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The Competition
Virginia’s Top 10 Endangered Artifacts is part of the Virginia Association of Museum’s “Virginia Collections Initiative” implemented in 2011. VAM has supported over 180 organizations since the program’s launch.
This coverlet in the Montgomery Museum’s collection was made by an enslaved woman in Montgomery County and is a Top 10 Honoree. We are now competing to win additional funding for its conservation care.
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Coverlet History
According to family lore, the bedcovering was woven by a slave in Montgomery County on the plantation of Catherine L. Montague Trigg for her step-daughter Catherine Trigg Mosby. Passed from generation to generation, the large overshot coverlet (ca.1850) remained in the family for more than 160 years. The pattern uniformity indicates the work of one weaver, probably a woman.
We know that in 1850, there were 6 slaves held on the Trigg farm, including two women, ages 16 and 41. In 1852 and 1853, eight slaves were sold from the farm, to settle Thomas Trigg’s estate, including four women: Amy, Maria, Jane, and Margaret. Another slave, a woman, 50 years old, continued to be owned by Catherine Montague Trigg in 1860, her name has not yet been discovered. Any of these women could have been a spinner, dyer, or weaver.
A time-consuming work of art, overshot coverlets are not signed or dated. Textiles made prior to the Civil War and attributed to enslaved women are rare in museum collections nationwide. The generational memory of the Trigg coverlet is an opportunity to enrich and enhance the story of enslaved women in Montgomery County via their skilled work.
What makes a woman beautiful? Society’s answer changed significantly between 1870 and 1970. For better or worse, our appearance communicates something to the people around us. As cultural attitudes and codes of morality changed, so did the standards of beauty. The tools, products, and techniques that were utilized to create the ideal look tell the stories of women’s daily lives, cultural attitudes about gender and race, and the empowerment of women.
The new exhibit now installed at the Montgomery Museum of Art & History explores these concepts through an array of historic cosmetics and beauty aids. The impact on the beauty industry for women economically was important. The story of the young women at Christiansburg Institute who took cosmetology as part of their vocational training is told with the display of rarely seen artifacts on loan from Christiansburg Institute, Inc. Their coursework could provide a means to a viable career. Further illustrating the story of beauty attitudes and techniques are advertisements, hair care equipment and accessories, period photographs, and cosmetics packages.
From the influence of the moving picture industry, to the idea of women exhibiting their patriotism through their red lipstick, the exhibit raises the question: Was the rise in cosmetics empowering to women or did it exacerbate the attitude that a woman’s value was only in her appearance? Join us to view this exhibit and decide for yourself what it means to be beautiful.
If you’ve ever received a free tote bag or key chain carrying a business logo, you are familiar with promotional novelties. If you’ve ever wondered who thought of putting company logos on serving plates and salad tongs, you’ll want to join us to view the upcoming exhibit at the Montgomery Museum. You’ll see rare glimpses of long-closed businesses, view quirky novelties, and be amazed at the large assortment of goods carrying local logos!
The first promotional novelties in the United States were buttons created to commemorate the inauguration of George Washington in 1789. By the late 1800s, enterprising businessmen in Coshocton, Ohio had launched a new industry that offered advertising on everything from burlap book bags to fly swatters, yardsticks, and metal souvenir trays.
The incredible (and continuing) success of non-paper advertising was based on visibility and loyalty. When placed on a utilitarian object, the ad remained in view of both the piece’s owner as well as anyone the owner came in contact with while using the item. The “free gift” nature of the novelties created a sense of loyalty and obligation towards the business.
Visit the Montgomery Museum’s new exhibit to see an abundance of useful goods and clever novelties that were offered to encourage new business and retain customers. Owners of large stores in Christiansburg and small general store owners in communities like Riner, Ironto, and Cambria all gave away items emblazoned with their business name.
The exhibited items highlight past businesses and illustrate how we once shopped. We hope you will join us.
We are excited because the Montgomery Museum of Art & History and the Museum Market on Main have reopened!
Museum Hours: Tuesday-Friday 10:30-4:30, and Saturday 1-4
Market on Main Hours: Tuesday-Friday 11-6
Visit our Facebook page to learn interesting snippets about Montgomery County history. Our new “Museum Minute” video tours have been entertaining to learn to produce to say the least! These short videos feature museum staff introducing you to some of the items on display in the museum exhibits.
