Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Access restrictions

University Archives records may contain information that is restricted by federal law including FERPA and HIPAA and state law including GS 42.1-76 and GS 2.2-3700. Materials must be reviewed and redacted as needed prior to access.

Preferred Citation

RPI Richmond Professional Institute records, 1917-2013, Record Group # UA 063, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.

Biographical / Historical Information

Richmond Professional Institute was founded as the Richmond School of Social Economy under the directorship of Dr. Henry H. Hibbs, Jr. in 1917 offering education in social work and public health nursing. In 1918 the name changed to the Richmond School of Social Work and Public Health. When the school became an extention of William and Mary in 1925, it changed to the Richmond Division of the College of William and Mary; and later in 1939, the Richmond Professional Institute of the College of William and Mary. In 1962 it became independant from William and Mary. On July 1, 1968, Richmond Professional Institute and the Medical College of Virginia officially merged becoming Virginia Commonwealth University.

Scope and Contents

The Richmond Professional Institute (RPI) resource record comprises 29 accessions relating to the history of RPI/VCU. These accessions are separated into five series: Photographs, Alumni Records, Publications, RPI Affiliated Associations, and Memorabilia. Accessions are directly related to the history of RPI/VCU and center on events, clubs, publications, correspondence, and the historical direction of RPI. They are separated based on the primary content or donor for each accession, though overlap between series may be present.

Series 1: Photographs, contains images relating to student clubs, RPI advertisements, buildings, construction, commencement, winter holidays, and VCU sponsored events. Most photographs are taken by individuals working within the university with a few being hired photographers to document certain events or photograph specific departments.

Series 2: Alumni Records, contains records relating to Alumni News Bulletin, minutes, correspondence, by-laws, homecoming, agendas, photographs, alumni sponsored campus events, graduation, and RPI uniforms. These accessions were donated by the RPI/VCU Alumni Association and focus mostly on their post-graduation alumni interactions with RPI.

Series 3: Publications, contains records relating to Proscript, Business School of Management, professional development opportunities (primarily from the 1960s), The Evening College, School of Art, commission plans for the university, and Gaslight: Student Guidebook. These materials primarily relate to publications from various schools or clubs with a focus on student work, involvement, or publications for staff and faculty at RPI.

Series 4: RPI Affiliated Associations, contains records relating to Citizens' Foundation, Student Government Association (SGA), and the Southern Association of Colleges (SAC). These accessions are separated by association and primarily contain yearly reports, event planning, minutes, agendas, and historical information regarding the university.

Series 5: Memorabilia, contains records with physical memorabilia related to the university. This includes print blocks, seals, yearbooks, President's book, and plaques.

Arrangement

This record is arranged into five series: Series 1: Photographs, Series 2: Alumni Records, Series 3: Publications, Series 4: RPI Affiliated Associations, and Series 5: Memorabilia. The individual accessions are not currently processed and retain the original order that they were transferred in.

Series 1: Photographs contains accessions:

1984-10-053

1984-10-054

1986-03-001

1986-07-020

2020-01-001

2020-01-003

2020-01-004

Series 2: Alumni Records contains accessions:

2008-04-006

2011-06-011

2016-06-104

2016-09-181

2016-09-188

Series 3: Publications contains accessions:

1990-02-014

2010-04-002

2016-09-187

2017-06-040

2017-06-044

2020-01-006

Series 4: RPI Affiliated Associations contains accessions:

1990-02-014

1995-03-006

2016-06-103

2016-06-119

Series 5: Memorabilia contains accessions:

1982-11-019

1983-02-010

1985-10-003

1986-07-023

1992-04-014

2014-11-043

2016-06-118

Related Material

In addition to the linked accessions, there are also digital and physical copies of the RPI/VCU yearbooks and RPI student newspapers available.

The yearbooks span the years:

The Wigwam (RPI, 1931-1955) Cobblestone (RPI, 1956-1968; VCU, 1969-1973) Commonwealth (VCU, 1979-1980) The Rampages (VCU, 1989-1990) The X-Ray (MCV, 1913-2010) St. Philip School of Nursing (1920-1962)

Student newspapers and magazines that are available are: The Atlas, Proscript, Commonwealth Times, Fan Free Funnies, Reflections in Ink, The Vine, Ink, Millenium, Pwatem, Rabble, Emanata, and Amendment.

Items are available digitally on Scholars Compass. They can be located at the following links:

RPI/VCU yearbooks

Student Newspapers

In addition the photographs series, there are RPI photographs in the UA 060 University Photographs collection. There are also various RPI publications found in the University Publications RG 060 collection.

Separated Material

Certain photographs were separated and added to RG 060 and should be noted on the accompanying accession record.