Amelia Verkerk University History, Women's History

Virginia Tech Cheerleading

This post was written by Student Library Assistant, Ella Winterling, sophomore at Virginia Tech studying Multimedia Journalism and Cinema. 

Cheerleading is perhaps one of the most distinctive symbols of school spirit, something that Virginia Tech is not short of. Cheerleading at Virginia Tech has been around for almost a century, and remains a key part of sporting events here at Virginia Tech. They lead the “Let’s Go Hokies” chant, followed by ushering the football players in with the Hokie flags along with “Enter Sandman”. As a part of the spirit squad, they cheer on events like football and basketball games with the responsibility of encouraging the crowd to support the Hokie athletes. 

Lane Stadium housed an exhibit during the 2009 to 2011 football seasons, dedicated to Virginia Tech Cheerleaders and their iconic uniforms. Many uniforms were collected and donated to the exhibit, which was organized by Sherwood “Sherry” Payne Quillen ‘71, a former Virginia Tech cheerleader. Now, the uniforms will now be housed in Special Collections and University Archives. 

In my position as student assistant, I was tasked with creating an inventory for these uniforms, storing them, and creating a resource record, so the materials can be searched for online (Ms 2024-078). The collection includes cheerleading uniforms from 1956 to 2012, with my personal favorite being the 1971 Women’s Uniform complete with hot pants and orange go-go boots. All the uniforms reflect the specific time and culture of when they were created and used.

Cheerleaders at VPI, 1933-1934

Cheerleading has been around at Virginia Tech for a long time, dating back to 1933 or even earlier. However, the team did not become co-ed till the 1955-1956 season. Patsy Steckler Bean was the first female Virginia Tech student to make it onto the team, and three women from Radford College, Bootie Bell Chewning, Merle Funk Perry, and Jeri Hagy Justice, joined the team as well. Their original uniform consisted of a poodle skirt, a Virginia Tech sweater, and black and white oxford shoes, and has since been replicated for a 2006 reunion. 

VPI Cheerleading Team, Bugle 1956

As cheerleading shifted, from leading cheers to a more athletic sport complete with flips and stunts, so did the uniforms. The late 1960s came with a change-up in the appearance of the Virginia Tech cheerleaders. Long pleated skirts, once a staple of the uniform, were traded in for shorter hems and more experimental styles. The 1968-1971 uniform, which was replicated for the 2009-2011 exhibit, includes a short jumper dress and cape, reminiscent of the show Star Trek, according to donor and former Virginia Tech Cheerleader, Sherry Quillen.

The 1970s came with even more changes, from bibbed shorts to neck-ties to hot pants and patent leather boots. Finally, the 80s ushered in the classic mini skirt and crop-top silhouette we associate with cheerleading today. 

Virginia Tech Cheerleaders, Bugle 1973
Hokie cheerleaders at Lane Stadium football game, 1992
Virginia Tech cheerleader, c. 1970s

While the history of cheerleading at Virginia Tech is not completely documented, photos, newspaper clippings, and alums like Sherry give us an idea of some of the spirit and importance of cheerleading at Virginia Tech.

In the 80s, Virginia Tech hosted the Universal Cheerleaders Association summer cheerleading camp multiple times. The training camp furthered skills in cheers, sideline, pyramids, and stunts while giving the cheerleaders daily evaluations. One year, actor and comedian Fred Willard even joined cheerleaders from across the country at the camp, filming for the show Real People that aired on NBC in the early 1980s.

A newspaper article from November 1983 commends the Virginia Tech cheerleaders as a crucial part in keeping the spirit up at Virginia tech games. Citing a 45-0 loss for Virginia Tech, the article highlights how the cheerleaders have to stay spirited. Whether winning or losing, cheerleaders are always there to impress the crowd with a stunt or lead a classic cheer, their job is incredibly important in terms of school spirit.

Other articles feature stories about the cheerleaders’ dedication and hard work. One article from 1981 says that “Cheering is not just getting up and yelling with a powerful voice.” It takes a lot of dedication and up to “12 to 15 hours of work each week”. 

