In 1890, Charles Owens began working at Virginia Tech (VT) as a janitor in one of the barracks. Soon after, he joined the band’s students as a great drummer. Floyd Mead was introduced to the Virginia Tech family when, after living with the Thomas family, Thomas took Floyd for walks around the barracks as a child. The cadets quickly took Floyd and made him the mascot for VT athletic teams. When he got a little older, he got a job in the dining room. He later handed his mascot work over to the turkey he trained to cheer on the soccer team while displaying it on a leash.
The next black man to work at VT was John Sears in 1917; who came to be known as John the Barber, a nickname the cadets gave him as their favorite barber. Soon after, in 1919, Pat Mills became the janitor and a well-liked debater. He even got a victory in a debate over Old-Time Negroes.
In the 1950s, desegregation reached VT’s Blacksburg Presbyterian Church. After desegregation, black students began attending Virginia Tech with Irving L. Peddrew III leading the way in 1953. That same year, Jerry Bonet created a group that later became the Council on Human Relations. Fittingly, their meetings were held at the Blacksburg Presbyterian Church.
It was 15 years later that the first black student graduated from VT when he received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. This student was Charlie Yates, who later served as a member of the Virginia Tech faculty. A year later, in 1959, Mr. Whitehurst became Virginia Tech’s first black member on the Board of Visitors. He was also the first black man to go to Ring Dance.
While black men had previously enrolled in college, black women did not show up at Virginia Tech until 1966. Now that blacks were gaining more privileges and more honors, scholarships soon followed. The first was an athletic scholarship, awarded to Jerry Gaines for athletics. He was also the first black to be inducted into the Virginia Tech Hall of Fame.
In 1968, after the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Virginia Tech students held a vigil in his honor. On a lighter note, in that same year, the first black woman was elected prom princess. As the 1960s draw to a close, more and more black students are playing and starting on sports teams at VT. This is just a small look at the accomplishments and accomplishments of the black members of the VT family.
