This collection contains the papers of Virginia Tech alumnus and agricultural information editor Rudolph Dixon Michael. The collection includes a small group of correspondence, much of which dates from 1929 to 1930, and concerns the Preston family, Smithfield Plantation, and the university's effort to restore the cemetery there. The correspondence is complemented by a number of notes and essays regarding the history of Blacksburg, the Preston family, Smithfield Plantation, and Whitethorne; and maps of Smithfield Plantation, its landscaping, and the cemetery. The collection also contains a small group of printed materials relating to Virginia Tech, including a commencement program and pictorial calendar from 1926, a booklet for a 1929 alumni celebration (including biographical material on Julian Burruss and an overview of his administration), and an informational booklet on the Blacksburg-VPI Sanitation Authority. Three large photographs of campus scenes are also included, as well as reproductions of the Virginia Tech seal and Phi Kappa Phi charter certificate.