For one solid century, from 1866 to 1966, Christiansburg Institute provided education, inspiration, and community for African Americans working to better themselves in the face of adversity. Located in southwest Virginia’s Montgomery County, Christiansburg Institute was founded in 1866 by Captain Charles Schaeffer, an agent of the Quaker Freedmen’s Bureau. It was the first school to provide secondary education for blacks in Southwest Virginia. In 1895, through the involvement of the Freedmen’s Bureau, Booker T. Washington advised the school in its transition to the industrial model of education. Christiansburg Institute principals such as Dr. Edgar Long provided leadership not only within the school, but in the larger community. The school closed in 1966 with the desegregation of Virginia’s schools.
Alumni organized in 1976 to save the last remaining academic building from the wrecking ball. Thanks to their hard work and the generosity of donors, Christiansburg Institute, Inc. has been re-established on four acres of the former farm campus. The Edgar A. Long Building, erected in 1927, is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is recognized as a Virginia Historic Landmark. It serves as a museum, archive, and community learning center open to all.
Excerpted from the African American Heritage Database at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, and brought to you by Encyclopedia Virginia at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.
Visit www.virginiavignettes.org for additional resources on this article and more information on Encyclopedia Virginia.
For Further Reading:
Long, Edgar A. (Edgar Allen), A Vision of Education: Selected Writings of Edgar A. Long
Christiansburg Institute website: http://www.christiansburginstitute.org/
Digitized images at University of Virginia Special Collections http://spec.lib.vt.edu/mss/cii.htm
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On October 8 2008 Dawn Restrepo said: @ 11:01 pm
I had heard that Christiansburg was the last town in the state of VA to desegregate; I’m trying to find more info to confirm or deny. As a parent living in C’burg for 6 years, with 3 children currently going through Montgomery Cty. Public Schools (MCPS), I would think that MCPS would have taken a field trip to the “Institute” to personally and locally drive home some of the horrors of segregation and racism. Maybe the “Institute” is not open for such a thing, but I personally was totally unaware of the building and would like to take my children there myself, even if we can’t get inside. Dawn Restrepo(Quote)
On October 9 2008 Trey said: @ 8:00 am
[quote comment="3501"] I personally was totally unaware of the building and would like to take my children there myself, even if we can’t get inside.[/quote]
The African American Heritage Database has an address for the Institute and a map. Perhaps they would aid you in finding the building.
http://www.aaheritageva.org/search/sites.php?site_id=258 Trey(Quote)