Digital Archives

The digital archives program at Radford University transcribes valuable historical records.  Every semester, students contribute new resources based on their work in HIST 400.  Dr. Sharon Roger Hepburn teaches this course.

Student researchers have transcribed records from the Botetourt County Courthouse. In addition students have transcribed the medical records, letters, and other documents of the 102nd Regiment United States Colored Troops, which served in the American Civil War.  Other projects involve the decklogs from selected U.S. Navy vessels from the Civil War through the Vietnam War, a collection of Civil War soldier biographies and courts martial, the letters of George Washington Spink, and the Ford Kawood Lewis Collection.

The New River Vally Collection consists of letters primarily from the late 1800s, and includes correspondence from people in the areas surrounding Radford and other areas such as Hummelstown, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The largest part of the collection is correspondence between Miss Lydia Conduff and Mr. Ell Bones. Miss Conduff resided in Floyd County, Virginia in a small community called Hylton, while Mr. Bones resided in Pulaski City, Virginia. Clara Walmer and Emma Reed were sisters who both received letters from their betrothed in the late 1800s. The letters detail their daily lives and provide insight into how people at that time interacted with the those they loved.

The projects are posted on unique web sites that can be accessed via the below links.

The Botetourt Courthouse Project. 

The 102nd United States Colored Troops Project.

Naval Records, Court Martial Project, George Washington Spink Letter.

Court Martial Project, Soldier Biographies, George Washington Spink Letters.

The New River Valley Collection. Lydia Conduff and Ell Bones Correspondence

The New River Valley Collection. Clara Walmer Correspondence, Emma Reed Correspondence