Archival Holdings: Historical Institute Official Records
Examples of Institute Records
Our archival holdings are extensive, consisting of tens of thousands of historical documents. For more information about your area of research interest contact the Archives.
Permanent Historical Records: An Overview
The VMI Archives is the repository for the Institute's records of enduring historical and administrative significance. The Archives staff preserves and catalogs the non-current records of permanent value that are generated by or that document the activities of administrators, faculty, and students of the Institute. Archival holdings are organized into Record Groups, which are derived from the organizational structure of the Institute. A few examples of permanent records are the Minutes of the Board of Visitors; office files of senior administrators such as the Superintendent, Dean and other officials; student records older than the most recent 20 years; a host of student and official Institute publications such as catalogues, yearbooks, annual reports, and brochures; and photographs and other media.
The Archives staff administers the Institute's Records Management Program. Current Institute records remain in the offices in which they are created until they are no longer needed in the course of daily business. At that time they become non-current, and the records of historical and administrative value are transferred to the Archives for permanent retention. Routine records with short-term value are maintained for a specified period conforming to the state's records retention schedules and are scheduled for destruction.
A Brief Administrative History of the Institute Archives
The first VMI cadets matriculated on November 11, 1839 and, from the beginning, the Institute has treasured and safeguarded its historical records. Archival holdings are extensive, dating from 1839 with no major gaps. Although the Institute was burned by Union troops in 1864, records from the Civil War and earlier eras survived. The first attempt to consolidate VMI's archival holdings was made by COL William Couper, a graduate of the Class of 1904 who spent much of his career as a senior administrator at VMI. He pursued a life-long passion for documenting Institute history and was one of the first to recognize the richness of VMI's historical record. By the 1940's he had accumulated some of the most significant documents in an area of the library that became known as "Couper's Coop." However, the Archives was not established as an administrative entity with professional management until the mid-1970's. A new Archives facility was constructed in 1996 as part of the complete renovation of Preston Library. Today, the department is a thriving research center that serves not only the VMI community, but a wide range of patrons from around the world.
