Longwood College a History

LONGWOOD COLLEGE: A HISTORY

by Rosemary Sprague

To the four thousand Longwood College students I have taught, and to the students of the future, this history is affectionately dedicated.

Acknowledgments

A book such as this does not come into existence without the assistance of many people. I wish to express my appreciation to Martha LeStourgeon and the staff of the Longwood College Library, especially to Lydia Williams, archivist, and to the staffs of the Vir ginia Historical Society and Virginia State Library in Richmond and the DAR Library in Washington, DC. Dr. Ashley Neville, archivist of the Methodist Collection of the McGraw Page Library at Randolph-Macon College, receives my special thanks for locating infor mation concerning Presidents Edwards, Crawley, and Whitehead.

I am grateful to my colleague Richard T. Couture for photocopy ing the Mason-Kern-La Monte family papers, and to the Longwood College Foundation for making his work possible. I am most appreciative of the permission granted by the New Jersey Historical Society and its Library Director, Sarah Collins, to use this invaluable material.

I wish to thank especially Longwood's former presidents— Francis G. Lankford, James H. Newman, Henry I. Willett, Jr., and Janet D. Greenwood—for their interest, support, and unfailingly honest answers to questions. I was given full access to all Board of TrusteesA^isitors minutes; and Evelyn Coleman, who served as presidential executive secretary through five administrations, peri odically supplied necessary details which only she could remember. And certainly I have greatly appreciated the interest and encourage-

Longwood College: A History

ment of Dr. George Healy during his interim year and of Dr. William F. Dorrill, now president of Longwood College.

Publication could not have been a reality without the assistance of H. Donald Winkler, Richard Hurley, Donald C. Stuart III, and Nancy Shelton. I want to thank Dr. Stuart's office staff for xeroxing the chapters as they came off my typewriter, to the Registrar's staff for a number of "assists", and to Mary Yovich, Mr. Hurley's "word-processor whiz," for the final copy. I am most grateful to Donna Breckenridge and Don Winkler for the beautiful jacket design, and to Carolyn Wells for her painstakingly executed photo graphs. And there are not enough words in the English language to express my gratitude to Aleece Jacques and Carolyn Wells who caught the typos and peculiar sentences and made a number of valuable suggestions.

Then there are the "intangibles." 1 am indebted to colleagues, friends, and alumni who so willingly shared their recollections with me,and often by a chance remark or a few lines in a letter helped my research without realizing they had done so. In particular, I wish to thank Professors Emeriti George W. Jeffers and John W. Molnar, and Dr. Jed Molnar for sharing his knowledge of Virginia history and for permission to quote the letter in Chapter II. Mr. Couture receives an additional "thank-you" for his permission to quote the letter in Chapter III. Wayne and Marie Delaney helped me through the U.S. Census maze to find what could be found about the elusive President Tinsley, and Dr. Edna Allen-Bledsoe gave me the sources of information concerning Nathaniel W. Griggs, member of the Virginia House of Delegates in 1884. Last, but certainly not least, Joe McGill receives my thanks for sharing his material concerning rule infractions and penalties in the 1940's and 50's.

Finally, my department colleagues and my students—your sin cere interest and support have made it possible, even comfortable, for me to wear my "author's hat" for the past two-and-a-half years. Your patience and understanding, especially during the final phases, have been a great source of strength. From my heart I say to you. Omnibus vobis gratias agol

Rosemary Sprague

Longwood College Farmville, Virginia 15 April 1989

Chapter I

O, n March 5, 1939, the Legislature of the Commonwealth of Virginia agreed to the incorporation of a "female seminary" in the town of Farmville, Prince Edward County. The incorporators names were given as W. C. Flournoy, Joseph E. Venable, Thomas Floumoy, William Wilson, George Daniel, Willis Blanton, and James B. Ely. They,and others, under the title of"The Farmville Female Seminary Association," issued ". .. shares of stock ... at SlOO apiece, in an effort to raise $30,000 for the erection of a building and other items needed to start a school" (Shackelford 2). The land, one acre on High Street, was purchased from George Whitfield Read, law partner of W.C. Flournoy, and his wife Charlotte; and the building, completely paid for, was ready for operation in the spring of 1842. These prosaic facts comprise the beginning of Longwood College. The immediate questions that come to mind are, why build a school specifically for "females" in Farmville, and, equally impor tant, who were the male incorporators? Those who are unaware of the long, proud tradition of Longwood College inevitably ask, "Where is Farmville?" Residents of the area have learned to re spond,"Midway between Dillwyn and Rice," which usually puts an end to the conversation. Actually, the location of the town—sixty miles west of Richmond,fifty miles east of Lynchburg,and sixty-five miles south of Charlottesville—was as advantageous in 1839 as it is in 1989, even though travel in the 1830's was by horseback or

Longwood College: A Hisloty

stagecoach. One stagecoach line, from Washington, D.C., took its route through Prince Edward County, and provided the best route south. In 1831, the Fredericksburg-Halifax(a trip that took three and one-half days) line opened, and in 1834, the year the town of Farmville was chartered, the Petersburg-Farmvilie line was in oper ation. Passengers could make connections at Farmville for Rich mond,or Lynchburg,or for points south, perhaps staying overnight at the Eagle Hotel, or at the most modest Farmville Tavern. But even more important to the town's prosperity was its location on the Appomattox River.

Farmville took its name from "The Farmlands," which were part of "Bizarre" Plantation, owned by Richard Randolph, brother of John Randolph of Roanoke. After his death, a group of publicspirited citizens purchased fifty acres of "The Farmlands" from his widow,Judith Randolph, which were laid out in half-acre lots(Wall 163). That this property was on the Appomattox River proved to be the new village's—later, town's—greatest asset because it became a river station from which tobacco grown on the farms in Prince Edward and the surrounding counties could be shipped by barge to the main market at Petersburg. Flour and cord wood were also export staples, contributing to the town's growth and prosperity. The Lithia Mineral Springs were another attraction. By 1832, the Farmville Chronicle was being published on a regular basis, and, despite the temporary setback of the panic of 1837, a branch of the Farmers Bank was authorized for Farmville by the Legislature in that same year. The town had already petitioned the Legislature in 1836 ". .. to charter railroads from Petersburg to Farmville to Danville" (Bradshaw 327). The first rails were not laid until eleven years later, but the petition indicates the early awareness on the part of the Town Trustees of the advantages train service would bring. By 1839, the Female Seminary incorporators doubtless viewed the town's ever-increasing prosperity and thought,"Why nol Farmville?"

There was doubtless another factor that contributed to their thinking: the work of those pioneers who were already advancing the cause of education for women in the north. Benjamin Rush of Philadelphia, whose Young Ladies Academy was chartered in 1787, and whose student body in 1792 included several from Virginia (Woody 326); Emma Willard, Troy (N.Y.) Female Seminary (1821); Catherine Beecher, Hartford (Conn.) Female Seminary (1823); and Mary Lyon, South Hadley (Mass.] Female Seminary (1837), are names which come immediately to mind. Nor is it improbable that their work was known in Farmville in the 1830's; Hampden-Sydney Academy five miles down the road had been founded in 1776(It was

not chartered as a college until 1783.), and had sent a number of its graduates to Princeton University. Jonathan P. Gushing, president of Hampden-Sydney from 1821 to 1838, was a graduate of Dart mouth College. Even more pertinent, Eleazer Root,". .. a native of New York and a graduate of Williams"(Bradshaw 167), had opened a girls' school at Prince Edward Courthouse(now Worsham)twelve miles from Farmville in 1832; and the Reverend A. J. Heustis, graduate of Wesleyan University in Connecticut with teaching experience in New Bedford, Massachusetts, opened his school for girls in Farmville in 1835. Even though these men may not have had direct contact with the northern educators, they certainly knew of their work through their professional journals and newspaper accounts. And they surely must have been aware of Horace Mann, secretary of the newly created Massachusetts Board of Education, whose pioneer efforts to improve public education in that state had begun in 1837. The curriculum of the Heustis school, along with English language and literature, and the usual "music, drawing, painting"(Bradshaw 164), included an emphasis on science which Willard and Beecher had introduced into their schools. "French and ancient languages"(Bradshaw 164) were also taught.

Heustis did not remain in Farmville long; in 1837, his name appears " ... as one of the principals of Buckingham Female Collegiate Institute ..."(Bradshaw 164). It is interesting to note that Emma Willard, in 1818, in a letter to the New York Legislature urging state support for women's education, said of the schools available to them, "They are temporary institutions founded by individuals whose object is present emolument; these individuals cannot afford suitable accommodations, nor sufficient apparatus and libraries... the teachers are accountable to no particular persons or board of trustees .. ."(Woody 308). Whether these criticisms are applicable to the Heustis and Root schools, which were essentially one-man operations, is impossible to say; however, from the very beginning there was a significant factor which differentiated the Farmville Female Seminary from these. It grew out of a corporation formed by seven of the town's leading citizens, who themselves contributed financially to its foundation, and therefore had a per sonal stake in its success. Who were these men, and what can be implied from their contribution?

The first name on the list, and probably the chairman of the corporation, is that of William Cabell Flournoy (1809-1861). His father, John James Flournoy,(the son of Jean Jacques who came to America in 1686, a Huguenot refugee from Catholic persecution in his native France)was the owner of"Union Grove," a large property

Longwood College: A History

south of FarmvUIe, and had been appointed one of the first county commissioners for public education in 1818 (Bradshaw 169) His mother was Anne Carrington Cabell, daughter of William Cabell Jr., of "Union Hill" in Nelson County, and Anne Carrington of Charlotte Courthouse. A graduate of Hampden-Sydney College, William Flournoy went on to study law (possibly at Creed Taylor's celebrated law school at "Needham," the Taylor home across the Appomattox River in Cumberland County), which led to his con stant involvement in Democratic Party politics. UlHmately he would serve in the House of Delegates(1850-51,1851-53)and as Common wealth's Attorney for Prince Edward County (1846-51). He was one of the early proponents for the railroad, and, when the RichmondDanville Line was chartered in 1847, he was appointed one of the commissioners to sell stock(Bradshaw 329). Another of his interests was the Farmers Bank, an involvement which provides a priceless vignette giving insight into the man. At the 1846 stockholders meeting, Flournoy presented a slate of directoral nominees, includ ing himself. Nathaniel Venable of "Slate Hill" presented a rival slate, including himself. At a final vote, after what Venable described as a "most disagreeable scuffle"(Bradshaw 322), both Flournoy and Venable were elected! This episode in part confirms the apparently unforgettable"... gleam of Flournoy's eye, the glow of his words, the force of his logic, the sting of his sarcasm" (Bradshaw 223)! Clearly, William Cabell Flournoy was not a man to be trifled with! However, Elizabeth Marshall Venable in THE VENABLES OF VIR GINIA provides an additional portrait: ". . . a talented, distin guished lawyer, an attractive, benevolent and honorable man; his many virtues will be long remembered"(52).

It was an era when the wealthy lived by the code of noblesse oblige, and his marriage in 1834 to Martha Watkins Venable united him to a family equally prominent and public spirited. Her father was William Lewis Venable of"Haymarket" who had seen active duty as a lieutenant in the County Militia during the War of 1812(Bradshaw 230), and had served as a County Magistrate and as a trustee of Hampden-Sydney College. William Lewis was the son of Nathaniel Venable of "Slate Hill," renowned for his many contributions to the county and the Commonwealth, including fourteen children! Prior to the Revolutionary War, Nathaniel had served in the Virginia House of Burgesses,and had been a member of the committee appointed to plan the buildings for Hampden-Sydney College. He was also a member of its first Board of Trustees. Speculation is not permitted to the writer of history; still, it is fascinating to imagine what influence

Martha Venable Flournoy, given her background, may have had upon her husband's involvement with the Female Seminary.

