acres of land and consisted of dormitory buildings, classroom buildings, workshops, barns, and even at one point a state-of-the-art hospital. It was much larger than any high school in the area today. The Christiansburg Industrial Institute stood as a bastion for African American education, solidarity, and empowerment in the region. These steadfast lions symbolize that legacy. For a student to cross the border into the CII campus was for them to become a part of a fierce struggle towards creating a better future for themselves and their community.
By the 1950s, The Christiansburg Industrial Institute (CII) had built a competitive athletics program. Male students who maintained good academic standing could choose to compete in football, baseball, or basketball. Female students could join the majorettes team.
CII athletics truly took off in 1948, when recent Bluefield State College graduate Tillman R. Sease was appointed its Athletic Director. Under his leadership, CII joined the Virginia Interscholastic Athletic League (VIAL), enabling the school to compete against other African American secondary schools across the state. And compete they did- In 1954, the CII Tigers won the Western District Interscholastic Athletic Baseball Championship . With Sease’s training and leadership, three CII students went on to play baseball professionally. That same year, the football team dominated their season, winning nine games with zero losses . In 1956, the basketball team also claimed its championship title .
CII’s athletics program not only brought home trophies but also fostered discipline, teamwork, and opportunity for its students, leaving behind a legacy of excellence that is still remembered today.
The Christiansburg Industrial Institute’s (CII) curriculum was based around vocational education.One physical example of the curriculum is this display case in our museum which was built by carpentry students at CII. It stood within the halls of the school, likely displaying sports trophies and awards.
One of the many great successes of the carpentry department at CII came in 1908, when carpentry students worked to install a state-of-the-art plumbing system on campus entirely by themselves. This project consisted of building and installing a 10,000 gallon tank, a steam pump, a boiler, the housing required to store them, and all of the necessary piping. Notably, this pumped and piped water system was more advanced than the system in the town of Christiansburg, which still relied on manually operated well pumps for water.
The Christiansburg Institute was founded primarily as a literary and religious school, but by the 1880s, with Booker T. Washington of the Tuskegee Institute appointed as supervisor of the school, emphasis shifted toward vocational education that trained students in skills to be self-sufficient and employable upon graduation. To reflect this change, the name was changed to the Christiansburg Industrial Institute. Carpentry remained one of the cornerstones of industrial education at CII until the school’s closing.
Pictured here is a snippet of the Christiansburg Industrial Institute (CII) student newspaper, The C.I.I. Echo, from 1933.
The newspaper’s breadth, depth, and professional formatting are highly impressive for students in their mid-teens and stand as a testament to the rigor of classes and extracurricular life at CII.
Publications printed at the Christiansburg Industrial Institute are a vital source of information for Christiansburg Institute, Inc. today as we conduct historical research about the school.
Within these pages are snapshots of student life, information about individuals, technical details about school operations, and articles covering the events of the time.
Agriculture played a central role in both life and education at CII. While it was initially controversial due to skepticism of agricultural labor among some African Americans at the time, every student was required to take classes in agriculture to cultivate skills in self-reliance and economic independence.
CII stayed up to date with modern farming techniques, at times bringing in outside agricultural experts to tutor students. In the summer of 1915, one especially savvy student produced such a large yield of vegetables on a 30 x 48 foot plot of land that it was calculated the harvest could have generated $354 per acre if sold at market rate, roughly the equivalent of $11,000 per acre today.
Pictured is the Christiansburg Industrial Institute’s (CII) agriculture display at the annual Great Roanoke Fair. In 1910, CII won first prize in five categories: beets, cabbages, parsnips, Irish potatoes, and wheat .
Here are some curated historic images of everyday life at the Christiansburg Industrial Institute (CII), from homecoming celebrations to English class.
The following are quotes from CII alumni about their experiences of the school:
“[CII is] the story of resilience, the story of excellence, and the story of fair treatment among human beings. I think being able to preserve what went on and how people were impacted, how their souls were enriched is far more important than preserving a building and the land.”- Bob Lease, class of 1948
“It was a dream of mine [to have gone to CII]. It was the one thing that I truly wanted to do. Because I wanted that education, I wanted that training, I wanted that connection that my sisters had and my father and them had at that school. Because it's not like you’re just going to attend and nobody knows who you are… there they knew your name, they knew your family, they knew your history… I would like for [future generations] to know about the pageantry, the pomp and circumstance, the pride, the degree of education, strength that we received from the teachers there at that school. They were all just awesome teachers and before they know your family they make sure that you were going to be an awesome person and graduate coming out of that school.” Shirley Johnson Akers, would-be class of 1973
These quotes are drawn from the Buzz for Good documentary on CII.Watch to hear firsthand from Bob Lease, Shirley Johnson Akers, and other alumni as they share their stories and experiences.
For more pictures of students and life at CII, check out the Waymon Pack Photograph Collection on the Christiansburg Institute Digital Archives (CIDA).
Here are some curated historic images of everyday life at the Christiansburg Industrial Institute (CII), from homecoming celebrations to English class.
