Hidden History: The Black Experience in the Roanoke Valley Cassette Tapes and Transcripts
Scope and Contents
Oral history project designed to interview African American residents of the Roanoke Valley in Virginia. The interviews cover the African American cultural, social, and political history in the Valley. Collection consists of approximately fifty-five interviews. Transcripts are available for forty of the interviews.
Dates
- 1992
Language of Materials
The materials in the collection are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open to research.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
This oral history project was an agreement between University Libraries and The Harrison Museum of African American Culture. Researchers should contact the appropriate organization for assistance in determining the use of these materials. Copyright restrictions may apply. Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.
Biographical / Historical
The Harrison Museum of African American Culture first opened in 1985 in the Harrison School, a historically Black school in Roanoke, Virginia. The institution later relocated to downtown Roanoke in 2013, where it stood for twelve years before it moved once more to the Melrose Plaza Community Center in 2025. According to The Harrison Museum of African American Culture's website, the museum is a cultural and educational institution that is dedicated to preserving and displaying the history of African Americans and their contributions.
The oral history interviews were done in 1992, twelve years after the museum's opening, in partnership with Virginia Tech University Libraries. According to the museum's website, the interviewees were elders in the Roanoke Valley community. Their interviews ranged from biographical to detailed recollections of the Black communities in the Roanoke Valley and their significance to the history of Roanoke.
External Sources:
Harrison Museum of African American Culture, https://harrisonmuseum.com/about/, accessed on November 18, 2025.
Extent
2.5 Cubic Feet (10 boxes)
Abstract
This oral history project was an agreement between University Libraries and The Harrison Museum of African American Culture. It contians oral history interviews with forty African American people from the Roanoke Valley. The interviews are mostly biographical in nature.
Arrangement
The interview transcripts are arranged in alphabetical order by last name within each box. Box one contains forty oral history interview transcripts. Box two contains thirty-seven copies of those transcripts. Boxes three through ten contain the cassette tapes.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was acquired by Special Collections and University Archives prior to 1992.
Rights Statement for Archival Description
The guide to the Hidden History: The Black Experience in the Roanoke Valley Cassette Tapes and Transcripts by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/).
- Title
- Hidden History: The Black Experience in the Roanoke Valley Cassette Tapes and Transcripts, 1992
- Status
- In Progress
- Author
- Special Collections and University Archives Staff Zoe Brooks, Graduate Assistant
- Date
- (CC0 1.0)
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Revision Statements
- 2020-09-18: Finding aid notes updated to new department standards. juliags
- 2022-08-18: changed numbers of transcripts and interviews to 36 and "approximately" 55. (mdb)
- 2025-11-11: Zoe Brooks updated the finding aid notes and added the separate boxes and their contents from the collection to the finding aid.
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech Repository
Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries (0434)
560 Drillfield Drive
Newman Library, Virginia Tech
Blacksburg Virginia 24061 US
540-231-6308
specref@vt.edu