In another article titled, “Cheers: Image May not Change, but Other Things Do,” a Virginia Tech cheerleader speaks about stereotypes for both male and female cheerleaders. She states the impression of male cheerleaders as “an incorrect impression”. She says “college cheerleading is harder and better than it’s ever been”, but that the image won’t change due to the portrayal of cheerleaders in the media. Cheerleading has always been a nuanced sport, not free from stereotypes and incorrect perceptions. However, the hard work and spirit of the sport has always been prevalent, especially at Virginia Tech.

Virginia Tech cheerleaders, c. early 1980s
Hokie cheerleaders at Lane Stadium football game, 1992
Hokie cheerleader at Lane Stadium football game, 1992

The VT Cheerleading Uniform Collection (Ms 2024-078) highlights how the team was able to adapt and change along with different trends and culture throughout its history. The collection was put together and donated by Virginia Tech Cheerleading alumni, showcasing just how proud and committed the organization is, going beyond their years of college. While the uniforms may have changed, the spirit of the Virginia Tech Cheerleaders has remained the same. 

Resources:

  • RG 31/14/2
  • Photos via Historic Photograph Collection and Virginia Tech Bugles
Amelia Verkerk University History

The Many Shapes and Names of the Drillfield

The Drillfield is probably the most iconic and storied site at Virginia Tech. The Drillfield has taken many names and shapes over the years and has witnessed almost every turning point in Virginia Tech’s history – protests, tragedies, and anniversaries as well as sleep-ins, pig-roasts, and icy (mis)adventures. The Drillfield has been a part of so many stories on campus that one single blog post cannot capture them all, but lets start at the beginning…

For the first few years of Virginia Tech, there was no drill field of any kind. In the late 1870s, cadets unofficially established a drill field behind the First and Second Academic Buildings (northeast of the current Henderson Hall). As more buildings were constructed and more students arrived, that drill field was extended north towards Upper Quad (behind Lane Hall) and later even further extended towards today’s Shanks Hall. During the 1880s and 1890s, Blacksburg residents would gather to watch the cadet’s drill exercises, parades, as well as all the new baseball and football games happening.

Dr. Edward Ernest Sheib, circa 1890s
Cadets on Sheib Field, circa 1899-1900
Baseball game on Sheib Field, circa 1895
1896 football team on Sheib Field

Until 1894, the area that is the present-day Drillfield was used mostly for the college farm and garden plots. In 1877, a faculty house was constructed at the northeast corner of the present-day Drillfield (later repurposed as the Administrative Building), and in 1888, the Agricultural Experiment Station was built roughly where the April 16th memorial is today. President John McLaren McBryde allocated a part of the college farm for the cadets’ drills and athletics in 1894 with the help of the newly formed Athletic Association. This field (i.e., the first rendition of the present day Drillfield) was originally called Sheib Field after Professor Edward Ernest Sheib who taught History, English, and Political Economy at Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College (VAMC – Virginia Tech’s first name). Professor Sheib was also on the Board of Directors for VAMC’s Athletic Association and the main financial supporter of the football team.

Sheib Field quickly became the new favorite spot for watching the cadet drills and parades as well as cheering on the baseball and football teams. The first football game on Sheib Field happened on October 20, 1894 against Emery and Henry College (now Emery and Henry University). The final score was VAMC, 16 – Emery and Henry 0, a great first game and victory on their new athletic field. The previous drill field was still in use, mostly for interclass games and practices or new sports at VAMC like tennis. Sheib Field was often referred to as both the Athletic Field and the drill field to distinguish which parts of the field were used for what activities.

Sheib Field soon was used for major events and celebrations, such as commencement processions, Field Day, and George Washington’s birthday. At the end of each academic year, cadets would put on a “mimic battle” (also called a sham battle) at Sheib Field, where spectators could watch the cadets stage a pretend or recreation of a historical battle to practice their skills and maneuvers. By the turn of the century, much of the present-day Drillfield was still not developed and was being used for garden plots for the Horticultural Department. However, in 1900, the Athletic Association did construct a quarter-mile track around Sheib Field, though a varsity track team would not be established until 1906. Sheib Field still had a long way to go – half the field was six feet lower than the other half and there were no stands at the time for spectators. In 1901, the Horticulture Department moved some of its garden plots to behind the college orchard, which freed up space to expand Sheib Field west.