Joseph E. Venable (1807-1881), the second named incorporator, was the son of Robert Venable, a "connection" of the "Slate Hill" Venables, and his wife Sarah Madison, was the daughter of James Madison, a Farmville tobacco manufacturer. Robert was the owner of a large property and a general store near Prospect, Virginia, but he had political interests, serving as a judge and as a county sheriff. In 1820, he donated the land for the Prospect Methodist Episcopal Church. He was a close friend of the Reverend John Early, who frequently stopped over at the Venable home when he rode the circuit; Early once remarked that on a November visit in 1807, ". . . I ate as good a watermelon there at that season of the year as 1 ever did in the summer"(Bradshaw 366). It is interesting to note that Mr. Early, as ". . . presiding elder of the Lynchburg District, planned the organization of a Methodist Church in Farmville. A building was erected in 1832 on the lot still occupied by the Farmville Methodist Church"(Bradshaw 265).

Robert's son, Joseph, who always referred to himself as a "far mer,"continued to work the family land and developed the "Early Joe" peach (Bradshaw 341). Apparently, he was very much inter ested in and influenced by the work of Charles Woodson, recog nized state-wide as an agronomer of first rank. In 1829, he was one of the six Trustees who governed the village of Farmville. He was in volved in tobacco manufacturing and was co-owner of a grist mill; as might be expected, he was also involved in bringing the railroad to Farmville(Bradshaw 329). In 1845, he would be appointed a Justice of the County Court(Bradshaw 680)and,in 1845, he would ser\'e as a commissioner to divide the county into five judicial districts and to set up a polling place for each one(Bradshaw 219). The Temperance Movement was another of his interests. His wife, Mary Ann Dunnington, who he married in 1832, was the daughter of William Dunnington, tobacco grower and later tobacco manufacturer.

Thomas Flournoy (1804-1892) was William Cabell Flournoy's cousin. His father was Dr. David Flournoy of "Chantilly," a distin guished physician who had studied at the University of Edinburgh. Thomas attended Hampden-Sydney, and graduated from Princeton University in 1825. In 1827, he married Frances Matthews Venable, sister of Martha Venable Flournoy. Described as a ". . . man of great personal charm and courage"(Venable 53), he was active in politics in both Andrew Jackson campaigns and worked for Harrison against Van Buren in 1840. In 1845, he was appointed a Justice of the County Court, indicating that he had been admitted to the bar. His great

Longwood College: A History

interest, apart from law and politics, was horse breeding, which apparently provided part of his income as well. He was not the only man interested in horse breeding, even though racing was not a part of county life, but he was certainly the most colorful. "In the 1830's, Thomas Flournoy brought to Prince Edward, a black Arabian stallion which had been bred in the stables of the Emperor of Morocco... The stallion was presented by the Emperor of Morocco to the United States through the consul at Tangier, and was sold by Act of Congress February 21, 1835" (Bradshaw 34^5). Although Thomas Flournoy ". . . took his Arabian on a tour of the March courts, going to Buckingham, Nelson, and Amherst counties and to Lynchburg after the Amherst court" (Bradshaw 345), there is no evidence that the horse was ever raced.

There is very little information concerning William Wilson and George W. Daniel. Wilson was one of the commissioners appointed to sell twenty-five acres of the Randolph estate as half-acre town lots (Bradshaw 296); evidently he had some connection with the Ran dolph business interests. Daniel was active in county Democratic politics, but he was interested in education as well; he was ap pointed a District School Commissioner in 1846 (Wall 150). Willis Blanton is listed as one of the elected (by the freeholders) Town Trustees in 1839-41. He was also one of the petitioners for the railroad in 1836 (Bradshaw 327). James B. Ely was a trustee of the Randolph estate and was granted an ordinary (innkeeper's) license in 1829(Bradshaw 310). He, too, was active in politics and involved with the railroad petition, and in 1846 he was one of the incorporators of the Farmville Savings Bank. He served two terms as a Justice of the County Court. When Farmville became the county seat in 1871, Ely sold half an acre of land for the new courthouse and jail. (Bradshaw also notes the ". tournament held in the field on the J. B. Ely estate on October 8, 1875" [649].)

The incorporators raised the $30,000 to finance the seminary build ing, and the cornerstone was laid in 1839. A metal plaque inscribed "Farmville Female Academy built by Joint Stock Company AD 1839" (discovered in 1897 when part of the building was demolished to permit expansion) was set into it. Construction was completed on May 26,1842, at which time the deed to the land on High Street was formally conveyed to the stockholders in return for $14,000, an arrangement which further indicates community commitment to the venture. True, George Read was William Flournoy's law partner but certainly his willingness to wait for his money for two and a half years reveals an unusual degree of trust and good faith.

Judging from an old engraving (dated 1859), the Seminary was

\^/kjJ^^gr

Original Placque

indeed "spacious and comfortable," and its location was, as de scribed by a later principal, ". . . for beauty of situation surpassed by few in the country" (Shackelford 3). The engraving shows a square, three-story brick building with a hipped roof. Five long windows across each of the two upper stories, and two on either side of the front door, provided a pleasing symmetry. A circular drive, with a wide lawn and many trees on either side and a grass island in the center, led to a small columned and roofed front porch three steps above ground, and the entire structure was surrounded by a picket fence with a double gate. Several young ladies, properly bonneted and probably gloved as well, are pictured strolling on the lawn, while another young lady genteely rides sidesaddle outside the fence on a spirited white horse, accompanied by her top-hatted, frock-coated escort. The total effect is more that of a stately private home than that of a school, which was probably what the incorporators intended. Certainly over the years one asset continually stressed by Longwood College under all of its earlier names is its "home-like" atmosphere; actually, until 1944, the Dean of Students was called "the Head of the Home", and only recently has the "Home Office" become the Information Office.

The building was completed; however, it took a little time to find teachers and a principal. But all was in readiness on July 17, 1843. "The school opened with Solomon Lea as principal and offered

Farmville

Female Seminary, 1859

English, Latin, Greek, French, and piano. The tuition fees for five months were $20 for piano, S15 for senior English, $12.50 for lower English, and $5 for each foreign language, with board available at $8 to $10 a month" (Shackelford 3). Mathematics and science are conspicuous by their absence; their omission is not really surprising because the conservative incorporators doubtless adhered to the prevailing view that these disciplines were too strenuous for the female mind, no matter what the Yankee schoolteachers were advocating up north! However, by 1856 that view had obviously changed. Bradshaw records that "A visitor from Cumberland" attended the public examinations on June 24 of that year.

Principal, teachers, and several gentlemen conducted the examinations. The examination of Miss Susie Dunnington in chemistry would have done credit to a college junior, thought this member of the audience; he mentioned the Misses Bettie Watkins, Hattie Read, Christianana Osborne, Hattie Venable, and Louise Fouqua as showing a knowledge of textbooks which would elevate them to the highest grade of scholarship. Exam inations were conducted in Latin, French, astronomy, chemis try, botany, rhetoric, philosophy, algebra, grammar, geogra phy, and arithmetic. A dialogue by three young ladies pointed out the deficiencies of superficial education of literary polish and parlor accomplishments "afforded by too many female schools" (165).

This account is the only concrete evidence of the curriculum pursued at the Farmville Female Seminary in its first quarter century. Nor is there much information concerning the first princi pals beyond their names. Solomon Lea was succeeded by his brother, the Reverend Lorenzo Lea, "former president of the Buckingham Female Collegiate Institute" (Draper ms.), who was followed by Lorenzo Coburn, described as "... northern man . . . remembered mainly as the possessor of a very long nose" (Burrell 302). John B. Tinsley was appointed principal in 1850; he had been ". . . principal of Powhatan Female Seminary" (Draper ms.). The 1850 United States census(Visitation 352) notes that he was forty-six years old and came originally from Richmond. His wife, Eliza, was forty-five, and they had five children, all of whom were born in Powhatan. The census also lists the names of twenty-two Seminary students, seven of whom also came from Powhatan; perhaps Tinsley brought a "following" with him. Benjamin Could took the helm in 1855. However, despite these administrative changes, it is a fact that the Seminary definitely thrived.

There is one glimpse into those early years, provided by the autograph album of Miss Susan Campbell Jordan in the Longwood College archives. A square, thin, board-bound blue volume, it is filled with poems and "sentiments" in the beautiful copperplate handwriting of her classmates and obviously admiring gentleman friends, many of which are dated 1844 and 1845. (There is also a recipe, "To boil rice Savanna fashion".) And the principal contributed.

As I am getting old. My poetry, love and Album days, are over With me.

Solomon Lea June 13th, 1845

Another, obviously supplied by an admirer, tells the world,"Wom an—the only power before which free men may bow without disgrace, and brave men without dishonor!" And finally, one entitled "A Parody," dated "Farmville,July 27, 1844," but unsigned:

How do the little boys of Farmville Improve each shining hour: In gathering pleasure every day From our Seminary's Bower.

An "improvement" which continues, with variations, to this day!

Chapter II

O. n May 24, 1860, the Seminary Charter was amended by the State Legislature and the school received a new name: Farmville Female College. The familiar names—William Flournoy, Thomas Flournoy, Joseph Venable, George Daniel, and James Ely (now chairman of the corporation)—had been joined by those of Francis Nathaniel Watkins and Howell E. Warren. Watkins was a native of Prince Edward County, who had graduated from Amherst College and the University of Virginia Law School. Upon his return to Farmville, he quickly established himself as an able attorney; in 1869, he would be elected a judge and achieve a formidable reputation as a jurist. He had served on the Hampden-Sydney board of trustees, and,as might be expected, he was very active politically, first for the Whigs and later as an organizer of the Conservative Party. He and his wife, Martha Ann Scott of Bedford County, lived at"Ingleside," two miles from Farmville near the Bush River Bridge. Howell Warren was also an attorney, but his principle forte was banking, though he had served as a justice of the peace and would, in 1865, be named a justice of the County Court. In 1860, he was involved in the establishment of the Planters Bank, of which he would become president in 1873. In 1861, he became president of the Farmville Savings Bank and an incorporator for the Farmville Insurance Company. In 1860, his evident flair for finance would

doubtless have made him an important asset to the new Female College.

Seminaries do not become colleges overnight, and the previously noted expansion of the curriculum by 1856 indicates that the Seminary incorporators may, at that time, have been thinking of what would have been a giant step. Certainly the prosperity of the fifties contributed to their optimism, a prosperity which doubled when the South Side Railroad Company opened High Bridge, four miles from Farmville, in November 1854. "Spanning the Appomattox River from a bluff in Cumberland County to a bluff in Prince Edward County"(Smith 5), the bridge made the transport of goods, including perishable agricultural products, faster between Rich mond and Petersburg than river transport, because "Shipments were no longer delayed due to weather factors or winter snows" (Smith 5). But possibly the crucial factor in the incorporators' decision was the new Seminary principal, George La Monte, who arrived to take up his duties in the late summer of 1859.

Whether his arrival was the result of a deliberate search for a possible College principal, or whether it was simply good luck for all concerned, will never be known, but La Monte applied for the position and was hired. Born in 1834 in Charlottesville, N.Y., he grew up in a devoutly Methodist home. He received his Bachelor's Degree from Union College in Schenectady, an institution which emphasized not only religious observance, but also the classics, mathematics and the sciences, in 1857, and two years later received his M.A. degree. Under normal circumstances, he would have remained in New York State, but, while he was still in college, he, together with his brother Thomas and some other students ". . . were hired by a New York publishing firm to go south and canvass for the preparation of a map of the United States" (La Monte papers). Their territory was Frederick Count\', Virginia. George La Monte promptly fell in love with Virginia, with, as he put it, ". . . the land of boasted honor and chivalry—the land rendered sacred by a host of such honored names as Henry, Madison,Jefferson, and Washington"(La Monte,June 2, 1856). He also fell in love with Miss Rebecca Kern of Romney. In June 1958, he returned to Virginia to marry Rebecca, and to begin his new job as assistant principle of the Valley Institute at Winchester.

La Monte,at the age of twenty-five, was an ideal candidate for the principal of Farmville Female Seminary. He was very well educated, and he had some interesting connections—in the La Monte papers there are letters to him from President Millard Filmore and Horace Greeley, accepting honorary memberships of the Wesleyan Associ-

Longzpood College: A Hislon/

ation of the New York Conference Seminary. His recommendation from the Valley Institute, dated December 18, 1858, was unimpeach able:

We take pleasure in certifying to the high character that Mr. Geo. La Monte has sustained among us as a Teacher and a Gentleman. We believe him to be fully qualified to conduct a Female School of High Grade; and feel assured that his experi ence and enterprise, his moral worth and literary qualifications eminently fit him for such a position.

