The first of four open house events at Special Collections will be held on Tuesday September 3rd from 5:00PM to 7:00PM. Other open houses will be held on the first Tuesday of each month this fall, through December.
If you’ve never taken the opportunity to explore the holdings of Special Collections—but perhaps you’ve never seen a first edition of James Joyce’s Ulysses, or always wondered about the relationship between cocktails and prohibition, or couldn’t believe that a 56 year old fellow from Wisconsin really did enlist in the Union Army in October 1861 . . . alongside his 12 year-old son—well, now would be a good time to start. We’ll have a representative sample of our holdings on display and staff members on hand who will be happy to answer your questions.
Selection of Civil War DiariesTwo works by Langston Hughes: A New Song (1938; signed) and Scottsboro Limited (1931)
This is just a sample of what you’ll find when you visit Special Collections. Please do drop in this Tuesday, September 3rd or, if you can’t make it then, visit us for one of our First Tuesday Open House events this fall. Whether to support an interest or provide assistance for a research project Special Collections is here to offer a wealth of assistance and materials. Come see us!
In 2007, Special Collections at Virginia Tech was graciously gifted a copy of Isaac Newtons Opticks or a Treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflections and Colours of Light.
Title Page from Opticks, or, A treatise of the reflections, refractions, inflections and colours of light by Sir Isaac Newton
Opticks was Newton’s second major book on physical science and was first published in English in 1704, with a scholarly Latin translation following in 1706. The book analyzes the fundamental nature of light by means of the refraction of light with prisms and lenses, the diffraction of light by closely spaced sheets of glass, and the behavior of color mixtures with spectral lights or pigment powders.
The publication of Opticks represented a major contribution to science, and was well received and hotly debated upon its release. Opticks is largely a record of experiments and the deductions made from them, covering a wide range of topics. In the book Newton sets forth in full his experiments, first reported to the Royal Academy of London in 1672 on dispersion, or the separation of light into a spectrum of its component colors. He demonstrates how the appearance of color arises from selective absorption, reflection, or transmission of the various component parts of the incident light.
The major significance of Newton’s work is that it overturned the dogma, attributed to Aristotle or Theophrastus and accepted by scholars in Newton’s time, that “pure” light (such as the light attributed to the Sun) is fundamentally white or colorless, and is altered into color by mixture with darkness caused by interactions with matter. Newton showed just the opposite was true: light is composed of different spectral hues, and all colors, including white, are formed by various mixtures of these hues.
Fold-out page with diagrams illustrating Newton’s experiments
A chart containing results of Newton’s tests
Opening page to Part I of the text
The copy belonging to Special Collections is a 3rd edition of the text, printed in 1721 in London for William and John Innys and was the last edition produced during Newtons lifetime. This nearly 300 year old leather bound book is in excellent condition, even the fold-out pages containing diagrams of Newtons experiments.
The gift was designated by the donors in honor of Matthew Charles Ziegler, Class of 2003. Since it is not recommended that modern materials such as bookplates and their glue be attached to such extraordinary and rare books, this information is noted in the bibliographic record. What a great way to commemorate a Hokie!
Mardi Gras Parade, New Orleans, Louisiana (LOC) http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/8385172346/
When I was a wee lass pondering my future I did what any bookish young person (pre-Google) would doI went to my local library. In this case, I went to my childhood library to interview the library director about careers in librarianship. This is the only tidbit I remember librarians love conferences.
Its true. Think about it for a moment. Librarians love information and learning new tricks of the trade and what better venue to do that in than an overly air-conditioned, poorly decorated hotel conference room in Indianapolis, Washington, D.C., or Anaheim.
Archivists also like their conferences and our big one is coming up in a few weeks. Yay, New Orleans in August! In honor of our soon to be host city I thought I would highlight some IAWA collections from the Crescent City.
One of the many institutions of higher learning in New Orleans is Tulane University. For 120 years (1886-2006) Newcomb College operated as a coordinate college of Tulane. Founded by Josephine Louise Newcombs desire to establish a college in memory of her daughter, Harriot Sophie, Newcomb College would in time flourish academically becoming by 1916 one of only seven southern schools to hold a standard college designation within the Southern Association of College Women. Two departments in particular garnered regional and even international admiration: the Department of Physical Education and the Newcomb Art School (1910-1945).
