The John R. Hutcheson Family Collection, 1890-1969, documents Hutcheson’s family and his career at the Virginia Agriculture Extension Service (VAES, now Virginia Cooperative Extension) and Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI, now Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University or Virginia Tech). Comprising correspondence, newspaper clippings, printed materials, photographs, and a scrapbook, the collection is divided into two series, Series I: Personal Papers and Series II: Professional Papers. The first series contains biographical sketches of John R. Hutcheson, legal documents, and printed material regarding his death and VPI. Correspondence discusses his and his son’s war service, the Hutcheson and Barksdale genealogy, and his extended family. A scrapbook compiled by Eleanor P. Hutcheson covers family and local events, such as weddings, deaths, and faculty and staff appointments at the VAES and VPI. Photographs and a photograph album depict Hutcheson and his wife, friends and events at the university and in the local area, and Hutcheson’s 1907 VPI football team.

The second series of Professional Papers is divided into three subseries: Subseries A: Appointments and Nominations, Subseries B: Virginia Agriculture Extension Service (VAES), and Subseries C: Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI). Appointments and Nominations contains correspondence and newspaper clippings regarding possible appointments for Hutcheson in the federal government and banking firms, his rejections of these offers in order to stay on at VAES and VPI, and his service as chairman on the Radford Area Defense Council. The VAES subseries documents his work as director, including the celebrations surrounding his 25th anniversary and the successes of the county agents and home demonstration workers in the program during the Great Depression. The VPI series concerns Hutcheson’s appointment as president of the university and includes a report card from 1890, among other items.