
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 19, 1993                   TAG: 9305190114
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD                                LENGTH: Short

NEW REPOSITORY HAS HISTORIC MATERIALS ALREADY

The Radford Heritage Foundation officially is less than a week old and already it has received its first memorabilia donation.

City Councilman Bob Nicholson, also chairman of the foundation's organizational committee, said former Radford teacher Ruby Dobbins has donated a personal journal and a book collection on Radford's history.

"It's what we feel will be the beginning . . . of our collection," Nicholson said Monday.

Dobbins taught mathematics in the city's schools from 1927 until 1966.

Nicholson said the foundation hopes to become the primary repository for historical information about the city and surrounding area and plans eventually to establish a Radford museum.

The foundation got its formal start Thursday with the naming of the organizational committee, which will be the temporary board of directors. Patty Todd is vice chairwoman and Bob Thomas heads public relations.

The meeting also made official the foundation's purpose: to "identify, document, preserve, and promote Radford's heritage, past present and future" to create an identity for the city.

The foundation grew from an idea by the Radford Chamber of Commerce's tourism committee, headed by Lewis "Bud" Jeffries. The panel wants to preserve the city's "long and colorful history" and develop ways to put it on display for visitors.

Jeffries has said the foundation would pick up where the city's Centennial Committee left off last year, and plans to incorporate and seek tax-exempt status. "I think we've got a viable organization now," he said.

by CNB