Unveiling 20th Century Black Life in Middle Appalachia: Digitizing School and Community Records for Christiansburg Institute Digital Archives

FAIN: PW-296878-24

Christiansburg Institute, Inc. (Christiansburg, VA 24073-3161)
Jennifer Lynn Nehrt (Project Director: July 2023 to present)

Cataloging and digitizing four collections on the Christiansburg Institute, an educational organization in Appalachia established by the Freedmen’s Bureau in 1866. 

The first students to attend what became Christiansburg Institute in 1866 were formerly enslaved. A century later in 1966, the school graduated its final class and its remaining students integrated into formerly all-white schools. Over the span of one hundred years, thousands of students traversed its halls, leaving behind records and artifacts that bear witness to their experiences and those of their families. The objective of this project is to amplify the voices of Black Appalachians by digitizing four data-rich school and community collections, creating 2,161 comprehensive catalog records for Christiansburg Institute Digital Archives. Digitized materials will also be available through Virginia Tech Libraries’ Southwest Virginia Digital Archives and Digital Public Library of America’s Digital Virginias. These records, in conjunction with CIDA’s existing digital collections, can foster new scholarship and promote a deeper understanding of both African American and Appalachian history.