The photograph collection at Special Collections and University Archives consists primarily of historical photographs of Virginia Tech, dating back to the 1890s. The collection is also home to historic images of Blacksburg, Montgomery County, the New River Valley, and Southwest Virginia in general. A photograph collection of faculty and staff from the university is maintained separately.

This collection contains four boxes of slide sets, some with related scripts, for the Virginia Cooperative Extension's Master Gardener Program. Most materials are undated, but likely date from between the 1970s and early 2000s. Topics include flowers, fruits, vegetables, trees, landscaping, gardening, composting, and careers in horticulture.

The Named/Individual Photograph Collections include images from alumni and former faculty and staff, or individuals with ties to campus and the New River Valley. Collections (c.1890-present) depict campus life and events, railroad history, agricultural extension research, Blacksburg and surrounding areas, and some local families.

The collection contains United States Department of Agriculture, War Food Administration, and other national agency publications from the early 20th century to the present day.

The collection includes correspondence, receipts, farm records, and other papers of Thomas O. Sandy, a farmer in Nottoway County, Virginia, and the first state demonstration agent for agricultural extension in Virginia. The papers relate to Sandy's farm, extension work, and estate.

This paper describes the early meetings which lead to the creation of the farm demonstration work program. Farrar Shelton attended one of these early meetings as an eighth grader. Shelton later attended VPI and graduated with the class of 1915 with a degree in agriculture, he went on to become a county demonstration agent.

The collection contains publications on topics including, but not limited to: war-time food use and victory gardens, home planning and organization, food and cooking, home demonstration, and household management. Although the emphasis in on Virginia state and local agencies, materials may also originate from around the United States.

This collection contains the papers of William Logan Threlkeld, professor of zoology and biology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute (1929-1958), including biographical materials, personal and professional correspondence, research files, and printed materials.

This collection contains the final and draft versions of a 1988 report from the Virginia Congress on Hunger detailing the extent of hunger and poverty in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a news release about the report, and the 1985 report about hunger and poverty.

This collection contains the administrative records of the Virginia Cooperative Extension, including correspondence, reports, financial documents, slides, videos, and the records of Bob Swain and Edwin J. Jones. The collection also documents the VCE's role in Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, Virginia Association of Extension Secretaries, and their work within rural communities.