While the Montgomery Museum will be closed at least through the remainder of March, we felt it was important to make the interesting work currently on exhibit in the Blacksburg High School Art Show available. These images are to be enjoyed online – use of them without express permission from the artists is prohibited.
“Pierced Luminary,” Eleanor Lee, Glazed Earthenware;
“Untitled Tile,” Sophia McGrady, Glazed Earthenware; “Cat and Mouse,” Lydia Rabbaa, Painted Earthenware; “Slab Pot,” Sophia McGrady, Glazed Earthenware
Froggy Friends, Leah Van Gelder, Graphite and
Stump Spirit of the Forest, Eleanor Kocz, Ink
Sphinx Cat, Eleanor Kocz, Ink; Kirin, Eleanor Kocz, Graphite;
Untitled, Emily Barron, Pen & Ink; Mothman’s Lament, Emily Barron, Ink;
Untitled, Sophia McGrady, Collage 
“Hurt,” Karen Villanueva, Acrylic; “Generosity,” Mellisa Meng; Acrylic on Glass; “Meep,” Olivia Opazo-Barnhart, Acrylic; and “Propane,” Jayden Batista, Acrylic 
“Bandit,” Ainsley Raymond, Acrylic; “Breaking Down,” Anonymous GS, Ink;
“She Went Away,” Jayden Batista, Acrylic (Honorable Mention);
“Wonderer” Anna Sheng, Watercolor
“Untitled 2,” Josh Mullins, Duct Tape and Paper 
“The water’s a rising so either buck up or get a front row seat,” Grace Sallee, Mixed Media; “A Sinking Feeling,” Jayden Batista, Acrylic;
“Late Night,” Karen Villanueva, Colored Pencil; “Untitled,” Emily Barron, Acrylic
”The Dark Burst,” Allie Miller, Pencil;
“Praise Keck,” Nicholas Keck, Graphite; “Youthful,” Iris Layman, Ink
“The Condor,” Sophie Aronson, Watercolor/Gouche; “Bitey!!,” Jayden Batista, Acrylic; “Untitled,” Emily Barron, Mixed Media 
“Python,” Wyatt Gear, Acrylic; “HeShe,” Aranad Sharma, Graphite; “Violinist,” Alice Xu, Oil 
“Untitled 1,” Josh Mullins,” Duct Tape and Paper 
“Peonies in the Rain,” Lauren Coliver, Oil and “Arizona,” Ainsley Raymond, Acrylic 
“Squirrel,” Ana Czar, Acrylic and “Untitled,” Emily Barron, Mixed Media 
“Sibling Squabble,” Karen Villanueva, Acrylic;
“Being Coy,” Brooklyn Mullins, Acrylic; “Eloiuse,” Ana Czar
“True Identity,” Karen Villanueva, Acrylic;
“Untitled,” Emily Barron, Ink; “She Bites,” Jayden Batista, Acrylic
“Letting Go,” Ella Warnick,” Acrylic 
“A Lost Love,” Jesse Braak, Acrylic and “Screen Time,” Karen Villanueva, Acrylic 
“Hold On,” Karen Villanueva, Graphite [First Prize Winner] 
“Why,” Olivia Opazo-Barnhart, Acrylic; “Mending & Broken Home,” Karen Villanueva, Oil Pastel; “Mending,” Karen Villanueva, Oil Pastel 
“Sun Bath,” Lauren Collvar,” Acrylic on Paper;
“The House,” Ella Provo, Pen & Ink (Honorable Mention);
“Papaya Mama,” Nola Scott, Acrylic; “Vacation,” Eleanor Lee, Pencil
“Sunset,” Hannah Deck, Tempera and “Shatthered,” Karen Villanueva, Acrylic 
“Turtle,” Gabbie Parton, Acrylic and “Fight It,” Austin Bishop, Mixed Media 
“Entomophobia,” Jesse Braak, Acrylic / Watercolor [2nd Prize Winner] 
“Untitled Plate Group,” Zoe Krisch, Glazed Earthenware; “Lidded Dish,” Emily Barron, Painted/Glazed Earthenware; “Untitled,” Emily Barron (Honorable Mention); “Pinch Pot,” Emily Barron, Painted Earthenware; “Fish,” Jayden Batista, Earthenware, “Untitled,” Ella Provo, Glazed Earthenware 
“Untitled,” Ella Provo, Glazed Earthenware; “Untitled,” Eleanor Lee, Glazed Earthenware; “Cityscape Plate,” Jenna Repass, Glazed Earthenware; “Untitled Tile,” Eleanor Lee, Glazed Earthenware; “Crepe,” Ginsey Thompson, Painted Earthenware 
“Untitled Plate,” Leza Thomas, Glazed Earthenware; “Untitled,” Michah Gholston-Sparks, Painted Earthenware; “Arapaima Plate,” Sophia Vikesland, Glazed Earthenware; “Untitled Dish,” Ella Provo, Glazed Earthenware; “Sculptural Head,” Zoe Krisch, Glazed Earthenware
The Montgomery Museum is pleased to host quilter, quilt lover, and quilt expert Bunnie Jordan.
