School Annuals Collection, 1888-1925

Access and use

Location of collection:
Christiansburg Institute Museum and Archives
Christiansburg Institute Museum and Archives
125 Arrowhead Trail, Suite F
Christiansburg, VA 24073
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Jenny Nehrt
Phone: (540) 808-5398

Summary

Extent:
0.21 linear feet; 1 box
Creator:
Christiansburg Industrial Institute ; Friends' Freedmen's Association
Abstract:
Language:
Materials in this collection are in English .

Background

Scope and content:

Christiansburg Industrial Institute was an industrial school for African Americans in Montgomery County, VA. It was financially supported by the Friends Freedmen's Association, an organization of Philadelphia Quakers, from the 1870s to 1940s. This collection contains records and correspondence from the institute's faculty to FFA members, and the school's annual reports and catalogues.

Biographical / historical:

In November 1863, a group of Philadelphia Orthodox Quaker men organized "the Friends Association of Philadelphia and its vicinity for the Relief of Colored Freedmen. The group's name later changed to "Friends Freedmen's Association of Philadelphia." From 1860-1880, the FFA established schools for the children of formerly enslaved people, creating 46 schools in North Carolina and Virginia. States assumed responsibility for education by the end of the 19th century, making much of the FFA's relief work unnecessary. The FFA shifted its attention and financial support to Christiansburg Industrial Institute.

Christiansburg Industrial Institute was founded as a Freedmen's Bureau school in 1866 by Captain Charles Schaeffer Montgomery County, VA. The FFA provided financial support and management shortly after the Bureau disbanded in 1871. Under the later leadership of African American faculty and staff, the institute grew into a working industrial school that taught academic subjects as well as agriculture, carpentry, blacksmithing, printing, sewing, cooking, and home economics. It also managed the Hill School, a primary and intermediate school.

In 1934, the FFA gave the title of the Hill School to the Montgomery County School Board. In 1947, the FFA sold Christiansburg Industrial Institute to MCPS for one dollar on the condition that the school remained dedicated to the education of African Americans.

Acquisition information:
The...
Arrangement:

Arranged in 3 series: 1. Monthly Reports, 1888-1892. 2. Annual Reports, 1908-1916. 3. Miscellaneous, 1917-1925.