And the qualifications of the eleven signatories were attested to in a note from Henry A. Wise, Governor of Virginia.

But even more important to the future college were La Monte's views concerning the education of women. In July 1860, he stated his conviction that,"Woman is neither the inferior nor the superior of man. Each is the compeer of the other." In his address at the presentation of awards on June 26, 1861, after complimenting the students for their diligence despite ". . . the many distracting influences by which you have been for the last few weeks sur rounded" (Virginia had seceded from the Union on April 24), he continued.

If our armies in the present contest succeed and do not doubt it for a single moment, what would our independence be worth if our daughters, the mothers of our future statesmen, are not cultivated and educated and equal to the great trust confided to them?... Our women, God bless them! should be fitted to be not only the guardians but the teachers of our children.

Urging them to ". .. be not content with halfway excellence," he admonished, "Remember that education does not consist in the amount of knowledge we may possess, but in the degree of mental culture and self discipline: and in your reading select such books as will make you think most. . .

He also expressed strong convictions concerning masculine atti tudes and feminine response:

The preposterous absurdities of chivalrous times still exert a wicked influence over the character and allotment of women. Men are not polite, but gallant. They do not act towards women as beings of kindred habits and character, but as beings who please and who they are bound to please.

He is the man of politeness who evinces his respect for the female mind. He is the man of practiced insolence who tacitly says when he enters the society of women that he should not bring his intellect with him.

Unhappily a great many women themselves prefer this varnished and gilded contempt to solid respect. They would rather think themselves fascinating than respectable—a large class by their mothers are taught less to think than to shine. .. To be accomplished is of greater interest to them than to be sensible. .. to charm by the tones of a piano than to delight and invigorate by intellectual conversation.

The students were, of course, to be ladies; that went without saying. They were to "cultivate high qualities and gracious gifts of soul." But for La Monte, the word ladi/ implied much more. In his lecture entitled "Womanly Perfection," which he presented to the LeVert Literary Society in May 1862, he remarked.

Another element of character essential to womanly perfection is self-reliance. . . You owe it to yourself especially in this time of war and desolation to learn this art and acquire the power of relying on your own energies and attainments. Mental strength, firmness, courage, industry and perseverance are the foundation of this element of character.

And he concluded.

Endeavor in your conversation to say something useful, rather than something smart. Reflect when you read—write frequently. For reading makes a free man, conversation makes a ready man, but writing makes a correct man. Do not read novels, for if you do, the result is an obscure, feeble intellect, a weakened memory, an extravagant and fanciful imagination, bemused sensibilities, and a corrupt heart.

THE ANNUAL REGISTER AND ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE FARMVILLE FEMALE COLLEGE for 1859-60(apparently the word COLLEGE was included in anticipation of the new charter of 1860) represents the fulfillment of La Monte's convictions and ideals. The religious foundation of the college is evidenced by the fact that the Reverend John Early, now D.D., had accepted the chairmanship of the twenty-three member Board of Visitors, which must have been quite a coup for the College and implies the continuing influence of

Longwood College: A History

Joseph Venable. The REGISTER also stressed the religious ambience the students would experience, a very important factor for parents of young girls. The major emphasis, however, was academic."With more faith in the intelligence of girls than was then common, the new college president outlined a curriculum which would discour age many a present Longwood student" (Schlegel 4). George La Monte taught classes in Latin, Higher Mathematics, and English Literature. Miss Susan B. Fowler was named Preceptress—an office which carried the responsibility of the present Dean of Students— and was also "Instructress in French and English Branches and Drawing and Painting." Mr. A.S.Simmons was"Professor of Music on Piano and Guitar, Vocal Music, and Organ," and Miss Anna A. M. Woodward was "Instructress on the Piano." One is struck by the evident versatility of these first faculty members,and also by the fact that from the beginning English literature, foreign languages, math ematics, and music were emphasized, an emphasis that continues at Longwood College today. No science professor is listed, but science courses were offered and were probably taught by members of Hampden-Sydney or Buckingham Female College faculties. Minis ters were called upon to teach courses in philosophy, both intellec tual and moral, and "Evidences of Christianity."

There were two "Departments." In the Preparatory Department, students received instruction in "Reading, Writing, Spelling, Defi nitions, English Grammar, Arithmetic, Geography, History, and the simpler forms of Composition"(REGISTER 10). There is no indica tion that these courses were "remedial" in the present day sense; they were designed to prepare younger girls for the rigorous fouryear collegiate curriculum. The grading scale college-wide was a scale of 1-5, 3 3/4 being accepted as demonstrating sufficient proficiency to continue to the next level.

The Collegiate Department was heavily weighted in favor of English Literature, Composition, Rhetoric, Mathematics—including both Algebra and Geometry(The April 1860 monthly report card of Lucretia Kem, Mrs. La Monte's younger sister, reveals that she pursued these concurrently with 5's in both.) and Philosophy. The sciences were represented by course offerings in Chemistry, Physi ology, Geology, and Astronomy. But there is one surprising evi dence of practicality: students in their final term were expected to take "Book Keeping and Forms of Business," along with "Principles of Taste." Nor was this all. "Reading, Writing, and Spelling throughout the course. ..Latin and one of the Modern Languages and Music will be required of a candidate for a diploma"(REGISTER 11). (Lucretia Kern's April 1861 report indicates that she was studying

French, German, and Piano, with 5's in all three.) Finally, "Every pupil is required to write, semi-monthly, an original essay and submit the same to the president"(REGISTER 10). Today's advo cates of "Writing across the curriculum" might like to consider reinstating the last item.

Students who achieved the 3 3/4 required passing grade in all classes were awarded the diploma of Mistress of Arts. There was some flexibility; a student might also pursue a single discipline and receive a certificate of proficiency in that discipline, or she could choose to omit the modern language and receive the diploma of Mistress of English Literature. The REGISTER states that "A valu able Library and the best Journals of the day are always accessible to the young ladies, and Maps, Globes, Philosophical and Chemical Apparatus, furnish ample means of illustration in the school . . ." (8).

The "home atmosphere" was emphasized:

The Pupils boarding in the college reside with the family of the President, and are under his guardianship. In their evening studies, they will enjoy the benefit of his assistance and that of his colleagues. Every exertion will be made to render the College an agreeable HOME to resident pupils. To ensure to each pupil all the care and attention promotive of health and comfort, and to make this emphatically a HOME SCHOOL and to give it a HOME air and influence, the number of boarding pupils has been limited to thirty. One distinctive feature of this Institution is its social arrangements; the lady teachers are expected to be as elder sisters to the young ladies, and inculcate punctuality, diligence, order, neatness, easy and graceful de portment as much by example as by precept. Instead of remain ing in cliques in their rooms, out of school hours, to spend their time in gossip and scandal, the young ladies are encouraged to assemble with teachers in parlors and library with needle work or a book, and a HOME feeling thus induced, manners are improved, conversation becomes easy, much knowledge is acquired, and happiness secured (REGISTER 6).

The boarders gathered in the parlor for family prayers "... one hour after the rising bell"(REGISTER 9). Lucretia Kern's April 1861 report records eighteen absences from prayers. Twenty-five would have brought a demerit: the report notes,"Any pupil receiving one demerit will not be entitled to a prize," and, even more sternly, "If a pupil receives three demerits in one session, she shall be sent

Longwood College: A History

home." Demerits could be "earned" by inattention to manners, neatness, orthography, punctuality, penmanship, and by absence from prayers or "recitation."

After prayers, the students had their breakfast, followed by a daily chapel, which all students, including all those who lived in Farmville or who boarded with "approved" families, were required to attend. The service always concluded with . . sacred music accompanied with an instrument and under the direction of a professor"(REGISTER 9). Then the students attended six hours of classes. (There is no mention of a break for lunch.) Parents, by means of the monthly reports, were reminded,"It is very important that your daughter be in school every day," and, "Please see that your daughter studies AT HOME." The last injunction was not needed for the boarders; after classes, their time was free for study or for a stroll around the college grounds until "Tea," which was probably a light supper. Four evenings a week there was an hour-and-a-halfstudy hall presided over by a member of the faculty. The day concluded with family prayers, and a free half-hour before the "silence bell" announced the time to retire, after which each student's room was visited by Mrs. La Monte or a female faculty member, not in the spirit of "bed check," but rather as a continued emphasis on the College as a home. Students were expected to attend Sunday School and church services, and on Sunday evening, the "family" gathered in the parlor for an hour devoted to reading Scripture and to singing "sacred melodies"(REGISTER 9).

The social rules as listed on page 12 of the REGISTER were stringent by modern standards. "Novels and promiscuous pam phlets" were forbidden "without consent of the President." Parents were reminded ". .. not to encourage their daughters in visiting home oftener more than once in three months. Those pupils gen erally do best who visit least during the school session." Students might not receive ". ..the calls of gentlemen who may be strangers to the President and not specified by parents. . . unless authorized by letters of introduction," and even with authorization only ". from 4 o'clock to 5 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays." No callers were permitted on Sunday, and students might not ". . . spend the night out of the College unless under very extraordinary circum stance." Finally,"Inasmuch as the table of the College is at all times furnished with an abundance and variety of good food, well prepared, pupils will not be allowed to receive boxes of eatables, except by special permission." Parents were also requested to provide their daughters with ". . .a simple state of dress," and ". . . not to give them any considerable amount of pocket money." The

students furnished their own towels and table napkins, a silver fork, a napkin ring, and ". . . a spoon to use in her room."

The students, however, adjusted. They lived by similar rules at home, so College rules came as no surprise. And they were, for the most part, content, as is evidenced by a letter sent to Miss Willie Morgan of Petersburg, on October 25, 1861, by her Cousin Lucy. (The original spelling and punctuation have been retained.)

My Dear Cousin, 1 promised you, I would write to you; but I reckon you began to think 1 would not do it. I hope you will not judge me harshly, for it was not that 1 did not wish to write to you, that I have delayed this long, but that 1 have not had the opportunity to do so. I intended to have written to a great many girls; but time will not come to me to do so. Dont you think it very itmccomodating in time not do what I wish it to? I know you do. This is a splendid school if every girl, does not learn very much while hear; it most assuridly is her own fault. For Mr. La Monte takes all the pains he is capable of taking; with each and every girl. Mr. Preot is an excelent teacher; he does everything in his power to make the girls happy and comfortable. Mrs Preot and Mrs La Monte are certainly the most agreeable ladies I have ever met with. Excuse me for remaining so long in one strain but really, when 1 begin to talk of our Teachers, I never know when to stop; just let me say the school is indescriably exclent, and the Teachers are indescribably good.

Lucy's spelling may leave something to be desired, but her enthu siasm is unmistakable.

A great source of recreation was the LeVert Literary Society. The REGISTER notes,

The young ladies boarding in the College have organized a society for mutual improvement called the "LeVert Literary Society," which is in a highly prosperous and flourishing condition. Its objects are to cultivate the friendship, refine the taste, improve the manners, and develop the social feelings of its members. The exercises are varied and interesting, and all pupils boarding in the College are expected to connect them selves with this society (9).

A keen participant was Lucretia Kern, who was also one of the major contributors to the Society's newspaper, the LAUREOLA.

Longwood College: A History

The unique issue appeared on December 25, 1861, with the an nouncement, "This paper—the LAUREOLA—is now for the first time printed and cleared for circulation, the proceeds of its issues [ten cents a copy] to be devoted to the holy cause of the soldier." In the list of faculty members, the names of Arnaud Preot, as teacher of music and modern languages, and Mrs. Preot, as teacher of music, appear for the first time. Both the Preots would be very important to the future of the Female College.

The contributions to the LAUREOLA—poems, short stories, essays—were signed by "Grace," "Olive,""Sunshine," "Traviata," or simply with initials. Miss L. H. K. (Lucretia Kern) was listed as "editress." Perhaps she was also the "authoress" of the following "Donts (sic.) for Young Girls:"

. .. dont fight while there is anybody to kiss, and dont talk scandal and look religious at the same time.

