This collection contains records of the Blacksburg - Virginia Polytechnic Institute Civilian Defense Council, organized to administer and promote local civilian defense efforts during World War II. The collection includes correspondence, reports, and printed materials.

A large majority of the collection relates to the activities of the council's salvage committee. Included are correspondence and reports documenting the committee's administration of local scrap drives for paper, metal, rubber, cooking fat, and silk. Also included are memoranda and circulars issued by the Blacksburg committee and other local salvage committees, as well as a commendation awarded to H. W. Jackson.

From the Virginia State Salvage Committee, the collection includes a number of bulletins as well as other communications issued both to local salvage committees and to the public, all with a view toward promoting the collection of scrap. The collection also contains printed materials issued by national agencies to assist local committees in promoting and conducting scrap campaigns. Included are booklets, flyers, and posters.

The collection holds only a few materials not relating to the activities of the salvage committee. Included is a civilian defense armband as well as items relating to gas- and sugar-rationing, air raid defense, and victory loans. From the council, the collection holds information on the organization's structure and the minutes of a 1944 council meeting.