EDIT THIS PER EXHIBIT ---In this exhibit you can explore the different phases of Solitude’s history. We begin during the period when this place was indigenous land, and go on to explore its history as a slave plantation in the nineteenth century.
BLACK WOMEN AS FACULTY AND STAFF
Since 1970, Black women have been an integral as a part of VPI faculty. For much longer, Black women shaped and maintained VPI as staff members. As both faculty and staff, they championed Black history and community involvement at Virginia Tech and across the state.
While the majority of professors were white males, there were Black women who pursued the field of education and taught at Virginia Tech. Heidi Ford joined the staff as a home demonstration agent in 1948. During segregation, Black agents taught other Virginian Black women skills like canning, sewing, and childcare that could improve a family's standard of living. Ford joined campus as an Associate Professor in 1970.
Heidi Ford, 1981
Ella Louise Bates and Johnnie Miles both joined the faculty in 1974. Bates was a part of the Department of Housing, Design, and Resource Management, while Miles taught in the College of Education. Miles was an advocate for civil rights and co-published, “Educator's Sourcebook of African American Heritage,” a resource for teachers working to expand their students’ understanding of Black history. Johnnie Miles now is the president and owner of JH Miles and Associates, a consulting and training firm in Fairfax, Virginia.
Johnnie Miles, 1980s
Johnnie Miles, 1990
Jacqueline Eaves
We often take our blue-collar workers for granted, even today. We come back to our offices in the morning with our waste baskets emptied, floors swept, windows wiped clean, and we go about our day without even noticing. In Hillcrest Hall, Black men were cooks and servers for the women of the dormitory. When the first six Black women enrolled at Virginia Tech, these cooks went out of their way to make sure they felt welcome and supported by the staff, yet we don’t even know their names today. Many workers like these are forgotten, and our intent is to bring light to women who devoted their lives to making Virginia Tech a better place. This exhibit highlights just a few of the many Black women who have made vital contributions to this university's history.
Jacqueline Eaves joined as a housekeeper in 1984, and worked for 28 long years, dedicating her life to keeping VPI clean and ready for students to learn. Eaves led the Staff Association for Facilities Employees as President. As a child in the 1960s, she made history as part of the first integrated Girl Scout troop. She attended Christiansburg Institute, a school founded in 1866 to educate freed slaves that served as a center for Black education across the New River Valley until integration. During her time at Tech, she was a member of the NAACP and worked to preserve Montgomery County's black history. She served on the Odd Fellow’s Hall renovation committee, and advocated for the preservation of her alma mater as president of the alumni board of the Christiansburg Institute.
Rhonda Rogers was hired as one of the first Black secretaries in 1973. She had grown up in the nearby town of Wytheville where segregation was strictly enforced. For her, the university's slow but steady efforts to integrate the Black community meant her experience "was a melting pot. It was the best place I could have raised my two children. For a small town girl from Wytheville, Blacksburg was perfect," Rogers stated. She dedicated 45 years of her life to Virginia Tech before retiring in the summer of 2018. One of her last assignments was in Cultural and Community Centers, confronting and combatting racism and bias. She recalls,
“I’ve learned a lot about what happens at this university with regard to underrepresented students – and what still needs to be done. I’ve seen racism and divisiveness, yes. It affects students more than people realize – the impact of world events, difficulties finding community, every day struggles of access and awareness. But I have also seen resilience and progress. Students stand up for themselves now and take on the role of activist when they see injustice.”
Rhonda Rogers, 1988
VT Awards Ceremony
Rhonda Rogers, 2018
For more information, you can find her VT Stories Oral History here
Rhonda Rogers, Gobblerfest 2011
(pictured with Ed Spencer)
Rogers won many awards including the MLK Community Service Award from the NRV branch of the NAACP, the Student Affairs Heroine Award (1993), and the President's Award for Excellence (2005).
