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2023 SESSION

23106460D
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 143
Offered February 16, 2023
Commemorating the lives and legacies of Janie and William Hoge.
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Patrons-- Rouse and Edwards
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WHEREAS, Janie and William Hoge played an important role in the racial integration of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University by providing housing to the first African American students at the institution beginning in 1953; and

WHEREAS, Janie and William Hoge were both born in the 1880s to formerly enslaved parents; they settled in Blacksburg to raise their family and lived at 306 E. Clay Street; and

WHEREAS, in the 1940s, William Hoge worked as a cement layer and Janie Hoge was employed by what is now Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) as a chamber maid; and

WHEREAS, Janie and William Hoge routinely opened their home to African Americans in need of lodging, including veterans and other Virginia Tech employees; and

WHEREAS, in 1953, when Irving L. Peddrew III became the first African American student at Virginia Tech, he was restricted to the engineering program and disallowed from living in student dormitories or using any other nonacademic amenities on campus on racial grounds; and

WHEREAS, Irving Peddrew and five other African American students found lodging with Janie and William Hoge during the 1950s, paying $60 a month for room, board, and laundry services; the Hoges also hosted welcome parties and social functions and provided opportunities for the students to engage with other members of the African American community in and around Blacksburg; and

WHEREAS, the last of the original six African American students at Virginia Tech graduated in 1959; the care and support Janie and William Hoge demonstrated to these trailblazing students was essential to their personal success, and ultimately to the full integration of Virginia Tech; and

WHEREAS, the Hoges continued hosting boarders until Janie Hoge’s death in 1960; at that time, William Hoge relocated to Norfolk and lived with his son until he passed away in 1964; and

WHEREAS, in 2020, Virginia Tech’s Lee Hall was renamed as Hoge Hall in Janie and William Hoge’s honor; with eight floors and a penthouse, Hoge Hall is currently the tallest building in Blacksburg and serves as a residence hall for 811 co-ed students; and

WHEREAS, Hoge Hall is also the location of two living-learning community residential programs, Galileo and Hypatia, that provide mentoring and community support for engineering students; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate of Virginia, That the lives and legacies of Janie and William Hoge hereby be commemorated on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the first African American student attending Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to descendants of Janie and William Hoge and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University as an expression of the Senate of Virginia’s admiration for the Hoge family’s contributions to the racial integration of one of the Commonwealth’s institutions of higher education and service to members of the Blacksburg community.