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vt-scua.bsky.social
VT Special Collections and University Archives
@vt-scua.bsky.social
330 followers 10 following 39 posts
Located on the first floor of Newman Library.
Open M-F 9-5, appointments preferred, walk-ins welcome.
More info at https://bit.ly/scua-byappt.
Website: https://spec.lib.vt.edu
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vt-scua.bsky.social
Hop in for a ride through time! This week's story from our 1940 list of sci-fi classics, "Night" by Don A. Stuart, is a sequel to "Twilight" and takes us billions of years further into the future.

Join us on #Twitch at 3:00 p.m. 👉 twitch.tv/VTULStudios
#ArchivalAdventures
Promo for Archival Adventures Episode "Night by Don A. Stuart", featuring a black and white line drawing of a man holding a space suit while looking with astonishment at advanced machines. The image is captioned "The machines were far beyond anything ever conceived—machines of perfection." Instructions on accessibility accommodations are included at the bottom of the promo: If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please email library-event-accessibility-g@vt.edu at least 10 days prior to the event.
January 14, 2026 at 3:48 PM
vt-scua.bsky.social
We're flying into our 2026 #ArchivalAdventures faster than the speed of sound as we explore the development of supersonic commercial aircraft by NASA with the F. Edward McLean Papers.

Join us on #Twitch at 3:00 p.m. 👉 twitch.tv/VTULStudios
Promo for Archival Adventures Episode "Supersonic Aircraft Development", featuring a model of a supersonic aircraft fixed to a mounting arm in a wind tunnel. Instructions on accessibility accommodations are included at the bottom of the promo: If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please email library-event-accessibility-g@vt.edu at least 10 days prior to the event.
January 7, 2026 at 5:38 PM
vt-scua.bsky.social
It's Winter Wonderland time! Today's archival materials will blanket us in fresh snowfall as we explore snow-related items from our collections.❄️

Join us at 3 p.m. 🔗 twitch.tv/VTULStudios

📺Catch up on past episodes: youtube.com/user/VaTechL...

#ArchivalAdventures
Promo for Archival Adventures Episode "A Universe of Sky and Snow!" Featuring the oil painting "Snow Scene" by American artist Walter Biggs. The painting features a person and a dog walking through snow toward a green barn. A church steeple is in the background, and a snow-covered birdbath is in the foreground. Instructions on accessibility accommodations are included at the bottom of the promo: If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please email library-event-accessibility-g@vt.edu at least 10 days prior to the event.
December 17, 2025 at 5:43 PM
vt-scua.bsky.social
This week we're peering into a future where intellect reigns & brains inside life support machines are common, in a story by Harry Bates. Join us Wed., at 3 p.m. as we continue our look at Moskowitz's 1940 list of SciFi classics.🧠

🔗 twitch.tv/VTULStudios
#ArchivalAdventures
Promo for Archival Adventures Episode "Alas, All Thinking! by Harry Bates" – Sam Moskowitz’s 1940 Classics of Science-Fiction # 14 | Heron Speculative Fiction Collection # 26, featuring a black and white line drawing of a modern human observing a biomechanical mechanism with a gigantic braincase while a woman with a slightly enlarged braincase looks on. The caption reads "Why should he move? she asked. That stopped me for a little." Instructions on accessibility accommodations are included at the bottom of the promo: If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please email library-event-accessibility-g@vt.edu at least 10 days prior to the event.
December 10, 2025 at 3:15 PM
vt-scua.bsky.social
Today, we rejoin Fannie Murdoch in 1861 Mississippi via her teenage diary. Join us at 3:00 p.m. for more of Fannie Murdoch's thoughts, fears, and joys as a young teenage girl in the Confederacy.