The following are quotes from CII alumni about their experiences of the school:
“[CII is] the story of resilience, the story of excellence, and the story of fair treatment among human beings. I think being able to preserve what went on and how people were impacted, how their souls were enriched is far more important than preserving a building and the land.”- Bob Lease, class of 1948
“It was a dream of mine [to have gone to CII]. It was the one thing that I truly wanted to do. Because I wanted that education, I wanted that training, I wanted that connection that my sisters had and my father and them had at that school. Because it's not like you’re just going to attend and nobody knows who you are… there they knew your name, they knew your family, they knew your history… I would like for [future generations] to know about the pageantry, the pomp and circumstance, the pride, the degree of education, strength that we received from the teachers there at that school. They were all just awesome teachers and before they know your family they make sure that you were going to be an awesome person and graduate coming out of that school.” Shirley Johnson Akers, would-be class of 1973
These quotes are drawn from the Buzz for Good documentary on CII. Watch to hear firsthand from Bob Lease, Shirley Johnson Akers, and other alumni as they share their stories and experiences.
For more pictures of students and life at CII, check out the Waymon Pack Photograph Collection on the Christiansburg Institute Digital Archives (CIDA).
Blacksburg New Town and St. Luke and Odd Fellows Hall in Blacksburg: The ceremonial sword pictured below, held in the Christiansburg Institute Museum and Archives (CIMA), was used by the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows and was similar to the one used at St. Luke and Odd Fellows Hall in the New Town neighborhood of Blacksburg. The formation of fraternal lodges amongst African Americans was not merely social - it was a necessary response to exclusion, as white fraternal orders systematically denied Black people membership on the basis of race. As a fraternal organization, the Odd Fellows emphasized mutual aid, charity, and community cohesion, and ceremonial objects like this sword played a role in formal lodge rituals and initiations. One important role of the fraternal organization was that it provided its members with opportunities to purchase insurance and borrow loans - important transactions which were otherwise difficult for African Americans to pursue in Blacksburg during Jim Crow segregation.
The first African American landowner in the New Town area was Gilbert Vaughn, a formerly enslaved man from Christiansburg who helped lay the foundation for what would become a thriving Black community. By the turn of the 20th century, New Town had grown into a fully developed, self-sufficient neighborhood, home to many families, businesses, and organizations like the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows. The St. Luke and Odd Fellows hall itself served as the religious, social, and civic heart of New Town, hosting everything from community meetings and worship services to celebrations and sporting events. Many New Town residents attended school at the Christiansburg Industrial Institute.
Today, St. Luke and Odd Fellows Hall stands as the last remaining structure from historic New Town, representing African American life, business, resilience, and cultural expression in Blacksburg. Though the fraternal order no longer meets there, the building stands as a reminder of the vital networks of support and leadership within local African American communities during the early- and mid-20th century and as a testament to the African American Blacksburgers that helped make the town what it is today.
For more information, check out Christiansburg Institute Inc.’s curated virtual African American Legacy Tour
Life at CII was characterized by a strict code of conduct rooted in the principles of discipline, morality, civic engagement, and hard work, which were believed to mold students into upstanding and resilient citizens. Principal Edgar A. Long believed this to be especially important for Black students, who would have “to do better work than other people in order to hold our jobs” and who, more so than white people, would “have to restrain ourselves when we feel we are imposed upon.” This code of conduct was serious business; in 1910, two graduating students had their diplomas withheld because they were caught playing cards a week before graduation.
The fountain pictured has a story behind it that exemplifies life under the CII code of conduct. It was recovered from the Edgar A. Long building, the central academic building and one of the few buildings remaining on what was the former Christiansburg Industrial Institute’s (CII) campus and is now on display in our museum. CII alumni and CI, Inc. Board Chair, Debbie Sherman-Lee, recalls that in the 1960s, this very fountain was a central socializing location where male and female students mingled outside of class. CII dormitories were gender segregated; the female students resided at Baily-Morris Hall on the east side of the Edgar A. Long building. Male students resided at Morris Hall on the west side of the building. The Edgar A. Long building even had two doors, one for each gender. There would be strict punishment if a girl and boy were caught with each other unsupervised, and the fountain was one place where supervised mingling would take place in-between classes.
Life at CII was characterized by a strict code of conduct rooted in the principles of discipline, morality, civic engagement, and hard work, which were believed to mold students into upstanding and resilient citizens. Principal Edgar A. Long believed this to be especially important for Black students, who would have “to do better work than other people in order to hold our jobs” and who, more so than white people, would “have to restrain ourselves when we feel we are imposed upon.” This code of conduct was serious business; in 1910, two graduating students had their diplomas withheld because they were caught playing cards a week before graduation.
