Solitude Photographs and Papers

Access and use

Location of collection:
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Special Collections, University Libraries (0434)
Newman Library
Virginia Tech
P.O. Box 90001
560 Drillfield Drive
Blacksburg, VA 24062-9001
Contact for questions and access:
Phone: (540) 231-6308
Fax: (540) 231-3694
Restrictions:

The collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials. Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.

Preferred citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Solitude Photographs and Papers, ca. 1960s-1980s, Ms1993-024, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Summary

Extent:
0.3 Cubic Feet 1 box
Abstract:
This collection contains photographs, newspaper clippings, and several other papers containing information about Solitude, the oldest building on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Language:
The materials in the collection are in English.
Preferred citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Solitude Photographs and Papers, ca. 1960s-1980s, Ms1993-024, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains photographs, newspaper clippings, and several other papers containing information about Solitude. The photographs in this collection inculde 34 mounted photographs showing multiple views and details of Solitude. This collection also includes a copy of Virginia Cavalcade from Autumn 1976, a publication created by Virginia Tech, and two newspaper clippings about Solitude and the Duckpond.

Biographical / historical:

Solitude, located in Blacksburg, Virginia, served as the home of the Preston family in the 1800s. Granville Smith, uncle of Virginia Governor James Patton Preston (1774-1843), named it Solitude around 1808. Sections of the home were built as early as ca. 1802, with an expansion made ca. 1834. The home was again expanded in the 1850s by General Robert Taylor Preston (1809-1880), who had inherited the property from his father, Governor James Patton Preston. In 1872, the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Virginia Tech) Board of Visitors purchased the home and surrounding 250 acres, adding them to the central campus. Robert and his wife Mary lived in Solitude until their deaths in 1880 and 1881, respectively. The building has served in a variety of capacities since then.

Upwards of 250 African and African American people, including the McNorton, Saunders, and Fraction families, were enslaved at Smithfield, an earlier home of the Preston family, and many of them were later enslaved at Solitude. In 2019, Virginia Tech renamed the surviving outbuilding The Fraction Family House at Solitude in honor of the most numerous of the families and in honor of the contributions made by all the enslaved people forced to work on these plantations. The building is believed to have been a dwelling for enslaved people built around 1843.

Acquisition information:
The Solitiude Photographs and Papers were donated to Special Collections and University Archives in August 1993.
Processing information:

The processing, arrangement, and description of the Solitude Photographs and Papers completed in October 2023.

Arrangement:
  • Series I: Photographs
  • Series II: Papers
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard