Breaking the double barrier
The First Black Women at Tech
Editor’s note: This article was excerpted from a story published in the summer 1997 edition of Virginia Tech Magazine, based on interviews by Elaine Carter and former University Archivist Tamara Kennelly and edited by Su Clauson-Wicker.
Six decades ago, in the fall of 1966, the first Black women students arrived at Virginia Tech: transfer student Linda Adams Hoyle, Jacqueline Butler Blackwell, Linda Edmonds Turner, LaVerne Hairston Higgins, Marguerite Harper Scott, and Chiquita Hudson. They were a minority within a minority — six Black women among nearly 9,500 white men, 500 white women, and 20 Black men.
Everyone seemed to be watching.
By the end of their first year, Hudson had died from lupus. Within another year, Hoyle had graduated, and Higgins had married a classmate and left school.
Marguerite Harper Scott ’70
“I had never heard of Virginia Tech. It was not in my realm,” Scott said. She had planned to attend Virginia State, like her relatives, until a Virginia Tech recruiter visited her Norfolk high school, determined to bring Black students to campus.
Scott applied, was accepted, and received a full Rockefeller Scholarship for culturally disadvantaged students.
“‘Take the money and go,’ my father said. ‘You can teach them who is culturally deprived later.’”
After graduating with a degree in history, Scott worked as a teacher and also raised a family. She earned a master’s from Duke University in 1989.
“We were the first,” said Scott. “I felt somewhat like a pioneer, and I think that molded how I was going to be for the rest of my life.”
Jackie Butler Blackwell ’70
Jackie Butler Blackwell graduated at the top of her class in Lancaster County, Virginia, and came to Virginia Tech on a Rockefeller scholarship.
“The students, once they got to know you, were fine. Once you had interacted with them, race wasn’t important,” she said. “The first year was the hardest. You would feel like everyone was staring at you.”
Butler spent her final semester in Germany and married Eli Blackwell ’70 the fall after graduating with a degree in sociology. She later held training positions with the Virginia Employment Commission and was active in volunteer work. Her daughters also attended Virginia Tech.
Linda Edmonds Turner ’70, MBA ’76, Ph.D. ’79
Linda Edmonds Turner graduated with top grades in Halifax County, Virginia, and enrolled at Virginia Tech to major in clothing and textiles. A high school visit left a lasting impression — she remembered campus as “a little fairyland, with buildings like castles” — though she hadn’t imagined attending a predominantly white institution until then. A full Rockefeller Foundation scholarship helped shape her decision.
Laura Jean Harper, dean of the College of Home Economics, became Turner’s mentor.
“I don’t know if I would be sitting here today with a Ph.D. if it hadn’t been for Dean Harper encouraging me.”
During her career, Turner worked as the assistant vice president of marketing at Dean College in Franklin, Massachusetts. Also, she served as the president of Urban College of Boston in Boston, Massachusetts and as the director of the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents before retiring.
LaVerne “Freddie” Hairston Higgins ’70
LaVerne Hairston Higgins came to Virginia Tech from Roanoke and roomed with Linda Edmonds in Hillcrest during their freshman year. She was a member of the University Choir and served on the staff of the student newspaper.
Higgins married a classmate at the end of her sophomore year and left the university. She later earned an MBA from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and a Ph.D. from the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. Higgins retired from her academic career in 2022.
Linda Adams Hoyle ’68
Linda Adams Hoyle became the first black woman to graduate from Virginia Tech, earning a B.S. in statistics. After graduation, she worked as a statistician for the U.S. Bureau of Census. She retired from the bureau in 2006.