Dont "wish all the boys were in Halifax," when from the bottom of your heart, you wish they were all in Farmville. Dont say, you will "never, no never get married" until you are quite sure somebody means to ask you and when you are asked dont say "no" when you mean "yes" nor "yes" when you mean "no."

Dont always manage to step on the skirt of somebody's dress behind whom you are coming downstairs or out of a church door and dont always forget to thank the gentleman who opens a door for you, or finds you a seat in the railroad car, nor that other gentleman who pulls down all the goods in his store to please you and smiles when you decide what darning needle to take.

Dont laugh at a mistake until you know that you or your Grandmother has not made one very similar, and don't think fine clothes make fine ladies any more than "fine feathers make fine birds." And dont, oh! dont be so careful to repeat every word of that secret you promised never, never to tell.

Dont think Mr. is the best preacher you ever heard just because you can't understand anything he says, and dont insist that Dr. is the best physician in the world just because he is handsome and has such sweet eyes. Dont love all the good-looking people and hate all the ugly ones but remember the old adage,"Handsome is, that handsome does."

Dont make a great fuss about a biped in uniform until you know he is every inch a Soldier, and wont run away from the first Yankee he sees; dont mope because the times are hard, and tea and coffee are scarce, dont be afraid of the sunshine, the

fresh air, the pure water, or of wearing out your last pair of shoes, and dont let the Yankees think we are afraid of them as long as there's a man left to fight for us.

The light-hearted, schoolgirl tone of the publication may at first glance seem surprising, considering the fact that the divided nation was already at war, and . . early in 1861 eight volunteer compa nies had been organized in Prince Edward County"(Bradshaw 380). In a letter dated December 14, 1861, Lucretia Kern wrote to her

Arnaud Preot

Longivood College: A History

father, "Mollie Harrison's soldier brother has been here to see her—His presence created quite a sensation among the girls." It must be remembered, however, that in December 1861, no one believed that the war would last long, and after Confederate victories at Fort Sumter and First Manassas(Bull Run)all Virginians held as an article of faith that the Confederacy would prevail. Farmville Female College closed for the Christmas holidays, and the students returned for the spring term to continue their studies with President La Monte's purpose constantly before them: "Proficiency will be secured by a love for science and art, and by instilling the highest motives of being useful thereby .. .(REGISTER 7). At that time, no one could foresee the trials and the testing that the next four years would bring.

Chapter III

JUjvents moved swiftly, and during the spring and summer of 1862, the La Monte family was struck by a series of personal tragedies which the College family must have suffered with them. In March, the Kern family home at Romney was almost completely destroyed by fire, a casualty of the Valley Campaign. Homeless, Rebecca La Monte's mother and a younger sister, Tillie, had to come to Farmville. Rebecca's letters to her father in Richmond reflect her growing anxiety. On February 24,1862,she had written,"It is so sad to look at these dear, happy,frolicking girls, and think what may be in store for them." A major concern was her sister Lucretia's future. "Is it not better," she wrote on March 7 1862, "for her to try to establish her independence at once? Oh!I wish I could make her see her duty as 1 see it now. It is not time to linger in pleasant places and stand clasping each other's necks, when father and mother are wide apart and Home there is none for any of us." Her anguish is apparent: "If 1 were to die tomorrow, Lulie would not longer have a claim here —where would she go then?" The arrival of Mrs. Kern and Tillie settled the question for the moment. Lucretia was needed to help at home;she would finish her studies at the College, receive her diploma, and remain in Farmville at least through the summer vacation.

But the College, paradoxically, flourished. George La Monte, with the assistance of his father-in-law, had obtained a substitute to serve

Longwood College: A Hislonj

in his place in the Confederate army. The alternative would have been to close the College, a prospect no one wished to contemplate, especially parents who were convinced that Farmville was a safe place for their daughters. True, this conviction could disrupt family life. In a letter dated December 11,1862, Laura C. Bland wrote to her mother Mary Bland of Burt Quarter, Dinwiddie County,

were to wnce to you i migm leei a nine oetter arterwaras. 1 do not know what I shall do up here all of Christmas, it will be so very lonesome. I hope this will will be the first and last Christmas 1 will ever have to spend from my sweet home. Even Mr. La Monte intends going away. Please come to see me if you do not stay but one hour.

Even Bettie Boisseau intends going home. If you do not come write me a long letter for Christmas and send me another dress. I think Farmville is one of the lost places on earth.

Then the war struck home. On June 22, 1862, Lucretia, upon hearing of the imminent action involving Generals Beauregard and Jackson in Richmond, wrote her father a frantic letter;

Oh Pa, my baby Brother, our little fosie must be exposed in this fearful hour. 1 thought I was strong and patriotic, but this is too great a trial for my woman strength. I want my little Brother. Oh! I must clasp him in my arms and spare him from the horrible foe. ..oh. Pa, I never felt the war until tonight. I thought when my home was all broken up that our cup was full, but now the bitter drops are running over. I cannot write. How glad I am that we may pray.

Joseph Kern sustained a wound in his arm. He recovered over the summer in Farmville, and returned to fight again only to be taken a prisoner of war. Then, on August 10, John Kern died suddenly in Richmond. There is no family correspondence concerning this loss and its accompanying grief, which must have been profound. Further, George La Monte had been enduring the increasing strain of being a Yankee in an ambience which was growing increasingly hostile. All these stresses combined would have been factors in his

next decision. He opened the 1862-63 College session, but by early March of 1863 he had joined the faculty of the new Danville Female College, taking his family with him.

The destiny of Farmville Female College was now in the hands of Arnaud Eduard Preot. Born in Lille, France, on December 17, 1818, educated in Paris, he emigrated to New Orleans in 1837, when he was nineteen years old. According to his granddaughter, Margaret Hathaway Jones, who wrote a short biographical sketch based on the few published materials available and her mother's recollections, he had left his native land because,

the uncle with whom he was a favorite and who had planned to leave him all his worldly goods, married late in life and changed all this, whereupon he wanted his nephew to go into the priesthood, so Amaud ran away and came to America. All the English he knew were a few "cuss words" which he had picked up from the sailors.

He is described as having "... brown hair, beard and eyebrows, blue eyes, an aquiline nose, and an oval visage"("Idler's Column" n.d.).

From New Orleans, he traveled north and became a teacher at Walkhill Academy in Pennsylvania. A superb linguist and a talented musician, he quickly established himself as an excellent teacher. A letter of recommendation from Walkhill's principal, Mr. P. Roberson, dated October 18, 1843, says of him,

He possesses good natural talents, a thorough acquaintance with his own language. . . and a happy faculty in imparting to his pupils a knowledge of the pronunciation of the French. He is hereby very cordially commended to the confidence and esteem of all who know how to appreciate character, talent and industry and are disposed to give them encouragement.

Mrs. Jones says that Preot next went to Southworth Academy in Petersburg, Virginia. There is no record of a Southworth Academy in that city; there was a Leavenworth Academy, and perhaps this is one of those situations where the memory plays tricks. He was definitely at Petersburg Classical Institute in 1845-46, and again in 1847. On August 9, 1848, he married Elizabeth Ann Hammatt of Fleet's Hill (now Ettrick). Again according to Mrs. Jones, his wife was "one of his music students," suggesting that he may have supplemented his income by giving private piano lessons.

Longwood College: A History

Preot's next move, around 1850, was to the Buckingham Female Collegiate Institute, where he was named professor of music, art and languages. He was one of the most popular members of the faculty, remembered for the "many romantic songs and sprightly dances" which he composed (Jones). Then, for some unascertainable reason, the Buckingham Institute began to fail around 1858; it would close in 1863. Whether Preot applied for a position at the Farmville Female College, or whether President La Monte ever on the lookout for a means of improving his institution invited him to Farmville, is unknown; however, in 1860, La Monte announced the appointment of an "...eminent Pianist and distinguished Linguist" to the faculty. When La Monte left, Preot was his obvious successor. In the Christian Advocate(Richmond, Virginia) of February 19, 1863, the following announcement appeared;

The trustees announce the organization of this institution (Farmville Female College) with the following instructors:

A. Preot, President

Rev. R. W. East, Ancient Languages

Rev. William Judkin, Mental and Moral Philosophy

Mrs. S. V. East, Mathematics and the English Branches

Mrs. A. E. Preot, Music and French

Mr. Preot is well known as a faithful and excellent instructor in Music and Modern Languages. His family will have charge of the boarding department.

Preot's teaching methods and philosophy were considered "out standing" (Jones), and his contribution to higher education was recognized throughout the state. Bradshaw notes that, at a teacher's convention held at Petersburg on December 30-31, 1863, "Professor A. Preot of Farmville College served on the Modern Languages Committee" (391). He continued the high standards instituted by George La Monte. The 1864—65 REGISTER contains the following testimonial:

The Trustees take pleasure in testifying to the faithfulness and ability of the Board of Instruction; and they feel well assured that their confidence in the teachers has not been misplaced. They, therefore, recommend this Institution to the patronage of parents and guardians (12).

The faculty had been enlarged; the Reverend George H. Gilmer taught Moral Science, the Misses Emma J. Turner and Bettie A. Thackston taught English, and Miss Bettie Prichard, music. Mrs. East, who in 1863 had taught both English and mathematics, now taught mathematics exclusively. The Preparatory and Collegiate Departments continued unchanged, but Preot did follow the Con tinental tradition familiar to him and instituted a three-year degree program for students who came thoroughly prepared to do collegelevel work.

All students seeking the Mistress of Arts degree had to achieve certificates of proficiency in the various disciplines, and, judging from the course offerings, the requirements had been tightened. There were "optionary" courses but these might be pursued only after the requirements were met. Six terms of English language and literature, six terms of French, six terms of Latin, three terms of Algebra, two terms of Geometry, and one term of Trigonometry were twt "optionary," though Mensuration was. Three terms of Roman History and two terms of Ancient Geography had to be completed, as well as one term each of Natural Philosophy, and chemistry. Mental and Moral Philosophy, Evidences of Christianity, and Logic completed the list. French was the required modern language, though Italian and Spanish might be opted for in addi tion. The continued emphasis on "Reading, Writing, and Spelling," and the semi-monthly essav requirement were retained (1864^65 REGISTER 9).

The grading scale was identical to that of the La Monte regime. Students and parents were warned, however, that a perfect 5". . . will occur exceedingly seldom, as it requires a perfect recitation in even/ subject every day"(1864-65 REGISTER 9). Most students were prob ably overjoyed to receive an "excellent" 4! They were judged "Deficient, when an average is less than 3y4," and "they are required to study that subject again" (REGISTER 9). The music requirement, as might be expected, remained unaltered and proba bly strengthened, if the following statement of President Preot is any indication:

To become an intelligent, correct, and tasteful performer, it is deemed indispensable for the student in Music to rely more on the musical training and education of the mind than on what is termed "an ear for music." The latter will almost invariably result from the former (REGISTER 8).

Longwood College: A History

For the boarders, the "home atmosphere" continued unchanged, as the 1863 advertisement maintained:

The President and his lady will have charge of the Boarding Department and supervise personally all arrangements for the comfort and well being of the pupils whether in sickness or in health. They will regard and treat the young ladies as members of their own family, and, together with the other teachers, will strive to render them happy and content, and will not fail to protect and advise them whenever necessary.

The discipline, though rigidly enforced, will not be burden some. The rules are few and will tend to the moral, intellectual, and physical welfare of the students(REGISTER 10-11).

The convenience of the "physical plant" was noted:

The communications between the young ladies' rooms, the parlors, the dining room, school room, and recitation room are such as to avoid all exposure, even in the most inclement weather. The music rooms are in separate buildings, where practicing will neither interrupt nor be interrupted (REGISTER 10).

Finally, fees for one term, "invariably in gold or its equivalent" were payable in advance: board,including washing, was S64; tuition including music and languages, plus 33.00 for "incidental charges" came to $63. And as before, students furnished their own towels, sheets and pillowcases, "... and a spoon to use in the room" (REGISTER 11).