🔗 twitch.tv/VTULStudios
#ArchivalAdventures
Promo for Archival Adventures Episode: Civil War Diary of a Confederate Teen, Part 4, featuring an illustration of various women in dresses, enhanced with color. The image is captioned "Godey's Fashions for May 1862". Instructions on accessibility accommodations are included at the bottom of the promo: If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please email library-event-accessibility-g@vt.edu at least 10 days prior to the event.
December 3, 2025 at 5:05 PM
vt-scua.bsky.social
Today, on #ArchivalAdventures we're heading to Venus to learn about intelligent plant life in a story by Stanley G. Weinbaum. Join us at 3 p.m. as we continue our look at Moskowitz's 1940 list of SciFi classics.🌱

🔗 twitch.tv/Rogan27
Promo for Archival Adventures Episode "The Lotus Eaters by Stanley G. Weinbaum" – Sam Moskowitz’s 1940 Classics of Science-Fiction # 13 | Heron Speculative Fiction Collection # 25, featuring a black and white line drawing of rocket spaceship among tall, jagged mountains. Two individuals in space suits are exiting a hatch on the side. Instructions on accessibility accommodations are included at the bottom of the promo: If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please email library-event-accessibility-g@vt.edu at least 10 days prior to the event.
November 19, 2025 at 7:03 PM
vt-scua.bsky.social
Today we return to the James Dean Collection to explore the design and development of NASA's Skylab, the International Space Station, and the Space Shuttle. Join us for #ArchivalAdventures at 3 p.m.! 🧑‍🚀🚀🌕

🔗 twitch.tv/VTULStudios
Promo for Archival Adventures James Dean Collection, Part IV: Skylab, ISS, and Space Shuttles, featuring a collage of various proposed concepts for the space shuttle submitted to NASA by aircraft manufacturers. Instructions on accessibility accommodations are included at the bottom of the promo: If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please email library-event-accessibility-g@vt.edu at least 10 days prior to the event.
November 12, 2025 at 6:15 PM
vt-scua.bsky.social
Today, we rejoin Fannie Murdoch in 1861 Mississippi via her teenage diary. Join us at 3 p.m. for more of Fannie Murdoch's thoughts, fears, and joys as a young teenage girl in the Confederacy.

🔗 twitch.tv/VTULStudios

#ArchivalAdventures
Promo for Archival Adventures Episode: Civil War Diary of a Confederate Teen, Part 3, featuring an illustration of various women in dresses, some enhanced with some color. The image is captioned "Godey's Fashions for August 1861". Instructions on accessibility accommodations are included at the bottom of the promo: If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please email library-event-accessibility-g@vt.edu at least 10 days prior to the event.
November 5, 2025 at 4:42 PM
vt-scua.bsky.social
Today we indulge the spirit of the season 👻 with a theme that is creepy, disturbing, and unsettling. We're exploring items of unintentional horror 😱 with special guest Archivist Kira on #ArchivalAdventures

Join us on #Twitch at 3:00 p.m. 👉 twitch.tv/VTULStudios
Promo for Archival Adventures Episode: Unintentional Horror with Special Guest Archivist Kira. Featured is a black and white picture of a round layer cake. On it, in bright red icing are the words "Parties for Children". The combination of the black and white cake and red icing is evocative of classic horror movie aesthetics. Instructions on accessibility accommodations are included at the bottom of the promo: If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please email library-event-accessibility-g@vt.edu at least 10 days prior to the event.
October 22, 2025 at 4:05 PM
vt-scua.bsky.social
📡Can you hear me now? Long before cell phones, there was the Walkie-Talkie! On today’s #ArchivalAdventures, we listen for messages from the past as we explore the invention of the Walkie-Talkie using the AI Gross Papers. Roger that?

🔴 Live at 3 p.m.: twitch.tv/VTULStudios
Promo for Archival Adventures Episode 2009, Invention of the Walkie Talkie, featuring a black and white photograph of an early walkie-talkie. It is a long rectangular metal box. On one side are various dials and switches. On another, there is an earpiece and a microphone similar to a telephone handset. It is captioned "Battery Operated Walkie Talkie, 1938, 300 MHZ". Instructions on accessibility accommodations are included at the bottom of the promo: If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please email library-event-accessibility-g@vt.edu at least 10 days prior to the event.
October 15, 2025 at 4:58 PM
vt-scua.bsky.social
Unfortunately, this episode must be delayed til next week. There is very LOUD 🔊 construction noise in our regular studio space. We'll catch you all next Wednesday to explore walkie-talkie history.
vt-scua.bsky.social VT Special Collections and University Archives @vt-scua.bsky.social · Oct 1
It's time for an adventure! This week we listen for messages from the past as we explore the invention of the Walkie-Talkie using the Al Gross Papers! bit.ly/Ms2001-011