Jacobean Arm Chair, Fannie Magee Drawings, part of Ms2009-054 IAWA Small Collections.
Newcomb Studio, Fannie Magee Drawings, part of Ms2009-054 IAWA Small Collections.
Portrait of a Newcomb girl on a stool (1915), by Wanda Simmons, Newcomb College Drawings, part of Ms2009-054 IAWA Small Collections.
The Newcomb Art School offered an industrial art program featuring pottery, interior design, furniture making, and many other arts and crafts in an effort to educate women in the practical side of life, as well as, to provide employment opportunities for women when few existed. The IAWA has 16 original pencil drawings from students who attended the Newcomb Art School featuring drawings of furniture and interiors by Wanda Simmons and Fannie Magee.
Our next collection with a Big Easy connection is the Betty L. Moss Architectural Collection. Moss was an architect in New Orleans who opened her practice in the 1940s and continued until her death in 2007. A graduate of both Newcomb College and Tulane she was a proud New Orleans resident and an outspoken defender of building preservation and conservation. In October of 2005, a mere 2 months afterHurricane Katrina, she submitted designs for 3 + 4 bedroom prototype houses for the new New Orleans to city officials. These raised houses were designed to protect life and property and to fit the historic New Orleans lot sizes and aesthetic.
From Ms2008-071 Betty L. Moss Architectural Collection. Drawing of Moss’s proposed raised 3 bedroom prototype for Post Katrina New Orleans.
From Ms2008-071 Betty L. Moss Architectural Collection. Moss’s proposed integration of Harrah’s Casino into the exciting Rivergate structure.
Moss along with our third New Orleanian, Abbey Gorin, worked ardently to defend against the demolition of the Rivergate, a mid-20th century Expressionist structure that existed on Canal Street, where the main thoroughfare of the city meets the Mississippi River. The futuristic convention center designed by New Orleans architectural firm Nathaniel C. Curtis Jr. and Arthur Q. Davis lasted only 27 years before it was demolished in 1995 to make way for a Harrahs casino. Moss and Gorin wrote a six-minute film about the history and importance of the structure and it is present in Gorins collection.
Our conference hotel is just a mere 0.1 mile from Harrahs casino, and I would much rather see the undulating concrete roof line of the Rivergate, meant to mimic the Mississippi River, than the bright lights of Harrahs.
If anyone has any suggestions of what I should see and where I should eat in the City that Care Forgot please drop me a line in the comments section below.
8. [Crawford, William L.]: MARVEL TALES Volume 1, Number 2. Everett, PA: Fantasy Publications, 1934. 60pp. Original paper wrappers, stapled; top and bottom edges worn, corners bumped. Internally clean. Very good.
Marvel Tales was semi-professional editor William L. Crawford’s attempt to fill in the gap left during a brief, early Depression-era lull in the mass-market science fiction magazine marketplace. Crawford saw Marvel Tales as his own vehicle for publishing material too risky for editors at the helm of contemporary magazines such as Astounding Stories, Amazing Stories, and Wonder Stories. Serving simultaneously as publisher, editor, and typesetter, he produced five issues during 1934 and 1935, of which this is the second, notably featuring the first publication of Robert Howard’s short story “The Garden of Fear”. The present copy bears the yellow and green cover variant; the text does not include the printing errors found in the second, variant issue described by Miller and Contento. “Marvel Tales was a worthwhile and exciting experiment that could have had a significant impact on the development of SF had it succeeded . . . Crawford has been overlooked in the history of SF, but one day he will be accorded his place beside pioneers F. Orlin Tremaine and John W. Campbell, as an editor who tried to shape the future of SF” — Tymn. Nineteen copies located in OCLC. An attractive survival of 1930s SF fandom, and not common in the marketplace.
Edward Beyer’s Sketch of the Montgomery White Sulphur Springs resort, as planned in 1853.