The College had grown during the La Monte years; the 1864-65 REGISTER lists a student enrollment of eighty-seven, plus twentyseven Latin scholars, fifty-eight French scholars, and sixty music scholars seeking certificates of proficiency in their respective disci plines. And students continued to enroll. It is surprising to note how little the War intruded. Only scattered references in the 1862 La Monte correspondence revealed that the students knitted and hemmed sheets and pillowcases, and probably rolled bandages as well, for the Confederate General Hospital, which had opened in 1862 for ". . . cases of chronic disease and convalescents from the hospitals in the cities and others near the field of active operations" (Wall 195). That same summer, refugees ". . . from Richmond and Winchester, and some from Warren, New Kent, and Caroline Counties, then the scenes of hard battles and marching armies" (Bradshaw 387) began to arrive in Farmville, many of whom found

temporary shelter at the College until the students returned for the fall term. Troops came through occasionally. But the greatest problem was the steadily growing food shortage, and the inevitable increase in prices. Bradshaw notes that prices "... in September 1863. . . were flour, S25 a barrel; bacon, SI a pound; molasses, $50 a barrel; coffee, S12.50 a pound;tea,87a pound..."(390). By March 15, 1864, flour was quoted at". ..SlOO a barrel; bacon,$7 a pound; molasses, S50 a barrel; coffee, S12.50 a pound"(390). However, as Bradshaw continues.

These were not the peak prices. Flour sold in Farmville for $1,000 a barrel. Most of the commodities listed were impossible to obtain. . . Parched wheat, rye, or sweet potatoes were used to make coffee. Tea was hoarded for use in sickness; sassafras root tea took the place of tea in general use. .. Medicine was hard to obtain, and some kinds could not be gotten; people had to fall back on herbs, both wild and cultivated. . . The cost of clothing was so high that few could buy it, and fresh impetus was given to spinning and weaving of cloth in the farmhouses (391-2).

(An early, rather amusing indication of the clothing shortage is found in a letter from Tille Kern to her father, dated May 22, 1862, begging him to send her a corset, "size 22 or 23," which was "indispensable" to her.)

Ultimately, the War in all its fury and tragedy reached Farmville itself. An eye-witness account of the effects of the last battle and the Confederate retreat survives in an article by Mary Lynn Williamson in HARPER'S WEEKLY, dated July 10, 1909. Mrs. Williamson, in April 1865, was Mary Lynn(Minnie) Harrison of Albemarle County. Her article entitled "The Chivalric Side of General Grant" is, as might be expected, highly partisan, but it remains an invaluable resource. She does not mention the events immediately preceding April 6, 1865, which would have been for many people both in the south and in the north within living memory in 1909, and they should perhaps be briefly recapitulated for 20th century readers.

General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia had held the cities of Richmond and Petersburg and the intervening territory throughout the winter of 1864-65. However, the Federal Forces commanded by General Ulysses S. Grant had managed to outflank Lee at Petersburg, and had soundly defeated the Confed erate defenders at the Battle of Five Forks on April 1, 1865. Lee, recognizing that he could no longer hold Richmond, began what he

Longwood College: A History

had hoped would be an orderly retreat, planning to rendezvous with General Joseph E. Johnston, a native of Prince Edward County (who was himself retreating through North Carolina pursued by the cavalry of Major General William T. Sheriden) at Amelia Court house. The Confederates marched without rest—or food. Ironically enough,"The storehouses of Richmond, Petersburg, and Danville were full of supplies, but with a system bound hand and foot with red tape not a pound of it was available" (Wall 91). Lee's men lost valuable time searching'for food at Amelia, thus allowing Sheriden to cut them off at Jetersville.

It must be remembered that 1865 was not the era of "instant communication"; television did not record and relay nightly the news into the family parlor. Thus, the first inkling that the students at Farmville Female College had of impending disaster was the Confederate attempt in their retreat to destroy High Bridge, the scene of a carefree College outing only three years before. "On the 6th day of April 1865, rapid firing was heard in the direction of High Bridge, and ere long it was known within the college that General Lee's army was in full retreat, closely pursued by the hosts of Grant" (Williamson). But the attempt to destroy the bridge only partially succeeded, and the armies had confronted each other at Sailor's Creek on April 7. Surrounded on all sides. Lee's men fought and finally again retreated in the only possible direction, straight through Farmville.

Great was the consternation which prevailed among the fourscore girls within the college walls. All school operations were discontinued, and the evening was passed in watching the vanguard of the weary, starving Southern army march by. Not a few soldiers stopped long enough to speak to sisters and friends and bid them be courageous, as it was evident that they would soon be in the hands of the enemy. All night long, the rumble of wheels and the sound of marching feet could be heard;and the next morning. . . the weeping girls bade farewell to the Army of Northern Virginia, as they saw a squadron of the First Virginia Cavalry dash by at a gallop, bridle reins on the necks of their horses, and firing backward as they went. Behind them, out of the mist, rode the advance guard of the splendid legions of Sheriden. Minie balls fell about the building—one crashed through a window where several girls were standing and, when they had recovered from their panic, their friends in gray had vanished like the phantom of a dream.

On came Sheriden. For hours the girls, benumbed by grief

and fear, stood gazing at the wonderful spectacle. The men on their fine, well fed horses and clad in their winter overcoats and big hats looked like giants. The mist turned to rain, but,looking neither to the right nor to the left, the columns moved on to the music of their magnificent bands (Williamson).

The terror of the students was unimaginable. Not only did they watch ". . . the Federals marching on in a never-ending stream by day and by night until, as far as the eye could reach, the country around was one vast camp," but also, "... several regiments of black troops had been encamped in the rear of the college." It was their shouting and cheering on the night of April 9th that an nounced Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House.

The immediate consequence in Farmville was the establishment of marshal law. Bradshaw gives the comment of Dr. W. H. H.Thaxton: ". . . as a rule, the conduct of Yankee officers and real soldiers was better, more creditable, and more honorable than expected; campfollowers, thieves, and plunderers invaded every house not pro tected by guards, stealing and hunting for what they thought was concealed" (409). The College was unmolested, but the students must have felt as though they were under siege. Further,"Each day their meals became scantier and poorer in quality, and they were told that supplies of the storerooms would soon be exhausted" (Williamson). Then, after two days of waiting, help came from a most unexpected quarter. General Grant, escorted by Sheriden's cavalry, returned to Farmville on April 11 (Bradshaw 412).

. . . he had heard of their(the students') distress, and sent an officer to the college with an order for each one of these students to be passed, free of charge, to her home,or anywhere else in the United States where she might find friends. This order seemed to be a mockery just then, for the Southside Railroad had been torn up and rolling stock burned, and there seemed no other way of getting to the James River. But a few days after word came from the provost marshal, who had in mind General Grant's order, that the last wagon train of the army would move towards Burkeville that afternoon, and that those who wished to reach Richmond could get to the railroad in these wagons.

The principal. . . favored the scheme, and in a few minutes twenty-six were on their way to the wagon train. The girls knew that they were running from Scylla into Charybdis, but they were hardly prepared to find in each of the wagons a dis-

Longwood College: A History

mounted [Confederate] cannon. . . These munitions of war were the only seats provided, their being neither straw nor hay in these rough wagons. One of the girls exclaiming at the unique seat, the driver said,"Can't yer ride on one of your own guns?" ... These young people had eaten nothing since the scanty breakfast that moming,and each had with her only two small rolls of sour bread (Williamson).

The harrowing journey took three days. The first night, they stopped at the deserted house of a Mr. Watkins.

The young girls were conducted to a room which proved to be the parlor of the mansion, and were informed by a polite officer that they would be entirely safe, and that they would make an early start in the morning. The parlor had been stripped of all its furniture save a Brussels carpet and a divan. The sick girl of the party was placed upon the divan, and the others rested as they could best dispose themselves on the floor.

The next overnight stop, at a hospital in Burkeville, was a little more comfortable; at least there were bunks and blankets but still no food.

The next morning, the lieutenant sent in a small paper sack of "hardtack" which, with water for a beverage proved a great treat. Having a little specie, they made quite an effort to buy something to eat before setting out again but found nothing for sale; the citizens had not enough for their own necessity and the rations of the Union forces were very scanty.'

The train trip to City Point could only have exacerbated their realization of "The Cause's" total defeat.

The coaches were old and rickety and threatened each moment to collapse. .. The coaches in which the girls were seated were filled with Federal officers resplendent in epaulets, stars, and gold braid. Outside the car windows on all the country roads could be seen wagon trains, artillery, and soldiers on the march. The Southern girls, in their gypsy-like attire— each one being a fashion to herself—wearing homemade hats, pieced-out dresses, and calfskin shoes, were great curiosities for the well-groomed and dashing soldiers of the North. Some of the latter tried to "make conversation," but the girls were too proud and too sore hearted to respond.

Then, just outside Petersburg, the "boiler of the ancient engine burst," and all the passengers had to walk the rest of the way into town.

Another day of fasting, fatigue, and terror had not improved the condition of the travelers;indeed,it was with great difficulty that they followed their conductor to the office of the provost marshal. There the orders of General Grant again proved an "open sesame." They were very soon conducted to the wharf and put on board a fine new steamboat. Then they were placed in the charge of a stewardess, who led them to nice staterooms. After resting and making fresh toilets, they supped sumptu ously at Uncle Sam's expense;and afterwards gathered strength to pace the deck and view the busy and beautiful scene presented by the shipping gathered there to receive the legions of General Grant (Williamson).

The next day, aboard another steamer, they were on their way to Richmond, where they arrived that same evening. General Grant's safe-conducts must have been honored thereafter as well; we know at least that Mary Lynn Harrison Williamson reached her home in Albemarle County.

There is no information concerning the other students at the College. Probably the majority were from Prince Edward, Cumber land, and Appomattox Counties,so their safe return home could be accomplished more easily. But Federal troops remained in the area for six weeks(Bradshaw 417),"eating off the land." That the College remained in session at all was miraculous under the combined circumstances of little food and the bitterness of Reconstruction politics, ".. . unequaled before or since in Prince Edward history" (Bradshaw 435). That the College did remain in session is evidenced by the report card of Miss Mary Chappell for April 10-June 25,1868, which survives in the Longwood College archives. Miss Chappell during that term pursued Algebra, Geometry, Latin, French, En glish Branches, and Music, and her highest grade was AVa. Evidently the standards of demonstrated proficiency remained unaltered.

In 1869, Arnaud Preot resigned as Farmville Female College president, and took his family to Danville, where he joined his friend George La Monte at the Danville Female College. There is no reason given for this decision, but probably the strain of holding the Farmville College together had taken too great a toll. When Danville College closed, he went on to the Roanoke Female College to become its president, where he dies on June 17, 1873. Burdened by

Longivood College: A History

the harsh realities of the immediate situation, the town and county must have given Farmville Female College little hope of survival. But apparently, the same will and courage that had inspired the incorporators of the Female Seminary was aroused in the members of the College Board of Trustees, and they refused to abandon an institution which had proved to be both valuable and important without a fight.

Chapter IV

—- he years between 1869 and 1873 were the Farmville Female College's truly "dark years," and we have only glimpses of the activities at that time. In 1870, the president was S. F. Nottingham. In the NEW COMMONWEALTH of January 12,1871, the following advertisement appeared:

The undersigned have purchased the College property, and with much gratification announce the services of the Rev. FJrands Marion] Edwards have been secured in the capacity of President. Young ladies schooled in the Colleges of our land and experienced in teaching are associated with him,so that the institution is now prepared to lead pupils through as thorough a curriculum as can be had at any similar school.

President Edwards, by profession a teacher before his en trance into the ministry, enjoyed a high reputation as a success ful instructor of youth. His experience as a scientific lecturer has been extensive.

Payments to be made semi-annually or monthly in advance. ]. D. Crawley, R. S. Paulette, J. T. Gray, W. G. Venable, T. J. Davis, J. W. Gills, H. E. Warren, stockholders.

The college administration changed hands again, when the Rev erend James D.Crawley took the presidency in 1873, of whom it was said, "As a teacher, he was patient, thorough, painstaking, and many hundreds of people owe their success in life to his faithful ness"(Richmond CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE, June 28, 1888).

