Oral History with James C. Wade, March 12, 1991 (Ms1991-019)
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Christiansburg+Industrial+Institute.">Christiansburg Industrial Institute.</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Blacksburg+%28Va.%29">Blacksburg (Va.)</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=African+American+history">African American history</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Radford+Army+Ammunition+Plant+%28U.S.%29">Radford Army Ammunition Plant (U.S.)</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Football">Football</a>
James C. Wade was born and raised in Blacksburg, Virginia. Wade graduated from Christiansburg Institute in 1959, and served in the Army before moving back to the Montgomery County area. In this interview, Wade describes race relations in Blacksburg, and he recounts his role in desegregating a local restaurant. Additionally, Wade discusses social life and work opportunities for Black Appalachians in the mid-to-late twentieth century. Wade provides unique insight on the Black community in Blacksburg, including information about the first Black students at Virginia Tech.
<a href="https://digitalsc.lib.vt.edu/files/thumbnails/spec_forms/PubPermission.doc" target="_blank">Permission to publish material from the Black Appalachians Oral History Project must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Oral+histories">Oral histories</a>
Ms1991-019_JamesWade
Oral History with James E. Sherman, March 11, 1991 (Ms1991-019)
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Coal+mines+and+mining">Coal mines and mining</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Christiansburg+Industrial+Institute.">Christiansburg Industrial Institute.</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Radford+Army+Ammunition+Plant+%28U.S.%29">Radford Army Ammunition Plant (U.S.)</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Railroad">Railroad</a>
James E. Sherman--who also went by Steve Sherman--was born in Whitethorne, Virginia and grew up in the Wake Forest community. Sherman attended Christiansburg Institute and spent his life working in the coal mines. In this interview, Sherman describes growing up in the Wake Forest community, education opportunities for Black Appalachians, and work opportunities in the area. Sherman briefly mentions other subjects, such as race relations and social life in the Montgomery County area.
<a href="https://digitalsc.lib.vt.edu/files/thumbnails/spec_forms/PubPermission.doc" target="_blank">Permission to publish material from the Black Appalachians Oral History Project must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Oral+histories">Oral histories</a>
Ms1991-019_JamesSherman
Oral History with W. Waymon and Cora Pack, March 11, 1991 (Ms1991-019)
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Coal+mines+and+mining">Coal mines and mining</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Christiansburg+Industrial+Institute.">Christiansburg Industrial Institute.</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Radford+Army+Ammunition+Plant+%28U.S.%29">Radford Army Ammunition Plant (U.S.)</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Christiansburg%2C+Va.">Christiansburg, Va.</a>
William Waymon Pack was born in Montgomery County on August 7, 1920, and he grew up in Riner, Virginia. Pack attended a local primary school before attending Christiansburg Industrial Institute. Due to financial difficulties, Pack had to drop out of Christiansburg Institute, and he worked a variety of occupations in the Montgomery County area. Pack drove a bus for the Radford Army Ammunition Plant during World War II, worked in the mines, and eventually moved to Washington D.C. where he worked in a public school. In this interview, Waymon Pack describes working at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant, and he describes other work opportunities available to Black Appalachians in the mid-twentieth century. Pack discusses educational opportunities for Black children, and he discusses the push for educational improvements brought by the County-Wide League, a civic association that advocated for educational equality.
Cora Elizabeth Oveter McDaniel Pack was born and raised in Christiansburg, Virginia, and she married Waymon Pack in 1943. Cora Pack joins her husband in describing desegregation and educational opportunities for Black Appalachians. In this interview, Cora Pack discusses racial issues that her son faced in the Montgomery County school system after the Brown v. Board of Education decision.
<a href="https://digitalsc.lib.vt.edu/files/thumbnails/spec_forms/PubPermission.doc" target="_blank">Permission to publish material from the Black Appalachians Oral History Project must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Oral+histories">Oral histories</a>
Ms1991-019_WaymonandCoraPack
Oral History with J. Homer Pack, March 13, 1991 (Ms1991-019)
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Christiansburg+Industrial+Institute.">Christiansburg Industrial Institute.</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Montgomery+County+%28Va.%29">Montgomery County (Va.)</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Coal+mines+and+mining">Coal mines and mining</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Radford+Army+Ammunition+Plant+%28U.S.%29">Radford Army Ammunition Plant (U.S.)</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=World+War+II">World War II</a>
Joseph Homer Pack was born in 1910, and he grew up in Riner, Virginia. Pack attended his local primary school, a two room schoolhouse, before briefly attending Christiansburg Institute. Later in life, Pack worked in a variety of job positions including a chauffeur, exterminator, bricklayer, and cattle farmer. In this interview, Pack describes educational opportunities and work opportunities for Black Appalachians in the area. He highlights baseball as a common social activity when he grew up in Montgomery County. Pack discusses race relations in the area and the eventual migration of Black Appalachians due to lack of work opportunities in the mid-to-late twentieth century.
<a href="https://digitalsc.lib.vt.edu/files/thumbnails/spec_forms/PubPermission.doc" target="_blank">Permission to publish material from the Black Appalachians Oral History Project must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Oral+histories">Oral histories</a>
Ms1991-019_JHomerPack
Oral History with Charles A. Johnson, March 3, 1991 (Ms1991-019)
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=African+American+history">African American history</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Christiansburg+Industrial+Institute.">Christiansburg Industrial Institute.</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Montgomery+County+%28Va.%29">Montgomery County (Va.)</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Radford+Army+Ammunition+Plant+%28U.S.%29">Radford Army Ammunition Plant (U.S.)</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Coal+mines+and+mining">Coal mines and mining</a>
Charles A. Johnson was born in Wake Forest, Virginia, where he grew up and received his primary education. Johnson graduated from Christiansburg Institute in 1953 before serving in the Army. When Johnson returned from the Army, he began cutting hair at the Virginia Tech campus barbershop and eventually started his own barber shop in Blacksburg. In this interview, Johnson discusses growing up in Montgomery County. He describes the Wake Forest community, access to education, race relations, church communities, and social life.
Additionally, Johnson describes how his barbershop developed into a prominent Black business in Blacksburg, and he describes his challenges in starting his own barbering business.
<a href="https://digitalsc.lib.vt.edu/files/thumbnails/spec_forms/PubPermission.doc" target="_blank">Permission to publish material from the Black Appalachians Oral History Project must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Oral+histories">Oral histories</a>
Ms1991-019_CharlesJohnson