An appraiser accredited through the American Society of Appraisers and a contributing author to several books, including Quilters Hall of Fame, Virginia Quilts, and Southern Quilts, we are fortunate to be able to offer this opportunity to the community and hope you will take advantage of this time with Bunnie.
Date: November 13, 2019
Location: @ the Museum, 300 S. Pepper St., Christiansburg, VA
Time: Appointment Times are Available between 10:30-2:00pm. Please contact the museum to make an appointment now.
Cost: A verbal appraisal will be $25 and a written appraisal will be $55.
The newly opened exhibit at the Montgomery Museum of Art & History explores the long history of schools in Montgomery County. A collection of objects and photographs illustrates the many challenges in providing education to children prior to 1940. Of special interest, is the School Census map on display. This map enumerates the number of children served by the county’s schools in 1940, where the children lived, and shows the locations of the schools and school districts. Photographs of many of the 59 schools in service in 1940 have been added to the map.
Early in the county’s history, children were educated at home with the first schools being established by local churches during the 1820s. By the 1850s, academies for both young women and young men were established at Christiansburg and Blacksburg. It was not until 1870, that Montgomery County organized its first public school. The legislation that created the state’s first public school system in 1870 also codified the requirement for separate schools for white and black students.
Few schools serving either race in Montgomery County could have been considered well funded during the nineteenth or early twentieth century. Local residents often provided supplemental funding for special programs, playgrounds, and new buildings or additions. In the case of the rural African American schools at Wake Forest, Pine Woods (or Piney Woods), Shawsville, and Elliston, the funding for new buildings came not only from local residents, but from the Julius Rosenwald fund. This fund was established by philanthropist Julius Rosenwald (president of Sears, Roebuck, & Co.) in 1917 to help provide appropriate school buildings for African American children. The fund, encouraged by Booker T. Washington and supported by specialists at Tuskegee Institute, helped local communities across the South build the best possible schools. It is estimated that one-third of the African American children in the region were served by Rosenwald Schools by 1928. For more information about Montgomery County’s Rosenwald Schools, visit Fisk University’s Rosenwald Database.
The minutes of the October 5, 1929 Montgomery County School Board meeting illustrate how basic schools in Montgomery County were during the early twentieth century. A request to add water coolers to the county’s schools was denied; instead members stated that “a bucket and dipper will be furnished.” Indoor plumbing was rare in the county’s schools. Students often traveled several miles on foot or on horseback to the nearest schoolhouse. They carried pails packed with food because few schools had lunchrooms or cafeterias prior to the 1950s.
Gradually, one-room schools were replaced during the early 1900s with two, three, or four room schools. As roads and automobiles improved during the 1920-1950 period, the pace and scale of this school consolidation increased. During the 1950s and 1960s, many of these small rural schools closed.
The earliest libraries in Montgomery County were created by church Sunday Schools, clubs or societies, or even private individuals. In Christiansburg, for example, girls attending the Christiansburg Presbyterian Church Sunday School class taught by Miss Emaline Miller (later Emaline Craig) in 1833 were able to check out books from the “lybrary.” This library may have belonged to the Miller family since the circulation record was kept by Miss Miller in a small handmade booklet.
The Christiansburg Circulating Library Company was incorporated on March 16, 1850 by a number of well-known Christiansburg professional men including Eli Phlegar, David G. Douthat, and Rev. Nicholas Chevalier. No further details of this library are known, but it may have been a for-profit subscription or membership-based institution. The next library we have records for was at the Virginia Agricultural & Mechanical College, which had a 500 book library when it was founded in 1872.