But the financial situation of the College was precarious at best, suffering as did all institutions of higher learning from the post-war depression. According to Shackelford, ". . . at a meeting held on July 1, 1870, the stockholders decided to sell the college property, and after paying off the debts, distributed the proceeds among themselves"(7), but it took two-and-a-half years to find a buyer. The property was sold to Garnett and Martha Bickers on February 6, 1873. Bickers made no effort to run the College; as a businessman, he acted as a "holding agent," once again demonstrating the community's faith in the institution and their desire to see it continue. The manner of that continuance has been a matter of some debate; one historian notes that, "Apparently after being closed for several years, the school was revived in 1875 when it was incorpo rated as Farmville College by the Prince Edward County Circuit Court. The sponsor of the revived school was the Methodist Conference, and its president was a Methodist minister, Paul Whitehead" (Schlegel, 4). However, the FARMVILLE COLLEGE CATALOGUE, 1875-76, states that the buildings ". . . were pur chased in 1873 by citizens of the town,chiefly Methodists"(9). If this was, in fact, a repurchase, it certainly represents a consummate act of faith, considering the devastation caused by the panic of 1873, described as "... one of the major depressions and financial crises in the nation's history . . ." (Bradshaw 529). Bickers still held the title to the land which is doubtless the explanation of a debt of $3,050 which was not repaid until 1882.

That "citizens of the town, chiefly Methodists" had attempted to interest the Methodist Virginia Conference in taking over the College as one of their educational institutions, probably several years before 1873, is evidenced by the minutes of the CONFER ENCE EDUCATION REPORT for 1873, which note the following:

The communication from the owners of the buildings occu pied by this College [Farmville Female] was referred to a special committee, whose report was adopted as follows:

Resolved 1st: That while we highly appreciate the generous offer by our friends of the Farmville Female College buildings, we do not feel prepared at this time to assume any further responsibility in regard to institutions of learning, and therefore most respectfully and affectionately decline said offer.

Resolved 2nd: That we rejoice in the favorable auspices under which Farmville Female College has opened, and wish for it a long and ever widening sphere of influence.

Resolved 3rd: That we most cordially commend it to our people as in hearty sympathy with our Church and in every way eminently worthy of their patronage.

The "favorable auspices" of the second "resolved" can only refer to the arrival early in 1873 of the new president, the Reverend Paul Whitehead. Whitehead (1830-1906) was a native of Nelson County, and was considered ". . . one of the first minds of the Virginia Conference"(EDUCATION REPORT 1873). He had been formally admitted to the Conference in 1853, and was named Clerk of the Conference in 1860, a position he would hold until his death. For twenty-five years, he served as Presiding Elder. He was also an experienced administrator: "Associated with him are the same faculty who, under his presidency, earned for the Wesleyan Female College at Murfreesboro a high reputation"(EDUCATION REPORT 1873). His presence was sufficient reason for a glowing endorsement from the Conference, even though the hierarchy had declined to take possession of it.

Last but not least, the youngest of our Female Colleges, is that just opened with favorable auspices by the Rev. Paul Whitehead in the town of Farmville. . . Farmville, in the centre [sic.] of our territory on the Southside Railway,in a healthy and beautiful section of the State, with an intelligent and refined population seems excellently to be adapted to be the seat of a first-rate College; and the name of Paul Whitehead at its head is sufficient guarantee that this will be an institution of the first class(EDUCATION REPORT 1873).

Despite financial difficulties, the College completed a successful academic year, and the first Commencement exercises of the Whi tehead regime were held from Sunday,June 28 to Wednesday,July 1, 1874. The Baptist and Methodist churches cancelled their Sunday morning worship services so that members might attend ". . . the commencement sermon at the College which was delivered by W.

Longwood College: A History

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W. Bennett, editor of the Richmond CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE" (Bradshaw 490). There were two student organizations: The Cecilian Society which held "A soiree , . . once a fortnight, the program of which comprises classical music and the highest order of more recent compositions, calculated to elevate the taste," and the Mar garet J. Preston Literary Society, ". . . a voluntary association of students for literary culture" (1875-76 CATALOGUE 23). Accord ingly, the Cecilians entertained on Monday evening, and the Prestonians on Tuesday evening, both events, of course, open to the public. And on Wednesday morning, July 1, the Misses Lalla T. Saunders of Farmville and Alice E. Custis of Acromac County received their degrees.

For all the emphasis on the education of women, however, there were limits beyond which a proper young lady did not go. One limit she did not transgress was that of speaking in public. . . The Rev. William E. Judkins read Miss Saunders' Salutatory address, "Mental Culture in Women;" and Miss Custis' valedictory was read by R. B. Berkeley. Between the reading of the papers, [President] Whitehead announced the distinctions, and Dr. J. C. Carberry of Richmond held the audience "spellbound for an hour" with the literary address, "Esther, the Beautiful Queen." Wednesday evening a concert closed the commencement (Bradshaw 480-1).

Clearly, a Commencement in 1874 was an event, and nothing to be taken lightly!

The leadership of President Whitehead is apparent from the annual EDUCATIONAL REPORTS; in 1874 the enrollment had increased to seventy students, and the 1875 REPORT notes a further increase of twenty-five percent. Furthermore,"A large addition has recently been made to the original building, consisting of a threestory brick house, containing a fine study hall and much additional room for boarders." The addition had been made possible by the creation of a new stock company created in May 1875, with Whitehead as president, for the purpose of seeking a charter for the Farmville College, . . with a capital of $8,000 and authority to raise the capital of $50,000" (Bradshaw 481); the latter sum would have seemed astronomical in 1875. However, once again the com munity became involved—Howell E. Warren, still a trustee, "... put the matter on a practical level by observing that every merchant was more or less benefited by the college and should subscribe to the stock"(Bradshaw 481).

On May 28, 1875, the charter was presented to the stockholders and approved. Whitehead was formally named President, and Thomas J. Davis, a trustee of the Farmville (Methodist) Quarterly Conference, and a director of both the Farmville Insurance and Banking Company and the Commercial Savings Bank, was elected secretary. (Davis would ultimately become the president of the Planters Bank.) As before, the trustees were substantial members of the business community. Colonel William R. Berkeley, a tobacco manufacturer with interest in the railroads, was already a trustee of Hampden-Sydney College; he was, in addition, a director of the Southside Newspaper Company. William D. Rice was a banker and a school trustee for the Farmville District; Richard Singleton Paulette, whose home on High Street is still standing, was a tobacco manufacturer and banker, and one of the wealthiest men in town. Names already familiar—those of Howell E. Warren and Francis Nathaniel Watkins are also on the list. Captain Francis D.Irving and Samuel B. McKinney were bankers; McKinney would be one of the incorporators of the Farmville Manufacturing Company, as would be Charles Bugg, who was the owner of a flourishing grocery business. Bugg had also served on the Farmville Town Council, and in 1879 he would be a member of the organizing vestry of Johns Memorial Episcopal Church.

James T. Gray and Thomas J. Davis had been active in Conserv ative Party politics after the War, and Gray also had banking interests. Dr. Peter Winston was a trustee of Hampden-Sydney,and

Longwood College: A History

in 1875 he was a member of the organization committee for the Southside Immigration Society, whose purpose was to find ways to encourage new residents to come to live in the area. He was also president of the Building Fund Committee, and had served briefly (1867-69) as proprietor of the FARMVILLE JOURNAL. A later, major service was his successful effort to bring electricity and telephone service to the town. The last name on the list, and perhaps the most distinguished, is that of Dr. William H. H. Thackston. A native of Prince Edward County, he had graduated from the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery in 1842, and had returned to Farmville to practice. Known as the "Lord Chesterfield of the dental profession"(Bradshaw 835), he had helped to organize the Virginia Society of Surgeon Dentists in 1842, and the Virginia Dental Society in 1870. In 1872, he was mayor of Farmville, and would serve an additional term, but in or out of office he was constantly occupied with civic activities until his death in 1899. French Building now stands on the lot occupied by the Thackston family home.

The new charter was granted on June 5, 1875, and Farmville College was now a reality. President Whitehead wrote proudly in the 18875-76 CATALOGUE, "There has long been a need for the establishment of a Methodist Institution of high grade for the education of young ladies in the upper districts of the Virginia Conference"(9). This statement, however, does not imply financial support of the Conference, even though their endorsement of the College continued until 1883, requesting for it ". . . the entire confidence and liberal support of our people" (EDUCATIONAL REPORT 1880). That support was quickly forthcoming, starting with the board of trustees. Whitehead's two daughters, Janet and Vergilia, were members of the student body, as were James Gray's Florence and Virginia. Sally Irving, Pattie and Emma Bugg, Ida Paulette, and Maggie Watkins were also in attendance. The CATA LOGUE provides a complete list of students' names, numbering sixty-one "undergraduates" and twenty-five students in the "primary division" (including one from Tallahassee and two from Texas), a most auspicious enrollment figure.

The CATALOGUE also reveals that the curriculum and the grading scale remained unaltered from the La Monte-Preot era, and a diploma was awarded upon demonstration of proficiency in all "schools"—i.e., disciplines. Students were required to study Latin because ". ..we desire to encourage its study as much as possible, having no tolerance for the idea that it is practically 'useless'" (17). They might, however, choose either French or German as the

modern language. Even though there was no "School of Music" per se, music study was required, and the standards were high:

In Music, not the learning of a few tunes on some instrument, or the singing of a number of sentimental songs, will be considered worth the labor of the pupil or the money of the patron; but the exact study of the science of music and the faithful practice of what constitutes mastery of the instrument or voice. .. In fine, the object will be to make music scholars who can be teachers and instruments for correcting instead of perpet uating the defective and unworthy idea of music which pos sesses the mind of the country at large (19).

Mrs. Whitehead taught music, and it is interesting to note that this is the first time that teacher preparation is mentioned in connection with the College. One wonders if the academic disciplines were also taught with the same idea in mind.

Whitehead praised his faculty:'The teachers, chiefly employed in this institution, were educated at the University of Virginia. In their instructions they desire to pursue as far as possible the methods and to respect the spirit of that noble seat of learning"(CATALOGUE 17). Actually only two professors are noted as having this back ground—^John Murray, who taught mathematics and natural sci ences, held a University M.A. degree, and Edward A. Allen, listed as Professor of Languages, was also a University graduate. The College building is glowingly described, with special mention of the half-acre front lawn and the sixty trees. The science equipment, ". . . an excellent archomatic telescope, of three inches aperture, made by Henry Fitz of New York, and two powerful microscopes are available for the benefit of classes" (CATALOGUE 17), was actually quite advanced for a women's college in 1875. Finally,"The study-hall, in which students pass so much of their time, is large, well ventilated, and thoroughly comfortable; the desks of the newest and most comfortable style"(CATALOGUE 17). In connec tion with study, present Longwood College faculty members, who wrestle regularly with "that annual blister/ Marriage with deceased wife's sister"—i.e., the Drop-Add period—may find the following injunction fascinating: "When a subject is once commenced, the student will not be suffered to discontinue it except by written permission of the parent or guardian and the consent and direction of the faculty" (CATALOGUE 16). Clearly at Farmville College the emphasis was on academic excellence. Most students would have been working diligently to receive the annual "Cards of Distinc-

tion/' which recognized exceptionally high academic performance in one or more of the "schools:"

The object of these honors is to excite a healthy and beneficial emulation and to reward the diligent and faithful. No faithful pupil of average capacity can leave school without some proof of esteem in which she had been held "for her works' sake."

This we consider a desirable mean between the policy which awards no honors and that which bestows honors, deserved or undeserved, upon all—both for fear of giving offense.

Deportment, as might be expected, was still stressed, but family prayers are not mentioned. There was a daily worship service at the College, and students were expected to attend church on Sunday, the Methodist Church if they were boarders unless their parents requested otherwise. The "home atmosphere" still prevailed:

Our aim is to imitate, as far as possible, the government of a family: to rule by love and not by penalties; to awaken the strengthened conscience and by creating a strong public opinion against wrong-doing, prevent offenses. Demerits are sparingly used, espionage strictly avoided, the honor and self respect of the pupil constantly appealed to(CATALOGUE 20).

