The J. Preston Newman Papers includes four poems (1935-1938, n.d.), as well as papers relating to Ralph Minthorne Brown, university librarian at Virginia Tech.

In general, vertical files at Special Collections include newspaper clippings, photocopies, ephemera, unpublished and/or informal publications, and other papers relating to a specific subject area.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 collection includes papers from Frank L. Robeson's tenure as a student at Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute, Columbia University, and Johns Hopkins University, as well as subject and research files from his nearly 50 years as an instructor and professor at VPI, dating from 1899 to 1954.

The collection consists of a scrapbook prepared by Harvey E. Shepherd, class of 1932, as a Cadet and graduate student at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Also included are loose materials and a white belt with no buckle marked H.E. Shepherd Co. B, which were in the scrapbook.

The collection contains data from a cooperative study of Grayson County, Virginia, conducted by the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station and the U. S. Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Home Economics. The study includes raw and tabulated data on family members, education, health, income and expenditures, employment, housing, food, clothing, and household furnishings and supplies.

Collection includes dance cards for various dances, including ring dances and dances sponsored by the German Club, Cotillion Club, and sectional clubs.