He was the Christiansburg Institute's director in Montgomery Country

You might be aware of Booker T. Washington's ties to Franklin County, but did you realize he also had ties to Montgomery County? Washington worked as a Superintendent at the Christiansburg Institute from 1896 until his passing in 1915. To help educate and prepare freed slaves for freedom, the institution was founded in 1866. It is considered one of the most interesting facts about Booker T. Washington.

When Washington got involved in the school in 1896, he shifted the curriculum from traditional courses like reading, writing, and history to one that was more focused on vocational training, following the same template he had used at Tuskegee. Numerous Tuskegee graduates were among the staff, which was exclusively made up of African Americans. The Christiansburg Institute will later develop into one of the most renowned institutions for African Americans in the nation.

A public, searchable archive of digital documents about the history of the Christiansburg Industrial Institute and more general African American history in Southwest Virginia is the Christiansburg Institute's Digital Archives. The Christiansburg Institute Museum & Archives and community members who donated digital copies to the digital archive are the sources for the items in the archive. The community archive at Christiansburg Institute Museum & Archives is expanding.