Summer is here and that means it is time to think about vacationing! While most visitors to our region today tour historically significant sites and enjoy the many recreational activities available in the Blue Ridge Mountains, over a hundred years ago, the most popular attractions in the area were mineral spring resorts. These large and beautiful campuses advertised themselves as ideal for those desiring a change for the purpose of health, novelty, recreation, and to get rid of the wearing activities of business life.
The Yellow Sulphur Springs resort, located between Blacksburg and Christiansburg, commenced operation as a health spa in 1810. Similarly, the Montgomery White Sulphur Springs resort, in Ellett Valley, was incorporated by a group of local businessmen in 1855. Benefiting from the popular belief in the restorative powers of mineral waters, both resorts catered to a new leisure class seeking healthy and entertaining distractions. Offering such amenities as ballrooms, billiards, bowling alleys, gazebos, and sports fields, the resorts attracted visitors from throughout the United States and several foreign countries and it was not uncommon for guests to stay for a month or more. Easy access to the nearby Virginia-Tennessee Railroad ensured the initial success of the springs.
The Montgomery White, encompassing several acres of land, boasted a three-story hotel with more than 200 rooms and more than 30 cottages on the grounds. In 1862 the resort was designated a Confederate general hospital, charged with caring for sick and wounded soldiers. By the end of the summer, the hospital was at capacity, with more than 400 patients. While there is no complete list of those who died in the hospital, the nearby cemetery is said to hold 265 graves. Although it was one of the smaller spas in the area, Yellow Sulphur Springs could house as many as 400 guests in its hotel and adjacent cottages. The hotel became a favorite place for students at Virginia Agricultural and Mechanics College after the college’s founding in 1872. It temporarily closed from 1863 to 1868, but following the war and much renovation, both resorts again opened to the public and became popular summertime destinations.
Montgomery White Sulphur Springs Invitation, 1870
Yellow Sulphur Springs Ball Invitation, 1871
The pavilion at Montgomery White Sulphur Springs
Montgomery White Sulphur Springs Pavilion with Guests
Cottages and Sulphur Spring Pavilion
Close-up of a guest cottage at Montgomery White Sulphur Springs
Yellow Sulphur Springs Sale Broadside, 1943
The springs of Virginia; life, love and death at the waters, 1775-1900, by Perceval Reniers (1941).
Montgomery White Sulphur Springs : a history of the resort, hospital, cemeteries, markers, and monument, by Dorothy H. Bodell, (1993).
By the 1890s, however, the spring resorts of the New River Valley were slowly declining in popularity due to the advent of the automobile and scientific skepticism of the value of spring baths. The economic panic of 1893, together with instances of fire and flood, may have accelerated the resorts downfall. The Montgomery White property was sold by auction and the remaining structures dismantled in 1904. The Yellow Springs property was also sold by auction in 1929, however the original hotel and several other buildings remain standing today, having been placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The buildings have been partially restored, and a guest house and healing arts studio now operate there.
TheYellow Sulphur Springs Hotel Account Book, which might more accurately be described as a guest register, includes the names of guests, their place of residence, the time of their arrival, and their room numbers. The register’s entries commence on August 26, 1887 and end on July 10, 1895.While the resort played host to guests from all areas of the United States, and a few from foreign countries, a number of guests were local residents. Each register page features advertisements for a variety of businesses in Lynchburg, Virginia. TheMontgomery White Sulphur Springs Resort Registerspans from June 30, 1886 to July 26, 1890 and includes the names of the resort’s guests, their place of residence and notes on their meals, rooms and porterage. Each alternate register page features an advertisement for either the Hexall Mills or the Southern Fertilizing Company, both of Richmond, Virginia.
For those interested in learning more about the leisure activities and the spring spas of the New River Valley, a good starting point would be to check outMontgomery White Sulphur Springs : a history of the resort, hospital, cemeteries, markers, and monumentby Dorothy H. Bodell (1993) andThe Springs of Virginia; Life, Love and Death at the Watersby Perceval Reniers (1941). Details about related materials, such as theball invitations, photographs, broadside advertisements, military travel passes, and other resources shown here can be found by searching theVirginia Heritage Database or by visiting us in Special Collections. We wish all of our readers safe and relaxing travels this summer!