With the new expansion came a new name for the field. Sheib Field was renamed Gibboney Field in 1902 to honor James Haller Gibboney (class of 1901), who was the first Graduate Manager of Athletics at Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute (VPI – Virginia Tech’s second name).

James Haller Gibboney, 1901
The Snow Battle of 1908 on Gibboney Field

In that same year, a wooden stand was built by the track to seat spectators, encircling the south side of the newly named Gibboney Field (still referred to colloquially as the Athletic Field for sports and the Drillfield for drills). More permanent stands were constructed the next year to try and keep up with the growing number of Hokie fans. Between 1902-1909, Gibboney Field underwent small repairs and maintenance, starting with moving the last of the Horticulture Department’s Garden plots to the north of present-day Derring Hall. In the fall of 1904, Gibboney Field held over 1,000 spectators for the NC State vs VPI football game. By the 1905 season, Gibboney Field had 3,000 spectators for the UVA vs VPI football game. Despite a $1,600 renovation in 1906, Gibboney Field needed even more work, including a new drainage system, grandstand, and re-grading.

Again, with these major renovations, a new name was given to the field – Miles Field. During its time as Miles Field, students also called it Miles Meadow, the Athletic Field, and the drill field depending on what part of the field they were referencing. Miles Field was named in honor of Clarence Paul “Sally” Miles, who served as the captain of the baseball team when he was a student, VPI’s head football coach, baseball coach, and later Athletic Director.  

On the newly renovated Miles Field, VPI held its first Pep Rally on October 30, 1909. That same year, the annual Engineering vs Agriculture faculty football game began. In addition to the new traditions, Field Day, the annual Snow Battle, and numerous Dress Parades continued at Miles Field, cementing itself as the center of campus life at VPI.

Field House, circa 1915
Track meet on Miles Field, circa 1923
“Sham Battle” on Miles Field, 1914
Miles Field, circa 1910

In November 1914, only 60 feet from the football field, the Field House was completed, the first building on campus used mainly as a gymnasium. Occasionally, the Field House was used for dances and briefly as an infirmary during the 1918-1920 flu pandemic, but mainly was meant for athletics. Miles Field was starting to take the iconic oval shape – with the track, Library, Administrative Building, Agriculture Experiment Station, and the Field House outlining the field.

During this time, Blacksburg High School athletes (both boys and girls) also played on Miles Field during the school year and borrowed the Field House during the winter. Miles Field even became the site of alum events, such as the Alumni Parade and reunion games.

World War I drastically changed how Miles Field was used. The 1917-1918 school year saw major changes to the curriculum that included almost daily drills and field maneuvers in anticipation for joining the war. The number of athletes was noticeably smaller that year; however, spectators still turned out to games in droves despite ticket sales being taxed to help fund the war effort (season tickets at the time cost $5.00). In the fall of 1918, Miles Field witnessed the new Students’ Army Training Corp implemented by the United States Army.

On November 11, 1918, with the pandemic under control in the Blacksburg area and the war over, VPI held a formal parade on Miles Field to celebrate.

General maintenance and upkeep of Miles Field continued over the next few years. By 1921, Miles Field was drastically regraded due to the Cadet Band having trouble marching over the uneven turf. Consequently, a master plan for Miles Field was underway in 1922 by architect Warren Manning. This plan decided to formally separate the athletic field and drill field, so a committee of the Athletic Council approved creating an athletic stadium 200 yards away from Miles Field. Built in sections and funded by class donations, Miles Stadium was built and housed football, baseball, and track events until 1926.

To avoid confusion with the new stadium complete, a new name was needed for the old Miles Field – the Drillfield. Miles Field was no longer used as an athletic field, so the track and grandstand were ripped up, and all parts of the field were combined into one large expanse.

VPI development plan, 1927
Proposed plan for VPI campus, 1925

However, to the dismay of the drill-weary cadets, President Burruss wanted to name the Drillfield the “Recreation Field.” On maps of campus at that time, the Drillfield was labeled as the Recreation Field, but students continued to call the area the Drillfield as seen in student publications.  

