CHRISTIANSBURG – The Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) has awarded Christiansburg Institute, Inc. (CI, Inc.) in partnership with Virginia Tech University Libraries, a grant of $251,052.
The successful grant proposal, titled “Changing the Narrative: Modeling Equitable Stewardship of African American Storytelling & History” has been awarded as a part of the Council’s Digitizing Hidden Collections: Amplifying Unheard Voices grant program.
“Christiansburg Institute is extraordinarily honored to receive, in good partnership with our
friends at Virginia Tech University Libraries, a successful grant award from The Council on
Library and Information Resources,” said C.I. Inc. Executive Director Chris Sanchez.
“This generous award will significantly empower Christiansburg Institute with the technological resources and digital infrastructure to continue the critically important work of documenting, interpreting, preserving, and sharing the expansive material culture of the historic Christiansburg Industrial Institute,” said Sanchez.
Partners at Virginia Tech Libraries Nathan Hall and Alex Kinnaman said they are excited about the partnership with CI, Inc.
“We are excited to have the opportunity to partner with the Christiansburg Institute on this grant award and are honored to support the access to resources and culture at the Christiansburg Institute,” Hall and Kinnaman said. “Christiansburg Industrial Institute’s history is emblematic of the triumphs and struggles generations of African Americans faced in the Appalachian South during Reconstruction and Jim Crow. Thousands of students passed through its halls during its century of life, leaving behind records from their time at the school.”
The CLIR grant will support the digitization of 52,245 manuscript pages, photographs, student
newspapers, costumes, and other objects of material culture that speak to the 100-year story of
Christiansburg Industrial Institute (1866-1966).
Digital images will be hosted on the Christiansburg Institute Digital Archive and on Virginia Tech’s Southwest Virginia Digital Archive, creating online access to previously inaccessible materials. The databases will be created with alumni input and freely accessible to the Christiansburg Institute community, educators, and scholars.
The Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) is an independent, nonprofit
organization that forges strategies to enhance research, teaching, and learning environments in
collaboration with libraries, cultural institutions, and communities of higher learning. To learn
more, visit www.clir.org.