At a time when women could find little work or credibility in the field of architecture Frank Lloyd Wright unhesitatingly employed and mentored women accepting them into his Taliesin Fellowship as peers. Over the years more than 100 women architects, designers, and artisans worked with Wright. The IAWA has architectural collections from three of these women: Eleanore Pettersen (1941-1943); A. Jane Duncombe (1948-1949); and Lois Davisdon Gottlieb (1948-1949).
From A Way of Life: An Apprenticeship with Frank Lloyd Wright by Lois Davidson Gottlieb (2001). Caption reads: “Lee Kawahara and Peter Mathews watch Mr. Wright at work on the site, making changes to the plans for one of the farm buildings.”
From A Way of Life: An Apprenticeship with Frank Lloyd Wright by Lois Davidson Gottlieb (2001). Caption reads: “Mr. and Mrs. Wright, their family, and the apprentices with their spouses and children – having Easter breakfast.”
Taliesin
Longtime proponents of Learn by Doing, Frank Lloyd Wright and his third-wife Olgivanna Wright envisioned a self-sufficient school and community where architecture and the arts would flourish. Therefore, when they established the Taliesin Fellows at Wrights summer home, Taliesin, near Spring Green, Wisconsin in 1932 they put into place a system that would emphasize painting, sculpture, music, drama, and dance in their places as divisions of architecture as well as requiring that the apprentices be responsible for the entire work of feeding and caring for the student body.
Apprentices at Taliesin worked in the gardens and fields, did laundry, cooking, and cleaning while simultaneously working on the construction, daily operations, and maintenance of the school. Taliesin quickly developed into an architectural laboratory producing some of the nations best design work and attracting talented artists and creative thinkers from around the word.
Under Wrights direction apprentices created renderings, made models, did the engineering and produced construction drawings. They supervised construction on projects like the Johnson Wax Headquarters (Racine, WI), Fallingwater (Bear Run, PA), and the first Usonian houses. In the winter of 1935, the entire Fellowship moved to Arizona, where they eventually established Taliesin West in Scottsdale (1937) after spending the first two winters in temporary quarters. The 1935 migration inaugurated the tradition of seasonally moving the school between Wisconsin and Arizona.
Wright passed away in 1959 and upon his passing the ownership of the Taliesin estate in Spring Green, as well as Taliesin West, passed into the hands of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. The Foundation continues the educational mission of Frank Lloyd Wright and the Taliesin Fellowship has evolved into the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture.
From Ms2003-018 Eleanore Pettersen Architectural Collection. Pettersen in her studio and home a renovated 200-year-old barn in Saddle River, NJ.
Pettersen was one of the first womenlicensed as an architect in the state of New Jersey in 1950, and was the first woman in New Jersey to open her own architectural office. She primarily designed residences. Among her clients were President Richard Nixon and jazz artist George Benson. She became a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1991.
Pettersen on Wright: I am a tactile person and must really enter into the process of a given field. In this case, the process is construction. In 1941, such an aspiration seemed impossible for a woman. Being an apprentice afforded me the opportunity to participate in the building process concrete, wood, electrical work, etc. This experience I have carried with me my whole life. It was the foundation of my architecture career. Mr. Wright was my architectural father and from him came my desire for excellence and architectural integrity.
Pettersen on Taliesin: It was a beautiful life. We had time for everything, time to be creative. We made our own music and entertainment, had our own dress parties. The only thing was that it was so insular; you didnt see anyone from the outside. It was like living on the moon. When I left, my bloodstream ran differently.
From Ms2002-004 A. Jane Duncombe Architectural Collection. The west elevation of the Thurkauf House, Amador City, CA designed by A. Jane Duncombe (1987).
A. Jane Duncombe (1925-); apprentice at Taliesin from 1948-1949. A. Jane Duncombe graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago’s School of Industrial Design where she studied under Marya Lilien. Lilien was the first woman to receive an architectural degree in Poland and was a Charter Apprentice at Taliesin. Lilien told Duncombe early in her studies, “You must be an architect, you have it!” Duncombe teamed up with fellow Taliesin apprentice Lois Davidson Gottlieb to form the design team Duncombe-Davidson, based in Sausalito. During their partnership (1951-1956) they designed residences in Marin County starting with the Val Goeschen house, a one-room unit with 576 square feet, in Inverness, CA. Duncombe continued to practice in the San Francisco Bay area for forty years where she completed a broad range of projects.
Duncombe on Taliesin: The impact of Taliesin was Taliesin itself. I am convinced that having lived in those incredible buildings was the teaching that was necessary. For the first time I was aware of the wonder possible in buildings. It changed the way I look at everything and I know it is essential to all of us who work with land, light, space, and materials.
From A Way of Life: An Apprenticeship with Frank Lloyd Wright by Lois Davidson Gottlieb (2001). Caption reads: “Lois Davidson weaving at the loom (Davidson was my maiden name before I married in 1955.)”
Gottlieb is a residential designer based in San Francisco, CA. After her partnership with A. Jane Duncombe (see above) she worked as a freelance designer on over 100 projects in the Bay Area and in Riverside, CA, as well as in Washington, Idaho, and Virginia. She also published several books including, Environment and Design in Housing (a book based on her lectures for a course of the same name published in 1966) and A Way of Life: An Apprenticeship with Frank Lloyd Wright (which was based on the traveling exhibit of her photos taken while at Taliesin in the late 1940s).
Gottlieb on Wright: The first time I saw a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright it was as if I suddenly heard a Beethoven Symphony, never having listened to music before. It was the Hanna house on the Stanford campus. During my last quarter as a student there my architecture class went on a tour of the house. Stunned by the experience I had to do something about it.
Gottlieb on Taliesin: Mrs. Wright informed me, the first time that we met, that at Taliesin everything was done from scratch. We sleep in sleeping bags, weave our own cloth, grow our own food, and play live music. Fortunately, I knew how to play the piano and weave. True to my word I made new pillows for the living room.
Christmas at the President’s House, 1891 Front, from left, Susan “Susie” McLaren McBryde, James Bolton McBryde, Belle Campbell Bolton, ?, Charles Neil “Saint” McBryde; back row, Maria Lawson Bolton, Anna Maria McBryde (Davidson), Channing Moore Bolton, Elizabeth Hazelhurst Bolton, Meade Bolton McBryde, Cora Bolton McBryde, President John McLaren McBryde, and Dr. Robert James Davidson, far right
A recent gift of images and family papers from Larry McBryde, great grandson of former Virginia Tech President John McLaren McBryde, helps us to step back in time to 1891 when John McLaren McBryde accepted the presidency of V.A.M.C. at age 50 and the campus looked very different. The collection includes images of the campus as it used to be.
Virginia Tech President’s House, 1891Elevated rear view of the Virginia Tech President’s House, 1891Distant view of the President’s House. House is gabled building to the right.
A Difficult Decision for President McBryde
Letters included in Larry McBrydes gift illuminate a very difficult decision in President McBrydes career. His letter of May 12, 1904 to his son Charles Saint,” tells of his decision to decline the offer of the presidency of the University of Virginia (UVA). The UVA Board of Visitors voted unanimously to elect him president and to allow him to dictate his own terms. McBryde had strong ties to UVA as he had studied there until the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 when he returned to his birthplace of Abbeville, South Carolina and joined a Confederate volunteer company. After the war he moved to a 1,000-acre farm near Charlottesville in 1867 and took an active part in organizing a Farmers Club.
President McBryde’s letter of May 12, 1904 to his son Charles “Saint”
President McBrydes letter to Carter Glass about his faltering decision to decline the offer and to continue as president of Virginia Tech includes reflections on the role of president.
McBryde’s 1904 letter to Carter Glass, page 1
McBryde’s 1904 letter to Carter Glass, page 2
McBryde’s 1904 letter to Carter Glass, page 3
McBryde’s 1904 letter to Carter Glass, page 4
McBryde’s 1904 letter to Carter Glass, page 5
McBryde’s 1904 letter to Carter Glass, page 6
In his gracious reply to McBryde’s letter of refusal, Carter Glass asserts, I believe the V.P.I is getting to be a greater institution for Virginia than any other.