Join us on #Twitch at 3:00 p.m. 👉 twitch.tv/VTULStudios
#ArchivalAdventures
Promo for Archival Adventures Episode 2009, Invention of the Walkie Talkie, featuring a black and white photograph of an early walkie-talkie. It is a long rectangular metal box. On one side are various dials and switches. On another, there is an earpiece and a microphone similar to a telephone handset. It is captioned "Battery Operated Walkie Talkie, 1938, 300 MHZ". Instructions on accessibility accommodations are included at the bottom of the promo: If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please email library-event-accessibility-g@vt.edu at least 10 days prior to the event.
October 1, 2025 at 6:29 PM
vt-scua.bsky.social
It's time for an adventure! This week we listen for messages from the past as we explore the invention of the Walkie-Talkie using the Al Gross Papers! bit.ly/Ms2001-011

Join us on #Twitch at 3:00 p.m. 👉 twitch.tv/VTULStudios
#ArchivalAdventures
Promo for Archival Adventures Episode 2009, Invention of the Walkie Talkie, featuring a black and white photograph of an early walkie-talkie. It is a long rectangular metal box. On one side are various dials and switches. On another, there is an earpiece and a microphone similar to a telephone handset. It is captioned "Battery Operated Walkie Talkie, 1938, 300 MHZ". Instructions on accessibility accommodations are included at the bottom of the promo: If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please email library-event-accessibility-g@vt.edu at least 10 days prior to the event.
October 1, 2025 at 3:44 PM
vt-scua.bsky.social
This week "Dr. Conklin sets out to abolish a heated argument about peanut brittle" in Thomas Calvert McClary's "Shortwave Experiment", Join us on #Twitch 3:00 p.m. as we continue our look at Moskowitz' 1940 list of SciFi "classics".

🔗 twitch.tv/VTULStudios
#ArchivalAdventures
Promo for Archival Adventures Episode Shortwave Experiment by Thomas Calvert McClary – Sam Moskowitz’s 1940 Classics of Science-Fiction # 12 | Heron Speculative Fiction Collection # 24, featuring a black and white line drawing of a standing human skeleton with a field of energy radiating from it. A sci-fi machine sits in front of it, also radiating energy. An older white man, with a receding hairline and wearing a suit, and his cat are looking at the skeleton with shocked expressions. Instructions on accessibility accommodations are included at the bottom of the promo: If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please email library-event-accessibility-g@vt.edu at least 10 days prior to the event.
September 24, 2025 at 3:22 PM
vt-scua.bsky.social
We're calculating adventure with Samuel Burger's Mathematics Notebook! Dividing our time between algebra and word problems we'll try to sum up some history from these equations.

Join us on #Twitch at 3:00 p.m. 👉 twitch.tv/VTULStudios
#ArchivalAdventures
Promo for Archival Adventures Episode 207, Samuel Burger's Mathematics Notebook, featuring a page of mathematical word problems and long division calculations. Instructions on accessibility accommodations are included at the bottom of the promo: If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please email library-event-accessibility-g@vt.edu at least 10 days prior to the event.
September 10, 2025 at 4:08 PM
vt-scua.bsky.social
We're blasting off for another adventure with NASA records! 🚀 From pilotless aircraft to Project Mercury, we'll explore the papers of NASA engineer & administrator Robert R. Gilruth on this week's #ArchivalAdventures!

Today at 3:00 p.m. on #Twitch
🔗 twitch.tv/VTULStudios
Promo for Archival Adventures Episode 204, NASA Papers of Robert Gilruth, featuring a telegram from Elmer L. Anderson, Governor of Minnesota, congratulating Robert Gilruth on the success of NASA’s Project Mercury. Instructions on accessibility accommodations are included at the bottom of the promo: If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please email library-event-accessibility-g@vt.edu at least 10 days prior to the event.
September 3, 2025 at 3:34 PM
vt-scua.bsky.social
A tale of two worlds, interplanetary cooperation, and rebellion! That’s where the 11th story from Sam Moskowitz’s 1940 list of sci-fi classics will take us. Join us on #Twitch at 3:00 p.m. for Old Faithful by Raymond Z. Gallun.

