The centennial of the death of Captain Lloyd Williams, the first Virginia soldier killed on the frontlines in France, on June 12 was commemorated as part of the VPI in World War One project that the Department of History has coordinated for several years. The project chronicles VPI’s involvement in World War One by documenting the lives of men who served.

The research has been carried out entirely by students, mostly students in the department’s First Year Experience course taught by Trudy Becker. The leader of the project, Daniel Newcomb, has earned three degrees from the College; he worked with associate dean and professor of history E. Thomas Ewing to design the initial research protocols and then guided two classes of first-year students as part of his graduate assistantship in the Department of History.