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This file documents the administrative history and functions of the Army ROTC Department, which was formally established at VMI in 1919 (file material dates to 1916). Includes chronological administrative file and other records listed in Container List below. Also includes some records concerning pre-ROTC Military Science, including reports of government inspections and other material.

Memoranda, correpondence relating to the history and design of the VMI Coat of Arms, crest/insignia, and motto. Includes color images and original artwork for VMI Crest, ca. 1965.

This file contains material documenting the participation of the Corps in Presidential and Gubernatorial inaugural parades. It also includes items relating to the following: Nashville (Tennessee Centennial), 1897; the Jamestown Exposition (1907); Yorktown Trip (1881, 1931, 1981); Charleston, SC, 1902; Chancellorsville Reenactment, 1935; Petersburg, 1937 (Battle of Crater reenactment); Baltimore, 1948 (dedication of Lee-Jackson statue); as well as misc. other significant corps trips.

Superintendent office file containing documents concerning Depression era federal and state programs which provided money for hiring employees and public works, student aid and other programs. PWA- Public Works Administration; WPA- Works Progress Administration; FERA-Federal Emergency Relief Administration (student aid); NYA- National Youth Administration

This file concerns VMI's response to the report produced by the Educational Commission of Virginia, which undertook a survey of public education in the state. The final report recommended that VMI be closed, a conclusion that sparked a vocal response by VMI and its alumni. The commission is sometimes referred to as the Barton Commission (for the chairman, Robert T. Barton) and the report as the O'Shea report (the director of the survey was M.V. O'Shea of the Univ. of Wisconsin)

Correspondence and memoranda relating to the establishment and ongoing operation of the H. B. Johnson, Jr. '26 Distinguished Leadership Lecture Series, which is funded by a gift from Belton Kleberg Johnson. The first lecture was given in Oct. 1983 by the former President Gerald R. Ford. Subsequent speakers: Helmut Schmidt (1984), Edward Heath (1986), Howard Baker (1988), Gen. William Westmoreland (1990), Margaret Thatcher (1992), Richard Cheney (1993), George H. W. Bush (1996), Christopher Patten (1999), Henry Kissinger (2001).

Superintendent's correspondence relating to the filming of the movie Mardi Gras" (20th Century Fox, 1958). It was the second movie to feature VMI (the first was "Brother Rat). Contains correspondence from Frank McCarthy (Class of 1933), then Director of Public Relations for 20th Century Fox).

Documents, 1894-1927, relating to the bequest of Margaret Smith to establish the Francis Lee Smith scholarship

Chronological file containing documents about the history of the military science program prior to the establishment of ROTC, as well as documents about the history of Army ROTC at VMI.