History Department at Virginia Tech

06/03/2026

Join us in congratulating Paul Quigley, promoted to professor, and Rachel Midura, promoted to associate professor with tenure. 🎉 We’re proud to celebrate their achievements and impact!

06/02/2026

05/29/2026

We want to take a moment to recognize the 2025–26 Virginia Tech Undergraduate Historical Review editorial team: graduate student editors David Watkeys and Elliot Sheehan and undergraduate editors Jonathan Howell, Lydia Shelton, and Casey Nichols. 🎉

VTUHR is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal that publishes research and historiography produced by undergraduate history majors across the United States.

With support from the Department of History and Virginia Tech Publishing, our students carry out the work of reviewing manuscripts, soliciting calls for papers, corresponding with authors, editing, and learning about publishing processes.

Undergraduate editors can even earn internship credits for their involvement, deepening their investment in the journal’s continued success.

Interested in submitting, encouraging other students to submit, or just curious about what these amazing young scholars are producing? Be sure to check out the journal here! https://vtuhr.org/

05/26/2026

A history project created with the help of Virginia Tech history students is going on the road this fall to visit classrooms in Southwest Virginia!
In 2019, faculty and students from the VCCWS worked with staff from the American Civil War Museum - Appomattox to create "Enacting Freedom," an exhibit exploring what freedom meant to Black Virginians after emancipation. The exhibit was on display from 2019 to 2023. Museum staff have now converted the exhibit into a traveling display for schools in Appomattox and Lynchburg and the counties of Amherst, Bedford, and Campbell. Teachers and school administrations may contact: [email protected] or 804.649.1861 ext. 112 to set up a visit.

05/20/2026

Want to relive commencement? Check out these photos taken during the ceremony! 🧡 🎓

05/19/2026

A Taste of Appalachia, Past and Present was more than just a meal — it was a meal with meaning. Featuring dishes drawn from Special Collections and University Archives’ Food and Drink History Collection, every detail invited connection and reflection, and offered history you could taste, hear, and experience. 🍽️

By bringing together chefs, scholars, and students, the immersive meal A Taste of Appalachia, Past and Present transformed archival materials into a living, public experience — one that challenges stereotypes and highlights the region’s diverse cultural influences.

05/15/2026

Congratulations to all of the graduating History Hokies!! 🎓 🎉

Here are some of our favorite moments from last week's end-of-year celebration and graduation photo sessions. We’re so proud of all of you! 🧡

05/14/2026

It's time to highlight our graduating M.A. students! We’re so proud of all they’ve accomplished and can’t wait to see the incredible things they do next. Congratulations to all of you!! 🎉

Click through each photo to learn more about each student's plans after graduation, advice for incoming M.A. students, and what they've learned. 🧡

Here are the titles of each student's thesis project:

🎓 Zoe Brooks, "From Coal Creek to Brushy Mountain: A History of Race, Labor, and Punishment in the Tennessee Coalfields, 1890-1903"

🎓 Sterling Bryant, "Syrians in America: An Exploration and Analysis of Immigration, Race, and Regional Belonging"

🎓 Mercy Dwomoh, "Pens of Resistance: Gender, Ideology, and Print in Ghana’s Struggle for Decolonization"

🎓 Joshua Ewudzie, "From Infrastructural Selectivity to Political Obligation: Land, Water, and Colonial Governance in Southern Ghana, 1874-1938"

🎓 Bernard Homiah, "Land, Law, and Colonial Improvement in the Gold Coast: African Responses and the Making of Achimota, 1894-1950"

🎓 Madison Smith, "Between Service and Exclusion: Chinese Migrants and Boundaries of Citizenship"

🎓 David Watkeys, "Roots of Resistance: A Study of Indigenous Cultures Challenging Colonialism"

05/13/2026

We’re continuing our countdown to graduation with Aaliyah Cooke! 🎉 🎓

During her time at Virginia Tech, Aaliyah turned an early love of history into hands-on research and leadership, from working on a World War I research project with faculty to interning at Historic Smithfield in Blacksburg and working with peers to revive the History Club.

This week, she’ll graduate with a bachelor’s degree in history and a minor in art history, with plans to work in a museum or government setting before pursuing a graduate degree in history. 🧡

Learn more about Aaliyah:

Hands‑on research played a central role in shaping Cooke’s academic and career goals.

05/12/2026

We’re continuing our countdown to graduation by highlighting some of our incredible graduating seniors! 🎓 We’re proud of all they’ve accomplished and can’t wait to see what they do next.

Click through each photo to learn more about their plans after graduation, advice for incoming students, and what they learned as history majors. 🧡