One innovation is mentioned; students were expected to wear uniforms ". . .on all public occasions. . . a dress of solid dark-green, hat, wrapping and gloves to correspond. . . These can be procured and made in Farmville" (CATALOGUE 21). "Gentleman callers" were subjected to the same rules established by Whitehead's pre decessors—no admission without letters of introduction from par ents or guardians; and boarders".. . will not be allowed to visit the stores alone. . . or to leave the College grounds without express permission"(CATALOGUE 21). There was good reason for the last restriction; Bradshaw mentions illegal drinking and gambling estab lishments, and a request to the town council that the sergeant be provided additional help to keep ".. . prostitutes and others off the street late at night"(586). Mayor Thackston assured the petitioners that the law, which said nothing about late afternoon or early evening, would be enforced!

Farmville College prospered for several years; a statement entitled "Additional Arrangements for 1877-78," intended as a supplement to the CATALOGUE,informs students:

We have secured for the coming year the services of a lady instructed in Germany for several years by the best masters. She will teach vocal music and conduct conversations in German and French with pupils in these languages at regular intervals. Miss Salina I. Brown will give instruction in Painting, Draw ing, Waxworks, and Calisthenics.

The Calisthenics "uniform" consisted of a white blouse and a black skirt which was ". . . allowed to be six inches from the floor" (Draper ms.). One wonders if the "little boys of Farmville" lingered outside the fence in the spring, hoping to catch a glimpse of the young ladies' ankles as Miss Brown directed the wand drills? "Additional Arrangements" also notes that the fall and winter uniform was now to be a black alpaca or cashmere dress, with matching accessories.

There is, however, a recurring ominous note in the EDUCATION REPORTS with which college administrators today are anxiously familiar—declining enrollments. The 1876 REPORT records an en rollment of 103; the following year it had dropped to ninety-three, and by 1880 only sixty-five students were receiving instruction. Doubtless one reason for the decline was the fees; the 1875-76 CATALOGUE lists them as follows:

plus a $6.00 fee added in 1877 for Calisthenics. That President Whitehead was aware of the possible financial burden to parents is evidence by his own statement in "Additional Arrangements:"

The foregoing terms are believed to be as low as can be afforded by a really good boarding school. They are the same as those of other Female Schools of high grade in Virginia, possibly a little cheaper. By employing inferior teachers, furnishing infe rior accommodations, and otherwise diminishing advantages, they could doubtless be made lower, but we are unwilling to offer to the public education under such conditions.

Longwood College: A History

But even assuming that the fees did not rise, $300 and over was a great deal of money .. during a decade when tobacco sales in Prince Edward County were at an all time low" (Shackelford 7). Since the majority of students came from the immediate surround ing area, the depressed economy must certainly have had its effect on the College.

In the 1880 and 1881 EDUCATION REPORTS, the president of Farmville College is listed as"The Rev. Paul Whitehead, D.D." and, at the close of the 1881-82 academic year, he resigned to return to a full-time church ministry. His successor was Miss Mary Elizabeth Carter, a Methodist minister's daughter, and a member of the James River Shirley Plantation Carter family. A recent graduate of Greens boro College in North Carolina, she was commended in the RE PORTS of 1882 and 1883 as ". . . an accomplished teacher," and for "... her patient devotion to the education of pupils committed to her care." She is not, however, named as President, but described as ". . . the accomplished Principal," doubtless an indication of the expected masculine unwillingness to assume that a woman could possibly deserve the other title! The very fact that she was appointed Principal may reveal a certain feeling of desperation on the part of the Trustees who apparently had found no one else remotely qualified to keep the College afloat, but who with equal desperation did not want to see it close. And,once again, it was the Trustees, all Farmville residents, who found the way to permit the College to continue under yet another name: The State Female Normal School.

Chapter V

A, .11 colleges have their legends, and Longwood is no excep tion. In the college archives there is a handwritten, undated state ment entitled, "Story told by Miss Jennie Venable, daughter of Major Venable, to Mrs. John Hugh Cocks:"

On a cold and rainy night, by the cosy fire in the farm home of Major Venable near Farmville, Va. He was reading the daily paper when he saw that a move was on foot to establish a school of higher education for women in the State of Virginia. But no location had been found. Mrs. Miller, a lady of broad mind and far reaching vision, was interested at once—and said, now why should not such a school be located here in Farmville!

The next morning, regardless of the rain, Maj. Venable rode horseback, the several miles beyond the creeks, to see Judge Frank N. Watkins,a man of most considerable influence in both community and state, and like most of the Watkins family a great believer in education for all. His interest was at once aroused, and he took the matter up with other influential men, among others a fine old colored man, Talmadge Branch, at that time in the Legislature. He as well as others were untiring in their efforts, and did succeed in having the school located in Farmville.

Longwood

College: A HistOTy

There are, however, some difficulties inherent in this account. William Goodrich Venable has been identified as"the major" but his home was on the corner of Madison and Pine Streets, opposite the College grounds (Chace's Map). Tazezvell Branch, a black, was a member of the House of Delegates from 1874 to 1877, but in 1881-84 when the Normal School was under discussion, Nathaniel M. Griggs (born a slave, the son of Matthew and Nicey Washington Griggs, he had received his education in night school and, from working in a tobacco factory, had gone into politics) was the representative from Prince Edward County (Jackson 19), The "dark and stormy night" setting is a romantic touch, and undoubtedly Venable and Watkins, and Griggs whose help would have been invaluable, were involved in the undertaking. But Bradshaw notes that Dr. Thackston and the Reverend James Nelson, pastor of the Baptist Church, ". .. led a movement to have a teacher training institution supported by the state located in Farmville" (482). And all their efforts might have failed had it not been for the whole hearted support of two remarkable men: William Henry Ruffner and Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry.

Ruffner was born in Lexington, Virginia, on February 11, 1824. His father, Henry Ruffner, an ordained Presbyterian minister, was president of Washington College, now Washington and Lee Uni versity. William Ruffner received his M.A. degree in 1845 from Washington College, and promptly entered the Theological Semi nary at Hampden-Sydney. While there, he studied with Professor Lewis Miller who had recently returned from studying abroad with a tremendous enthusiasm for the educational theories being advo cated by Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi and Friederich Froebel. "He was especially impressed by the 'Kindergarten' concept"(Saville 4). That Miller's teaching had a lifelong effect on Ruffner is indisput able, though it did not inspire him at that moment to consider education as a career. Further study at Princeton earned him the LLD degree, and he was called by the University of Virginia as University chaplain. He married Harriet Gray of Harrisonburg on September 3,1850, and the following year accepted a call to the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, where he remained until 1853 (Barclay 36), when chronic ill health forced his retirement to a small form, Tribrook, near Lexington. Here he pursued his interests in geology, which led in turn to a position in the Geology Department of his alma mater.

But apparently his commitment to the idea of a state-wide system of general education (hitherto nonexistent in Virginia) had increased over the years and had already been evidenced; and when the

position of State Superintendent of Instruction was established in 1869, General Robert E. Lee, now president of Washington College, wrote a letter to the General Assembly recommending William Henry Ruffner for the appointment. Lee's recommendation was honored,and the appointment was confirmed on March 5,1870. But

William Henry Ruffner

Longwood College: A History

when Superintendent Ruffner presented his plan to the General Assembly on March 28, he was greeted—probably to his amaze ment—with immediate opposition. Ruffner's thoughts were on the future, but the legislative mind was very much occupied by the present. Virginia was burdened with an enormous public debt; raising taxes, given the Reconstruction economy, was impossible, and "public education" for all children seemed to many an unwar ranted charity! However, thanks to Ruffner's persuasive tenacity, a bill, with the financial support he had requested considerably lessened, was passed on July 11, 1871. By the end of 1871, ". . . 2,900 schools. .. with about 130,000 pupils and 3,000 teachers. . ." (Buck 70), were in place. What Horace Mann had done for Massa chusetts half a century earlier, William Henry Ruffner was doing for Virginia. It is not surprising that he came to be called "the Horace Mann of the South."

Of course, he made enemies. The depression of the 1870's, the continued pressure of the debt, and the continued opposition opinion that ". . . schools had no claim whatsoever on state funds. . . Public schools are not a necessity, they are a luxury" (Morton 242), all worked against him. Schools closed for lack of funding. As Walter J. Frazer, Jr. writes.

When [Ruffner] was appointed, the General Assembly thought. .. that they had selected a good, easy sort of half-way enemy to the common school system, who would be content to draw his salary and not trouble himself much about putting schools in operation. But they were deceived in their man. Dr. Ruffner turned out to be one of the most ardent and zealous friends of education in the country. To the consternation of the Conservatives in the Legislature, who thought to let the edu cational provisions of the Constitution sleep or to merely pretend to carry them out. . . the Superintendent at once set energetically to work in the organization of the schools. . . and from the time of his appointment. . . he did not falter in the grand work... He[had]by his untiring labors, by his writings, and by his example, awakened an interest which amount[ed] to enthusiasm (275-76).

And despite his efforts, his most ardent wish eluded him. He dreamed of establishing a Normal School, patterned after the celebrated French I'Ecole Normale which had been founded in 1794 and had become the model for teacher preparation, to prepare young white women to become teachers. (A Normal School for

training black teachers would be established in Petersburg in 1882.) He knew he would not be reappointed when his term as superin tendent expired in 1882, and he returned to his work as a geologist on February 1 of that year, with his ultimate dream unfulfilled.

But his dream of the Normal School did not die—clearly it was"an idea whose time had come," and it was at this moment that the destinies of William Henry Ruffner and Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry conjoined. Curry was probably already well acquainted with Ruffner, since both had been active in Richmond educational circles in the 1870's. Curry had graduated from the University of Georgia in 1843 and had received his law degree from Harvard in 1845. In 1846, he was elected to the Alabama State Legislature where he served two terms; he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1857. After Secession, he served in the Confederate Congress. From 1867 to 1868 he was president of Howard University in Alabama, and then accepted an appointment to the faculty of Richmond College (now University of Richmond) where he remained until 1880.

Curry's greatest asset, however, in connection with the founding of the new Normal School, was his association with the Peabody Fund, established in 1866 by George Peabody, a native of Massa chusetts, who had become a wealthy merchant in England,". . .to meet the educational needs of those portions of our beloved and common country which have suffered from the destructive ravages and not less disastrous consequences of the civil war"(Alderman and Gordon 249). The fund had allocated $2,100,000 to the cause of public education in the South;in 1869, the amount was increased to $3,500,000. In February 1881, Curry was elected General Agent (administrator) of the Peabody Fund by its Board of Trustees, a position he would hold for twenty-two years.

At last the principle barrier to establishing a state-supported white female Normal School might be alleviated. (The fact that a Curry was also serving as General Field Agent for the Slater Fund, established to better education for blacks, did the cause no harm.) Legislators who had agreed in principle with Ruffner were much more receptive to the prospect of appropriating tax revenue now that there was a promise of supplementary private funding. It was probably at that moment that the dreams of Ruffner, the Farmville College Trustees, and Curry could become a reality. It took three years, but on March 7, 1884, the Legislature approved the bill which Curry had drafted and presented for a "normal school for the training of white female teachers for the public schools" at Farmville (Bradshaw 482).

There were, of course, certain legal complications. Farmville

Longwood College: A History

College had operated under the sponsorship of the Southern Methodist Conference; therefore, it was considered a "church school." For the State of Virginia to take over a church property directly was impossible. Therefore, on April 7, 1884, the Board of Trustees of the Farmville College deeded the title to the Town of Farmville (Prince Edward County DEED BOOK NO. 35, 596). On the same date, the town formally and legally conveyed the property and buildings to the state. The names of the new trustees were listed, and permission granted to them to ". . . establish in the said Female College Building the normal school for the training and education of the white female teachers for public schools. . . and no other purpose whatsoever, and when the said property shall cease to be used by the State of Virginia for the purposes set forth in said Act, the same shall revert to and become the property of the Town of Farmville"(DEED BOOK NO. 35, 597). An entry on page 594, also dated April 7, records the retirement of the $3,040 debt to Garnett Bickers. This swift and successful financial transaction must have been anticipated, because on April 9, 1884, Curry, having been named president, called the first meeting of the new Board of Trustees.