Carter Glass’ letter in response to McBryde’s declining the UVA presidencyPresident McBryde c.1920s
McBryde, Father of the Modern VPI, resigned as president effective July 1, 1907. He was given the title President Emeritus and granted the first honorary degree awarded by the college, the honorary Doctor of Science degree. The first graduate degree for completion of studies beyond the bachelor degree was the Master of Science (M. S.), awarded in 1892 to his son, Charles (Saint). We invite you to view these and other historical materials in the Special Collections Reading Room in Newman Library.
Could That Horsewoman Be Mary G. Lacy, the First Professional Librarian at Virginia Tech?
Susan (“Susie”) and John, Jr. on Horseback with Friends
Larry McBryde identified two of President McBrydes children in the photograph, from left, Susan Susie McLaren McBryde and John McLaren McBryde, Jr., his own grandfather. Since he knows that Susie was friends with Mary G. Lacy, the first professional librarian at Virginia Tech, Larry McBryde wonders if she might be one of the other young ladies in the picture. Mary G. Lacy served as Head Librarian from 1903 -1910. She was followed in that position by her sister Ethel A. Lacy, who served as assistant librarian from 1907-1909 and then as librarian from 1910-1913. Mary Lacy also had the assistance of Mary A. Ernst, later Mary Ernst Phillips, cataloguer, from 1904-07. The very first head librarian at Virginia Tech was Professor V. E. Shepherd, who also served as treasurer and secretary of the faculty from 1872-73 to 1874-75. Professor Shepherd went on to serve as professor of Latin, modern languages, and book-keeping. Students, including R. J. Noell (1883-84, 1885-86), W. H. Graham (1886-1887), and A. W. Drinkard (1891-92), were librarians until Mary G. Lacy took up her post. The current head Librarian at Virginia Tech is Tyler Walters, who is the Dean of the University Libraries.
Any further images of or information about Mary G. Lacy would be gratefully received by the University Archives. Please contact Tamara Kennelly, University Archivist, 231-9214, tjk@vt.edu.
A diagram identifying the components of a coat of arms.
Most fans of the popular Game of Thrones television show and book series can tell you the sigil of House Stark and the motto of the Lannister family, but did you know that your own family might have similar identifying emblems? Heraldry, which is the practice of designing, displaying, describing, and recording coats of arms and heraldic badges, does not exist solely in fantasy fiction, but actually dates back over 900 years and is still in use today.
Special Collections is home to the Temple Heraldry Collection which consists of more than 1200 bound volumes, has texts ranging from as early as 1572, all the way up until the modern era. The original gift of 700 pieces was donated to the University Libraries by Col. Harry D. Temple, who graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1934. While a majority of texts relate to British heraldry, the collection is constantly being expanded to include works on the heraldry of other nations, such as France, Germany, Poland, Russia, and Spain. Also included are works on related topics of arms and armor, flags, uniforms, and military decorations. These materials are listed in the University Libraries’ online catalog system.
The origins of heraldry stretch back into ancient times. Warriors often decorated their shields with patterns and mythological motifs. Army units of the Roman Empire were identified by the distinctive markings on their shields. These were not heraldic in the medieval sense, as they were associated with military units, not individuals or families. Truly heraldic devices seem to have been first used in Europe during the reign of Charlemagne (768814 AD).
The emergence of heraldry as we know it today was linked to the need to distinguish participants quickly and easily in combat. Distinguishing devices were used on coats of arms, shields, and caparisoned horses, and it would have been natural for knights to use the same devices as those already used on their banners and seals. A formal system of rules developed into ever more complex forms of heraldry to ensure that each knight’s arms were unique (at least within the same jurisdiction).
The system of blazoning arms that is used in English-speaking countries today was developed by the officers of arms in the Middle Ages. This includes a stylized description of the escutcheon (shield), the crest, and, if present, supporters, mottoes, and other insignia. Understanding heraldic rules, most importantly the Rule of Ticture, is the key to the art of heraldry. In the Temple Collection are several encyclopedic texts that offer descriptions of family crests. By following the guidelines of heraldry, one would be able to create a visual representation from the written outline.