One downside to expanding the Drillfield was heavy rain caused the field to become so muddy, the laundry services on campus could not keep up with the demand. The mud-filled Drillfield quickly earned the name “Begg’s Lake” after the civil engineering professor, Robert B.H. Begg, who oversaw the re-grading of the Drillfield. Nevertheless, VPI continued to work on the Drillfield for the next few years and throughout the 1930s. Struble’s Creeks, which ran by the War Memorial Hall, was diverted using a concrete culvert in 1934. By the end of the 1930s, the moniker “Begg’s Lake” was no more thanks to all the excavation, drainage, and grading done.

One proposed plan for the Drillfield was to add a pool or lake at the lower end of the Drillfield fit for “boating and swimming in the summer and skating in the winter”. This plan was nixed when an engineering professor pointed out that the water would quickly become polluted and muddied. This proposed plan eventually morphed into what is the Duck Pond today.

For the next few decades, the Drillfield remained what President Burruss had envisioned, the heart and soul of modern-day campus of Virginia Tech. Hokie-stone buildings were erected surrounding the field, such as Burruss Hall, Patton Hall, and Williams Hall. Parking spaces were added all around to compliment the new roadway. In 1960, the War Memorial Chapel was completed on the north side of the Drillfield. It was not until the summer of 1971 that two asphalt walkways were laid across the Drillfield. After the tragedy on April 16, 2007, the Drillfield became a permanent site of mourning and remembrance for the university with the construction of the April 16 Memorial and Memorial Benches. In 2015, more walkways were added, using 14 different materials as part of a project to develop a new master plan for the Drillfield. While still ongoing as of 2024, the plan’s focus is on preserving the field while making it as usable and accessible for everyone.

Virginia Tech campus map, 1952
Virginia Tech campus map, 1958
Drillfield, 1963
Virginia Tech campus map, 2024

 

References:

Cox, Clara B. (2008). The Drillfield: at the heart of campus. Virginia Tech Magazine, 30(2). Retrieved from https://www.archive.vtmag.vt.edu/winter08/feature1.html.

Kinnear, D. L. (1972). The First 100 Years: A History of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Virginia Polytechnic Institute Educational Foundation, Inc.

Robertson, Jenkins M. (1972). Historical Data Book: Centennial Edition. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Temple, Harry D. (1996). The Bugle’s Echo: A Chronology of Cadet Life at the Military College at Blacks, Virginia, The Virginia Polytechnic Institute. The Virginia Tech Corp of Cadets, Inc. vol. I-V

Wallenstein, Peter. (2021). Virginia Tech Land-Grant University 1872-1997: History of a School, a State, a Nation. 2nd ed. Virginia Tech Publishing.

All images included in this blog post can be found in our Historic Photograph Collection or at Special Collections and University Archives Online. 

vtspecblogger University History

Family among the Files

The first thing I did when I started my very first desk shift in Special Collections was grab a mid-1980s copy of The Bugle from the shelf by the door, where you can find almost every copy that was ever published.

My mission — like that of many other visitors to this same shelf — was to find pictures of my parents, who met at Virginia Tech. My mom, then Vicki Higginbotham the engineering, baton-twirling majorette, worked at a Hallmark store in the University Mall with my dads sister, Dori Williams, who kept insisting that Vicki simply had to meet her younger brother, who was on the basketball team. Vicki Higginbotham and Philip Williams had their first date on December 26, 1983, a fact that my brother and I are always reminded of during the car ride back from our annual Christmas visit with our grandparents (oh, its the nth anniversary of our first date!). We pretend that its gross that they remember this and systematically mention it every year, but its not. Theyre lucky to still be so in love after all this time, and my brother and I are even luckier to be a part of it.

VickiWilliams1986
1986 yearbook photo of Mom.

I found my parents’ pictures in the yearbooks, as expected, but I got a special thrillfromthe action shots of my dad on the basketball court. He played during the yearsfrom 1983 to 1987, when Dell Curry was the talk of the town, the players shorts woulddismally fail our modern-day public-school index-card tests, and all-white Converse All-Stars were still considered acceptable and safe sports footwear. At six-foot-six, Dad, in most of these shots, looks like he barely had to jump to get his hands above the rim for a rebound; in fact, a 1985 yearbook writer asserted that he, as a sophomore, demonstrated the teams best fundamental rebounding technique. In many of the pictures, any given number of his fingers are taped together; perpetually broken or jammed. We have a couple of these photos at home, on the fridge and framed in my brothers childhood bedroom.

philwilliams1987
1987 yearbook photo of Dad, the only senior on that year’s squad.

