Leland B. Tate, son of John and Ada Jessee Tate, was born on March 28, 1905, and reared in Russell County, Virginia. After graduating from Emory and Henry College in 1927, Tate worked as a banker and published a book titled The Virginia Guide . He attended graduate school at the University of Virginia and received a master's degree in economics and sociology in 1931. He later obtained a Ph.D. in sociology from Cornell. In 1937, Tate became an associate professor of rural sociology at Virginia Tech. Among other activities, he studied rural-urban relations; produced a study of Virginia's changing population; and served on a governor's commission relating to population, health, and medical care. In 1935, Tate married Mildred Thurow (1905-1996), who became professor of home economics at Virginia Tech in 1937. Leland Tate died in 1999.
From the guide to the Leland B. Tate Papers, 1940-[1955?], n.d., (Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va.)