🔗 twitch.tv/VTULStudios
#ArchivalAdventures
Promo for Archival Adventures Episode: Old Faithful by Raymond Z. Gallun, featuring a black-and-white illustration of a tentacled alien on robot legs using a large telescope made of interconnected spheres to observe the Earth. It has the caption “In the depths of the crystal was an image of the third world.” Instructions on accessibility accommodations are included at the bottom of the promo: If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please email library-event-accessibility-g@vt.edu at least 10 days prior to the event.
August 27, 2025 at 2:41 PM
vt-scua.bsky.social
We’re returning to 1861 and a unique view of the American Civil War. Join us at 3:00 p.m. for more of Fannie Murdoch's thoughts, fears, and joys as a young teenage girl in the Confederacy.

🔗 twitch.tv/VTULStudios
#ArchivalAdventures
Promo for Archival Adventures Episode: Civil War Diary of a Confederate Teen, Part 2, featuring an image of an Italianate Revival style plantation house. Instructions on accessibility accommodations are included at the bottom of the promo: If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please email library-event-accessibility-g@vt.edu at least 10 days prior to the event.
August 20, 2025 at 3:14 PM
vt-scua.bsky.social
We’re cooking up an adventure with an amuse-bouche of historical housewares! Join us at 3:00 PM as #ArchivalAdventures gets a taste of the Kitchen Equipment Collection! 🍽️🍳🥘

🔗 twitch.tv/VTULStudios
Promo for Archival Adventures episode: “Historical Kitchen Equipment” on August 6, 2025 at 3:00 PM on twitch.tv/VTULStudios. Features an image of an aged cutout card with a pop-art style 1950s housewife holding up a pot and a small wrench. Captions around the image read “Don’t Throw It Away”, “Mend It With Mendets”, “15¢”, and “Simply Tighten – Watertight Forever!” Instructions on accessibility accommodations are included at the bottom of the promo: If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please email library-event-accessibility-g@vt.edu at least 10 days prior to the event.
August 13, 2025 at 6:18 PM
vt-scua.bsky.social
A rogue scientist, a stolen vessel, and the laws of space shattered. This week's 1940 sci-fi "classic" is The Mole Pirate by Murray Leinster. Is our rebel a hero or an outlaw?

Find out with us on #Twitch at 3:00 p.m. 👉 twitch.tv/VTULStudios

#ArchivalAdventures
Promo for Archival Adventures Episode #202, The Mole Pirate, featuring a pencil drawing by Elliot Dold depicting the main character, Durran, exiting from the "mole vessel," greeted by a crowd of reporters with cameras. Durran looks disgruntled and is tossing something aside as he exits. The vessel is torpedo shaped and fitted with many gadgets, like propellers on its top. Instructions on accessibility accommodations are included at the bottom of the promo: If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please email library-event-accessibility-g@vt.edu at least 10 days prior to the event.
July 30, 2025 at 5:19 PM
vt-scua.bsky.social
It’s time for some Lunar Learning! We're launching into the James Dean Collection for a look at what it took to get us to the moon in the 1960s. Join us for #ArchivalAdventures at 3 p.m. TODAY as we explore the history of the Apollo Program! 🧑‍🚀🚀🌕

🔗 twitch.tv/VTULStudios
Promo for Archival Adventures Episode #201, The Apollo Program, featuring a photo taken by Neil Armstrong of astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the surface of the moon, posing next to an erected American flag deployed during the Apollo 11 spacewalk. The Lunar Module is visible on his left. Aldrin's footprints in the soil of the moon are visible in the foreground. Instructions on accessibility accommodations are included at the bottom of the promo: If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please email library-event-accessibility-g@vt.edu at least 10 days prior to the event.
July 23, 2025 at 2:36 PM
vt-scua.bsky.social
As the Civil War erupts, young Fannie Murdoch picks up her pen. From a Mississippi plantation, she writes of faith, fear, & a world coming undone. 🖋️ 📜

Step into the mind of a Confederate teen in a nation at war TODAY at 3 pm on #ArchivalAdventures!