Does your familys moniker depict a dragon symbolizing that you are Valiant defender of treasure? Or perhaps a stag to show that you are One who will not fight unless provoked? It is orange to represent your familys ambition or blue, showing that you value truth and loyalty? Every aspect of a coat of arms is symbolic, from the coloring and patterns, to the shapes and layout.
Corps of Cadets Coat of ArmsVT University Seal
Heraldry flourishes in the modern world; institutions, companies, and private persons continue using coats of arms as their pictorial identification. Members of the VT community will likely recognize the official coat of arms of the Corps of Cadets, shown here. Designed in 1965 by Col. Harry D. Temple when he was commanding officer of the Army’s Institute of Heraldry, the coat of arms was granted to the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets by the U.S. Army. The symbols are as follows:
Flaming grenade = preparation for war
Four gold stars = four major wars in which Tech cadets had fought before 1965 (Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, and Korean War)
Laurel wreath = the presidential citation given to the cadet band for Spanish-American War service
Color red = strength and courage
Sword = command
Similarly, the University has an official seal containing a shield divided into four quadrants depicting the obverse side of the Great Seal of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the surveyor’s level and leveling rod superimposed over a scroll, a partially husked standing ear of corn, and a chemical retort and graduate. Above the shield is the left side of the flaming lamp of learning with a right hand suspended above it. Created in 1896 and officially adopted by the board of visitors in 1963, the seal has remained unchanged (with the exception of the name of the institution and the alteration of the commonwealth portion) for more than 11 decades and reflects the agricultural/mechanical emphasis in the Virginia Tech curriculum during its first century.
Special Collections is open to researchers looking to better understand the symbolism of coats of arms connected with particular family names, churches, universities, fraternal orders and organizations, as well as those who simply wish to learn more about the governing rules of the art form and design a crest of personal meaning.
Spring has finally sprung here in Blacksburg. After an unexpected snowstorm earlier in the month the trees are now flowering, birds are singing, and flip flop weather is upon us once again.
Suddenly, nature is front and center and thoughts (mine anyway) turn to planting. Flowers, herbs, vegetables, the possibilities for shaping our environment and bringing forth color and sustenance abound.
Scottsboro Limited by Langston Hughes with illustrations by Prentiss Taylor. The Golden Stair Press, 1932
Langston Hughes’s Scottsboro Limited: Four Poems and a Play in Verse was published in 1932 by The Golden Stair Press of New York. It was written in response to a legal case, a miscarriage of justice, a notorious and infamous example of injustice in the Jim Crow South . . . that appeared again in the news this week.
On 25 March 1931, nine young black men, aged 12 to 19 were removed from a freight train by police and arrested at Paint Rock, Alabama. The authorities had been alerted by a group of young white men who, after a confrontation with the black teenagers aboard the train, had been forced off near Stevenson, Alabama. Two young white women, mill workers from Huntsville, were also taken from the train at Paint Rock. When in the custody of the police, the two women reported that they had been raped aboard the train by the young black men. A mob gathered that first evening in Scottsboro, but Alabama’s governor, Benjamin Miller, ordered the National Guard to prevent the mob from lynching the young men.
Twelve days later, what became known as the trials of the Scottsboro Boys began. The defendants—Olen Montgomery, Clarence Norris, Haywood Patterson, Ozzie Powell, Willie Roberson, Charlie Weems, Eugene Williams, and brothers Andy and Roy Wright—were divided into four groups, and four separate trials were held. Five days later, eight of the nine had been convicted and sentenced to death by all-white juries. Roy Wright, the youngest of the nine, had been found guilty, but only eleven of the twelve jurors voted for the death penalty, even though the prosecution had requested a sentence of life-in-prison. Executions were scheduled for 10 July, the earliest possible date, according to law.
Justice
That Justice is a blind goddess
Is a thing to which we black are wise.
Her bandage hides two festering sores
That once perhaps were eyes.
—Langston Hughes, from Scottsboro Limited
Over the next seven years a series of trials occurred that involved state and federal courts. Twice, cases were appealed before the U.S. Supreme Court. In November 1932 the Court ordered new trials for all the defendants, ruling that the right of the defendants to retain competent legal counsel under the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause had been denied by Alabama. In Haywood Patterson’s second trial, which took place in April 1933, Ruby Bates testified that she and Victoria Price had made up the accusations of rape to deflect attention from their own violations of the law. Physical evidence was also introduced that lent credence to the testimony that no rape had taken place. Patterson was again found guilty and sentenced to death.