Most of my work here in Special Collections over the past two-and-a-half years has involved projects on either side of the timeline around the 1980s. Ive spent a good deal of time transcribing and digitizing letters from the Civil War, World War I, and the years in between. I also spent some months working on an exhibit for the anniversary of the April 16th, 2007 tragedy. A Womens History Month exhibit in the library inspired me to contribute information on the lives and work of female science fiction writers from the late 1800s to the 1940s and 1950s. Somehow, most of my archives work has neatly danced around my parents time at Virginia Tech, and I never really got into the era of big hair and Benatar in Blacksburg through my projects.  

That is, until I started re-labelling the University Archives room.

Working in an archive pays off for me personally because I know that all of the preservation and conservation work being done here will pay off in the long run. For example, we have boxes upon boxes of wartime letters that are still in good shape after a century and a half and, not only that, we allow anyone to come in and hold, read, and examine them with their own two hands. If you think about it, its a lot of the same stuff youd find in a museum without the DO NOT TOUCH signs. The people who work here make this happen through a meticulous system of steps and protocol that impose order on the collections and allow us to provide this experience for patrons. Some of these steps are more tedious and less thrilling than others, but all of them are equally important in keeping our system up and running. One of my current assignments is to assist in the reorganization of the record groups (RGs) in the University Archives, which requires moving a lot of boxes around which requires that every box is labelled accurately and legibly. Most of the boxes are labelled, but the labels are either decades old, written in pencil, or both. My job is to check the contents of each box and replace each label with a more up-to-date and legible label so the boxes can be rearranged. As it turned out, this routine process turned up one of my favorite discoveries in all my time at Special Collections.

In the sports section of the University Archives, I found a box labelled simply Basketball Programs. My first thought was huh, Dad did that. I opened the box to check what the date range on the programs was so that I could create a more descriptive label and, lo and behold, the programs were from 1984 through 1986.

As I had been going through these boxes, Id been taking the time to examine the contents partly out of necessity and partly out of curiosity. This time, Id easily located the date range that I needed to include on the label, but I took the box and sat down in the middle of the aisle on the footstool Id been using so I could look through the programs. Dad in his #34 jersey was on the cover of two of them — one by himself, taking a jump shot, and the other with Dell Curry, the Cassell Coliseum-banner legend whose son Steph we now see in every other commercial on ESPN.

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Dad on the left, Dell Curry on the right (both mid-leap).

The programs not only brought back my memories of attending games and matching the players below on the floor with their stats which I held in my head, it also brought back the entertaining and often hilarious stories that Dad always told about his basketball days. My most recent memory of this comes from a morning during Thanksgiving weekend, when I sat with my family and some of our close friends around my grandfathers table, trying desperately not to choke on our breakfast from laughter as my dad told the story of the time he accidentally dislocated Dells shoulder, the remainder of practice was cancelled, and it was as if the whole world of sports had abruptly ended. Id see the the names on the roster and recall the stories Id heard that went with each name — big moments in big games, hijinks that went on in the after-hours at away games, and the individual quirks and camaraderie among and between teammates. I picked up these programs and proceeded to walk around the entirety of Special Collections, stopping into offices and tugging on sleeves of coworkers to show them what Id found.

This was a very specific and personal instance of discovery in Special Collections for me, but I know that this has happened at least once for each of us working here, and even for patrons who come in out of curiosity and walk out with a new research project in mind. I showed the programs to one of our full-time archivists, and she revealed that a bookseller who had arrived that morning happened to have a copy of her mothers book in his collection. Even when Im working in unfamiliar collections, I find that Im surprised by the connections I can make based on my own experiences and the relationships that I form with people who are long gone. Thats the joy of working in Special Collections: even the most rudimentary tasks have the potential to lead to the greatest discoveries.

By Rebecca Williams