In general, vertical files at Special Collections include newspaper clippings, photocopies, ephemera, unpublished and/or informal publications, and other papers relating to a specific subject area.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.

This collection contains the papers of Henry B. "Puss" Redd. The collection contains photographs, clippings, and VPI alumni material as well as a large amount of material related to Redd's position as a faculty member and a coach for the VPI football team.

Records of the literary journal Review include correspondence, working papers, newspaper clippings, and promotional materials.

This collection includes research notes, manuscripts, typescript drafts, working copies and galley proofs for books and articles written by Virginia Tech's Alumni Distinguished Professor of History James I. Robertson Jr., 1982-2001. Large collection of notes, papers, and correspondence relateing to Virginia Civil War counties and units. Also contains a small set of general materials which includes items related to the preservation of lands adjacent to Manassas National Battlefield Park.

Professional correspondence, subject files, and writings of Wilson E. Schmidt, professor of economics at Virginia Tech (1966-1981), together with articles and reports, both published and unpublished, by other economists.

Audiocassette tape contains an oral history interview with Virginia Tech Professor Charles Sears, conducted by John Straw, University Archivist. Sears discusses the history of the Virginia Tech Geology Department (today the Department of Geosciences), where he served as a professor and founded the Virginia Tech Seismological Observatory.

The collection consists primarily of materials concerning Felix Sebba's research into the uses of aphrons and other foams from 1979 to 1989. Materials include correspondence, notes on research, and both published and unpublished papers.

This collection contains correspondence, research files, project files, and manuscripts of George Green Shackelford, professor of history at Virginia Tech from 1954-1986.

This collection consists of the papers--including correspondence and published writings--of Virginia Tech plant pathologist and physiologist George Myron Shear. It includes correspondence with the laboratory of Thomas A. Edison.

The Hampton D. Smith Collection, consists of a collection of papers, raw data, presentations, and laboratory notes pertaining to Dr. Hampton D. Smith's work in the Virginia Tech Chemistry Department from 1974 to 1990.