In April 1935, the Court, hearing arguments in the Patterson and Norris cases, held that the system of jury selection in Alabama that excluded African-Americans was unconstitutional. Convictions were again reversed. The state chose again to prosecute, and by January 1936, Haywood Patterson’s fourth trial had begun. He was again convicted and given a 75-year sentence. After testifying at the trial, Ozie Powell was shot in the head by a sheriffs deputy while riding in the backseat of a car following an argument between the two men and an attack by Powell with a penknife that seriously injured the deputy. Powell was handcuffed to Clarence Norris and Roy Wright at the time. Though he survived, Powell was seriously disabled. The sheriff said that Powell was trying to escape.
The poem, “Scottsboro” was first published in the December 1931 issue of Opportunity:
“Scottsboro,” a poem by Langston Hughes from Scottsboro Limited.
Scottsboro
8 Black Boys in a Southern Jail.
World, turn pale!
8 Black Boys and one white lie.
Is it much to die? . . .
Hughes spent much of the fall of 1931 writing about the Scottsboro case and visited Kilby Prison in Montgomery where eight of the nine young men were held in early 1932. His short verse drama, “Scottsboro, Limited,” had first been published in the October 1931 issue of New Masses and then republished in 1932, along with his four Scottsboro poems and illustrations by Prentiss Taylor in the Golden Stair Press edition (a copy of which is displayed here and is among the holdings at Special Collections). The play opened in Los Angeles in 1932 and was later performed in Paris and Moscow. Writing in The Cambridge History of African American Literature, Nicole Walingora-Davis describes the play in the following terms:
Hughes offers a caustic description of the collusion of the court with mob violence in Scottsboro, Limited. His compactly staged trial sequence captures the lethal efficiency of the Jim Crow court. By eliminating the prosecutor, defense attorney, and any evidence, and by interpolating the audience into the jury, Hughes stresses the cumulative effect of the procedural irregularities that marred the Jim Crow court: here the Judge presupposed the defendants’ guilt—the female plaintiffs testimony only confirms his presumption. Hughes’s concluding call to interracial solidarity and a revolutionary labor movement among black and white laborers functioned like an anthem in his writings, and sought to promote social and economic justice.
By the time Clarence Norris’s third trial began on 12 July 1937, seven of the Scottsboro nine had been in prison for six years. By Wednesday of that week, Norris was again sentenced to death. Next to be tried was Andy Wright, who received a sentence of ninety-nine years. Charles Weems, whose sentence was delivered on 24 July, was given seventy-five years. Also that summer, all charges against Willie Robertson, Olen Montgomery, Eugene Williams, and Roy Wright, the youngest of the group, were dropped. The five others remained in Alabama prisons. Weems was paroled in 1943. Powell and Norris in 1946. After a parole violation, Andy Wright received parole in 1950. Patterson escaped from prison in 1948, and, after publishing a book while still a fugitive, was arrested by the FBI in 1950. The governor of Michigan refused Alabama’s request for extradition. Clarence Norris published his own book, The Last of the Scottbsoro Boys, in 1979. He died ten years later, truly the last of the group of nine, on 23 January 1989.
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But this post started by saying that the Scottsboro Boys were back in the news. Indeed. On 19 April 2013, the Governor of Alabama, Robert Bentley, signed House Joint Resolution 20, passed by the Alabama legislature on 4 April. The resolution formally exonerates all nine of the Scottsboro Boys. The signing ceremony was held at the Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center.
“It’s important to clear the names of the Scottsboro Boys,” Governor Bentley said in a statement. “This is the result of a bipartisan, cooperative effort, and I appreciate everyone who worked together to make this legislation a reality.”
Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard added, “The Legislature’s unanimous passage of this important legislation and Governor Bentley’s signature show that today’s Alabama is far removed from the one that caused such pain for so many so long ago.”
From Scottsboro Limited, the first pages of the play by Langston Hughes in the 1932 edition