The fountain pictured has a story behind it that exemplifies life under the CII code of conduct. It was recovered from the Edgar A. Long building, the central academic building and one of the few buildings remaining on what was the former Christiansburg Industrial Institute’s (CII) campus and is now on display in our museum. CII alumni and CI, Inc. Board Chair, Debbie Sherman-Lee, recalls that in the 1960s, this very fountain was a central socializing location where male and female students mingled outside of class. CII dormitories were gender segregated; the female students resided at Baily-Morris Hall on the east side of the Edgar A. Long building. Male students resided at Morris Hall on the west side of the building. The Edgar A. Long building even had two doors, one for each gender. There would be strict punishment if a girl and boy were caught with each other unsupervised, and the fountain was one place where supervised mingling would take place in-between classes.
The music department at the Christiansburg Industrial Institute (CII) was well regarded around Montgomery County for training highly skilled student musicians. The success of the music department at CII was made possible by music teacher Zedekiah (Zeddy) Eli Holmes, who started teaching at CII after graduating from Howard University and the University of Michigan, where he studied under the famous Black concert pianist, Hazel Harrison. Upon arriving at CII, he found the music department was so underfunded that there weren’t enough instruments for everyone. To remedy this, he brought his own instruments to the school for students to play. He developed the music department to the point where the Boys’ Band and the Girls’ Glee Club were touring and competing around the state, as well as being well-regarded ensembles in Christiansburg.
Pictured is the uniform that students would have worn in the Christiansburg Industrial Institute’s marching band. For CII’s homecoming parade, the band would march through downtown Christiansburg and was met with great local fanfare.
To see more CII uniforms in our collection, explore theC.I. Uniform Collection on the Christiansburg Institute Digital Archives (CIDA).
The music department at the Christiansburg Industrial Institute (CII) was well regarded around Montgomery County for training highly skilled student musicians. The success of the music department at CII was made possible by music teacher Zedekiah (Zeddy) Eli Holmes, who started teaching at CII after graduating from Howard University and the University of Michigan, where he studied under the famous Black concert pianist, Hazel Harrison. Upon arriving at CII, he found the music department was so underfunded that there weren’t enough instruments for everyone. To remedy this, he brought his own instruments to the school for students to play. He developed the music department to the point where the Boys’ Band and the Girls’ Glee Club were touring and competing around the state, as well as being well-regarded ensembles in Christiansburg.
Pictured is the uniform that students would have worn in the Christiansburg Industrial Institute’s marching band. For CII’s homecoming parade, the band would march through downtown Christiansburg and was met with great local fanfare.
To see more CII uniforms in our collection, explore the C.I. Uniform Collection on the Christiansburg Institute Digital Archives (CIDA).
The Evelyn Young Collection [1962-1966] in the Christiansburg Institute Digital Archives (CIDA) holds programs from many of the coveted performances, concerts, and shows held at the Christiansburg Industrial Institute in the 1960s. Revealed within this collection are the proud showcases of classes and extra-curriculars like theater, band, choir, home economics, forensics, and cosmetology, and the names of students and faculty involved.
Nellie’s Cave, which lies just outside of Blacksburg’s corporate limits toward Ellett Valley, was settled by Nellie and Gordon Mills directly after Emancipation. Nellie Mills had been enslaved on the Hoge plantation and was given the land from the Hoge estate upon her emancipation. The Nellie’s Cave area had grown to be a sizable African American community by the early 1900s, and at one point it had its own schoolhouse and dance hall. Descendants of Nellie and Gordon Mills continue to inhabit the area today.
In more recent times, the Nellie’s Cave community was the site of a serious political controversy. In 1988, the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors approved a plan brought forward by a property development company to build a large road through the residents’ properties. The local Black community fought back. They created “The Concerned Citizens for the Preservation of Nellie’s Cave Community” (CCNCC), which raised money to file a lawsuit against the members of the Board of Supervisors, accusing them of racial discrimination and improper process in approving the development.
To raise money, they held a Folk Festival at Nellie’s Cave Park with food, music, and art by local African Americans. On other occasions, poet and Virginia Tech professor emeritus Nikki Giovanni held a poetry benefit night, and Michael Cook, a Virginia Tech professor of history, held public lectures about the value of preserving local Black history and the injustices committed by the Board of Supervisors. Members of the Mills family of Nellie’s Cave, some of whom were graduates of the Christiansburg Industrial Institute, were instrumental in organizing the group.
The activists involved in the fight intertwined their understandings of racial injustice with environmental degradation. They argued that the construction would threaten endangered species and that the porous rocks underlying the properties would lead any development to contaminate the groundwater, on which the African American residents in the community depended. The activists were skilled in media relations and managed to get the story published by newspapers around the state.
Unfortunately, the group was unsuccessful in their attempts to curtail the development of the road, as well as in their lawsuit. However, they succeeded not only in illuminating the deep-rooted history of the Nellie’s Cave community but also in documenting and exposing the racial injustice at the core of local institutions.
For more information about the history of Nellie’s Cave and The Concerned Citizens for the Preservation of Nellie’s Cave Community, check out the Nellie’s Cave Collection in the Christiansburg Institute Digital Archives (CIDA)
The cave at Nellie’s Cave