There was a public library in place in Christiansburg by 1907 when the Christiansburg Library was noted in the annual Report of the State Librarian as being a “citizen’s library” station serviced by the Virginia State Library’s Traveling Library Department. The same report notes that Shawsville was served by one of sixty-seven library stations. The Shawsville station had 39 borrowers for the year with a circulation of 173. The library in Christiansburg was still in operation in 1916 when a notice in the News Messenger noted a library “story hour” event. In 1919, the Christiansburg Free Library’s limited hours were announced in the News Messenger; it was open only on Wednesdays from 2:30-3:30 pm. From its description as a “free” library it is clear that this was a public institution without membership or subscription fees. Long-serving Montgomery County School Superintendant Evans King once recalled that in 1928, the Christiansburg library held 500 books.
The existing county library began in 1941 as part of the Radford Area Library system. Established with Works Progress Administration (WPA) funds, branches were located at Radford and at Christiansburg. The Christiansburg library was initially housed in the mezzanine level of the Piedmont Department Store at 34-36 East Main Street. The space was donated by the store’s manager, Isaac Mensh. It opened in 1944 with Miss Juanita Robertson as the librarian.
The county ceased contributing funds to the program in 1943 ending WPA funds as well. A citizen campaign restored funds, however, and the library grew to 40,000 books. The Christiansburg Library moved to the Phlegar Building on South Franklin Street in 1946, to the Marshall House in 1953, then to a former church on Radford Road in 1977. The first Blacksburg branch library was established on Main Street in 1969. It later moved to Draper Road. The City of Radford left the library system in 1970 and Floyd County joined in 1975 to create the regional system still in place today.
Branch libraries throughout the county often began as deposit places located in homes, crossroads stores, etc. that were stocked monthly from a bookmobile. The bookmobile was crucial to the growth of the library system. The first bookmobile, created during the 1930s, was a retrofitted automobile with lift-up panels covering shelves that were accessed from outdoors. This unit was invaluable during the gasoline rationing of the World War II period. In 1949, the Bookmobile added a trailer; the first in the state. The trailer was elaborately designed with shelves, desk, coat closet, cupboard, heat, lights and venetian blinds. It carried 1,200 books. In 1961, this was replaced with a van and in 1978 a Gerstenslager model bookmobile with 2,500 books. The bookmobile service ended in 2008.
The long history of the library illustrates both the importance placed on reading in Montgomery County and the efforts community members have made to ensure that books were available to all. Looking at the long history of local libraries highlights how fortunate we are to have access to the significant offerings available at the modern Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library system.
Sources:
Kanode, Roy, Christiansburg, Virginia
Report of the State Librarian, 1907-1908 and Acts of Incorporation, 1850; copies in Montgomery Museum files
Miscellaneous documents, June Sayers, Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library
During the Colonial era, Montgomery County was considered to be the western edge of settlement. Yet, it is not the location we generally mean when we think of “The West.”
This mythos was created in large part by the Wild West Shows that toured the country during the late-nineteenth century. The shows presented the culture of the Plains Indian as the only American Indian and the cowboy as a hero.
William F. Cody founded “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West” in 1883. The show featured “frontier characters” performing riding and shooting exhibitions, rodeo activities, theatrical reenactments, and more. Cody’s show joined with a similar show founded by Gordon Lillie (aka “Pawnee Bill”) in 1908 to become “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and Pawnee Bill’s Far East” show. Arriving in Roanoke in October 1911, the Roanoke Times wrote that the pair had: ” . . . united their forces for the purpose of giving the people of America an anthropological exhibit of the globe.” The show performed again in 1913 and was described as the “original ‘movies’.”
(D. D. Lester Collection, Montgomery Museum of Art and History)
The Wild West shows, along with circuses, minstrel shows, musical performances and more toured the country and stopped in Montgomery County regularly. To learn more about how Montgomery County residents got their kicks, view the newly opened exhibit “Entertain Me!: Montgomery County Traveling Shows” at the Montgomery Museum of Art and History.
HOURS: Tuesday thru Friday 10:30AM-4:30PM and Saturday 1:00PM-4:00PM