🔗 twitch.tv/VTULStudios
Promo for Archival Adventures Episode #200, Confederate Teenager's Civil War Diary, featuring an image of the first words written in the journal: “Open not this book my friend”!!!. Instructions on accessibility accommodations are included at the bottom of the promo: If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please email library-event-accessibility-g@vt.edu at least 10 days prior to the event.
July 16, 2025 at 5:59 PM
vt-scua.bsky.social
Glove up! Today we explore life inside Piedmont Sanatorium — Virginia's first tuberculosis rest home for Black patients. At 3 p.m. we'll discover stories of survival, resilience, and racism in Virginia's medical past. 🩻😷🩺

🔗 twitch.tv/VTULStudios

#ArchivalAdventures
Promo for Archival Adventures Episode #199, Piedmont Tuberculosis Sanatorium, featuring a black and white postcard from Piedmont Sanatorium, showing the building known as the "Pavilion." It is a long, white, one-story construction with many windows, situated in a grove of tall trees. Instructions on accessibility accommodations are included at the bottom of the promo: If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please email library-event-accessibility-g@vt.edu at least 10 days prior to the event.
June 25, 2025 at 3:32 PM
vt-scua.bsky.social
Chaos, conflict, and change - 1863 had it all. Harper's Weekly brings the Civil War to life with bold stories, haunting narratives, and intricate illustrations.

Turn back the pages of time and join us on #Twitch at 3:00 p.m. 👉 twitch.tv/VTULStudios
#ArchivalAdventures
Promo for Archival Adventures Episode #198, Harper's Weekly 1863, featuring a hand drawn image with an intricate border surrounding it. The focal point is the Statue of Freedom, or Armed Victory, an iconic American symbol who sits atop the Capitol building. She wears a plumed military helmet and holds a sheathed sword in her right hand and a laurel wreath and shield in her left. She stands on a monument that is engraved with "E Pluribus Unum (Out of many, one)," which is the traditional motto of the U.S. "Volume VIII For the Year 1864" is also written on the stone. Behind her we can see a harbor with war ships and a battalion of soldiers raising the American flag on the shore. At her feet sit two identical women who are observing and writing. Instructions on accessibility accommodations are included at the bottom of the promo: If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please email library-event-accessibility-g@vt.edu at least 10 days prior to the event.
June 18, 2025 at 3:11 PM
vt-scua.bsky.social
Houston, time for an adventure! Blast off to NASA's Project Gemini! Exploring the James Dean Collection, discover pioneering spacewalks, long-durations missions, and how Gemini blazed the trail to the moon.

Join us on #Twitch at 3:00 p.m. 👉 twitch.tv/VTULStudios
#ArchivalAdventures
Promo for Archival Adventures Episode #197, Project Gemini - James Dean Collection, featuring an artist's hyper realistic concept art of NASA's Gemini 9A spacecraft in orbit, 185 miles above Earth. 9A, shown in the background, is closing in for docking exercise with the Augmented Target Docking Adapter (ADTA), depicted in the foreground. Instructions on accessibility accommodations are included at the bottom of the promo: If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please email library-event-accessibility-g@vt.edu at least 10 days prior to the event.
June 11, 2025 at 5:43 PM
vt-scua.bsky.social
Hoist the sails! We return to the journal of Chief Engineer of the USS Dacotah - Philip Peltz. In these last pages he finds himself on a new ship with new faces and mounting duties.

Join us as we sail to this journal's end on #Twitch at 3:00 p.m. 👉 twitch.tv/VTULStudios
#ArchivalAdventures
Promo for Archival Adventures Episode #194, USS Dacotah (Minnesota) Engineer's Journal - Part 11 - Journal's End, featuring an 1870s lithograph of an original line drawing. It depicts the USS Minnesota in the water at Hampton Roads, VA, undergoing a Naval Review. Instructions on accessibility accommodations are included at the bottom of the promo: If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please email library-event-accessibility-g@vt.edu at least 10 days prior to the event.
June 4, 2025 at 4:30 PM