John McClaren McBryde served as the fifth president of Virginia Tech (1891-1907). This collection documents his tenure as president, including correspondence, letter books, reports, bids and contracts, and other records.

The F. P. Miles Letter to Henry C. Wysor was a letter sent to Henry C. Wysor, in Dublin, Virginia, from F. P. Miles in Blacksburg, Virginia on July 18, 1889. The letter details an insurance payment.

The collection contains a Civil War-era cash book of Captain Charles L. C. Minor, Confederate Army ordnance officer and first president of Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College (1872-1879). Also contains diary entries of Union Army Private Edward P. Harmon, 5th Maine Infantry, for May-June 1864. Accompanied by research materials on the two soldiers (including maps, muster rolls, and pension notes) and a complete photocopy of the cash book/diary.

The John Murray Papers document the participation of John Murray, a Virginia Tech chemistry professor from 1942 to 1971, in Virginia's ornithological community. Collected materials include manuscript articles, scholarly correspondence, and bird watching logs which focus largely on Montgomery County, Virginia.

This collection consists of papers--including correspondence, schoolwork, diplomas, diaries, photographs, and printed materials--of Louis O'Shaughnessy, professor of mathematics at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VPI); his wife Ida Surface O'Shaughnessy; their daughter, VPI mathematics instructor Betty O'Shaughnessy Bock; and the Surface family (parents and siblings of Ida Surface O'Shaughnessy).

The H. L. Phlegar Report of Scholarship is a report card for Phlegar from Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College in October 1882. The report is signed by V. E. Shephard, secretary of the faculty at the college.

In general, vertical files at Special Collections include newspaper clippings, photocopies, ephemera, unpublished and/or informal publications, and other papers relating to a specific subject area. Files in this collection relate to Virginia Tech and its history. Topics may include, but are not limited to, colleges and departments, student organizations, administrative offices, centers and other campus units, and athletics.

The Ellison A. Smyth, Sr. collection contains papers including his correspondence with professional and amateur scientists, collectors, dealers and suppliers around the world concerning entomology and zoology, his publications, and field journals from his entomological work.

The Charles E. Vawter Family Collection contains a ledger from 1882-1883, two Virginia Polytechnic Institute's Bugle yearbooks from 1900 and 1913, a CDV photo album, and two early daguerreotypes.