The 1909 Twenty-Fifth Anniversary edition of the Farmville Fe male Normal School Yearbook, THE VIRGINIAN, provides bio graphical sketches of all but two members(they being R. M. Manly and W. W. Herbert) of that original board, and their credentials reveal that Curry chose them with care and for certain definite reasons: their commitment to the Normal School concept, and their residences throughout the state. The bill had specified proportionate representation in the student body:

Each city of five thousand inhabitants, and each city in the state shall be entitled to one pupil, and one for each additional representative in the House of Delegates above one, who shall receive gratuitous instruction. The trustees shall prescribe rules for the selection of such pupils and for their examination, and shall require each pupil selected, to give satisfactory evidence of an intention to teach in the public schools of the state for at least two years after leaving said normal school (ACTS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1883-84, 418).

Thus it was imperative that as many areas as possible be represented on the board. But commitment to and experience in the field of education was equally, perhaps more, important. General William Booth Taliaferro of Gloucester County—at that time a general who

had served with "Stonewall" Jackson, would have given the school an added eclat—was a member of the board of the College of William and Mary, and therefore was no stranger to higher education. "It was his proud boast that he had never missed a meeting of the Normal School Board" even though his physical frailty required the services of an "attendant" at his last meeting(1909 VIRGINIAN 17).

John L. Buchanan, LLD, had impressive academic credentials: a graduate of Emory and Henry College, he had returned to his alma mater after study at the University of Virginia as professor of ancient languages. (In succession, he would become president of Virginia Polytechnic Institute, professor of Latin at Vanderbilt University, president of Emory and Henry and of Mary Washington Colleges, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction.) The Reverend Henry Herbert Harris of Louisa County was professor of Greek and German at Richmond College. The Reverend James Nelson, D.D. was pastor of Farmville Baptist Church; he would later become president of the Women's College of Richmond(now Westhampton College). The Honorable Richard Ratcliff Farr, a lawyer and legisla tor from Fairfax County, had been named the State Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1883; thus he became an ex officio member of the Normal School board.

George O. Conrad was a silversmith from Harrisonburg, a suc cessful businessman, who ". . . throughout his long life com manded universal respect and esteem" (1909 VIRGINIAN 20).

Luther Holland Rice was superintendent of the public schools of Roanoke and had served as Secretary of Public Instruction under Dr. Ruffner. The commitment to public education of Prince Edward County's Francis Nathaniel Watkins was already well known. L. A. Michie,in 1884, was superintendent of the Albemarle County public schools, and the Honorable William E. Gaines of Charlotte County was a member of the Virginia State Senate. The name of William Henry Ruffner completes the list, though it should be noted that the 1884-85 Farmville Female Normal School CATALOGUE adds an other well-known name, the Reverend Paul Whitehead.

It is clear that these appointments were "political in the sense that the names of Ruffner, Curry, Manly, Holland, Buchanan, Gaines, Michie, Watkins, Taliaferro, and Conrad are listed in the establishing bill. (Board members are still "political" appointments in that they are named by the Governor and serve at his pleasure.) Therefore, the Legislature would have had to approve them. But it is equally clear that, in 1884, every effort was made to select individuals who had some expertise in higher education, and who also were aware of what kind of preparation a teacher must have in

Longwood College: A History

order to teach well. To no one's surprise, at the April 9 organizing board meeting. Curry was elected as president, and Watkins was elected secretary. The surprise came just before adjournment when, according to Watkins:

When the trustees were about to adjourn, the Hon. Mr. Farr, the State Superintendent of public free schools in Virginia, after giving his views of the importance of this new enterprise in Virginia, and that the principal would and should be the life of the institution, nominated the Hon. W. H. Ruffner as principal. I am sure no gentleman was more surprised than Dr. Ruffner; and, knowing he was engaged in scientific labors, which yielded him revenues equal to any salary which would probably be given in this normal school, I did not think he would accept the position, and he declined to do so(SENATE DOCUMENT No. 10).

Curry, however, backed by the resources of the Peabody Fund, remarked that the normal school could expect assistance therefrom ". . . provided the Trustees in organizing the school secured as principal someone acceptable to the Peabody trustees" (SENATE DOCUMENT No. 10). Ruffner then accepted his unanimous elec tion.

The decision was not received with delight in all quarters. A letter from Ruffner, dated August 23, 1884, to the Senate Committee on Public Instruction, responded to some quite invidious allegations directed against himself and the other board members. Reminding the Committee that he had retired from public life on February 1, 1882, he stated unequivocally,

. . . I was in no way connected with the movement of last winter, which ended in the act creating the Girl's normal school at Farmville, except that my name was, without my knowledge, inserted as a trustee in the act(SENATE DOCUMENT No. 10).

He had returned from his geological work in Pennsylvania for the board meeting, and, ". . . I, unfortunately for my own comfort, yielded to what seemed a plain and imperative duty. . . I yielded under no motive but fealty to a noble cause to which I had given twelve years of my life" (SENATE DOCUMENT No. 10). He recognized that, because of his previous state educational connec tions, his election could be imputed to undue influence on his part,

L. Monroe

and he felt that both himself and the board members deserved to be exonerated:

The object of this personal statement is to show that all intimations that there was any self seeking or collusion in the proceedings of the normal school board are false and slander ous;and that, if any error had been committed, it was an honest mistake by men who were giving their time and abilities to the public without hope of reward(SENATE DOCUMENT No. 10).

J.

Curry

Longwood College: A History

At that point, all opposition apparently ceased. But an even greater obstacle was financial. Section VII of the Establishment Bill had allocated $5,000 for "establishing and con tinuing the school"and $10,000"... to pay incidental expenses, the salaries of officers and teachers, and to maintain the efficiency of the school, said sum to be paid out of the public school free fund." But the State's Attorney General and the Court of Appeals ruled the use of free school funds "null and void." Accordingly, the board had to wait for a special session of the Legislature in August to authorize a special appropriation. Finally, on September 17, 1884, the Normal School board met in Richmond, and decreed that the first term should begin on October 30. As Ruffner later wrote, "All we had then was a principal, an appropriation, a rough scheme, and an old academy building. Not a teacher, not a book, nor a piece of furniture or apparatus, and more things to be done than any human mind could foresee"(188M5 CATALOGUE).

Chapter VI

R,-uffner, however, had not been idle in the interim. With the active support of the trustees, he had visited Normal Schools in a number of states, searching for faculty members. As he noted in the 1884^85 CATALOGUE,"Teachers had to be sought for far and wide; and let them say what they may, the instructors in a Normal School should be specifically trained for their work. Teachers of this sort were sought for with assiduity and invited to come. Not a member of the faculty sought the position which he or she holds" (5). Celeste E. Bush, whose surviving correspondence in the Longwood College archives, and whose "Reminiscences" published in the 1909 VIR GINIAN provided incalculably valuable information concerning the Normal School's first three years, recalled Dr. Ruffner's visit to the Connecticut State Normal School where she was teaching. After observing several of her classes, he offered her the position of Vice Principal; in response to her question concerning what her duties would be, he said, "I want a Vice Principal to manage the school, and I shall manage the Vice Principal." Miss Bush admitted to some trepidation, but she was clearly a lady who like a challenge and she accepted his offer.

The 1884-85 CATALOGUE listed a faculty remarkably cosmopol itan in background and experience; indeed. Dr. Ruffner stated proudly,"We have been fortunate in our teachers. . . One has had a liberal education in one of our best Virginia female colleges, and a

Longwood College: A History

full course in the excellent Tennessee Normal School, and has since been teaching" (6). Miss Bush taught geography, physiology. United States history, and "Morals and Manners"—as Dr. Ruffner noted, "Special attention is given to the morals and manners of our students, and an excellent course of lectures is given on the subject by the Vice Principal. Practical hygiene is also made prominent"(7). The last item was doubtless considered quite "advanced"in the year 1884. Miss Pauline Gash, a graduate of Mary Washington College, who had taught at the Tennessee Normal School at Nashville, was responsible for English Grammar, English Literature, general his tory, rhetoric, and penmanship. Miss Clara Brimblecomb, who had studied at the Boston Conservatory and taught at the Massachusetts Normal School, was in charge of vocal music, and Miss Lillian Lee taught mathematics, drawing, bookkeeping, and calisthenics. Mr. Beverly Robertson was in charge of natural sciences, Latin, and algebra; Miss Bell Johnson of Farmville taught piano.(The following year, 1885-86, Miss Kate Lupton, M. A. Vanderbilt University, was named teacher of natural sciences.) Dr. Ruffner himself taught classes in psychology, ethics, didactics, and "Lessons in Natural Science," which was probably an early version of a "methods" course.

One dream Dr. Ruffner cherished above all others: a "model school" incorporated into the Normal School, where grammar school children would be taught by an acknowledged master teacher, whom the Normal School students could observe in action, and, under her direction, practice their own teaching techniques. The master teacher he chose was Mrs. Carrie T. Bartkowska, drawn ". . . from the front rank of the Richmond corps of public school teachers"(CATALOGUE 5). The model school was an immediate success; parents, assured that their children would receive excellent instruction, eagerly enrolled them to everyone's mutual benefit.

That everything had to be in place by October 30, required Herculean efforts. In her "Reminiscences," Celeste Bush speaks of the "physical plant:" "To our scholastic needs, an old shell offered a small, primitive assembly hall, and two shabby classrooms . . . the dormitory was a series of cubicles on two floors, lying off crooked, narrow, multilevelled corridors, much as pig iron lies at the foundry . . . the only library was a box of books belonging to one of the teachers; it was most actively peripatetic"(1909 VIRGINIAN 29). In a letter to her family dated November 4, 1884, she added.

The week has been a busy one indeed and 1 have been dead tired every night. On Monday morning the carpenters and

plasterers were still in the building . . . On Wednesday eve ning, the pupils and the furniture began to arrive simulta neously and you can imagine the confusion of setting up furniture in rooms under the pressure of someone impatient to get in and occupy it. . . And then the mattresses did not come, and we were obliged to borrow. There are no pillows yet . .. Then Dr. Ruffner depended on me to organize and start the school.

Celeste Bush

And the students came, in droves! Miss Bush recalled the pande monium:

For some days the program was: Meet the anxious parent who stood, daughter in hand at the door, with your most gracious welcome; find chairs for them in the reception room; fly upstairs and beg that some pieces of furniture be hurried into such and such a room; return to your guests, and pres ently, with all serenity, offer to show them the room reserved for this particular daughter. If even a bed or a bureau had been placed, you could ask them to look upon that as a guarantee that the rest would follow (1909 VIRGINIAN 20).

Renovations evidently continued throughout the fall; not until December 21, 1884, could Miss Bush write to her family that the school had held the first formal reception in the parlor, complete with piano and chandelier. That any order was forthcoming from such initial chaos is astonishing, and implies the tremendous cooperation of faculty, students, and also the townspeople; as Miss Bush recalled, "In casting about for the causes that made for the success of the school, too much weight cannot be given to the people of Farmville themselves. From the outset their loyalty was a fortress and a strong tower. If you belonged to the school, you belonged to them, and they fought and fended for you" (1909 VIRGINIAN 31).

Students who enrolled that first year must have found the academic curriculum surprisingly unstructured, though the en trance standards were high: the CATALOGUE stated that applicants must be aged sixteen or above, and ".. . should be able to stand a good examination on the six studies required by law to be taught in the public schools, viz Orthography, Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, English Grammar and Geography" (12). However, for the course work, ". . . there is no uniform set of books in which lessons are assigned to be conned and recited. Books are used only for refer ence, and any books containing the facts or expositions may be resorted to" (7). Teacher preparation was the school's raison d' etre, and the students were made immediately aware of that fact by the all-important, required teaching exercise. Each student would be notified in advance of the specific class she would conduct, ". . . exactly as if she were instructing a class in her own school. . . At the end of each exercise the members of the class are allowed to make criticisms, and the teacher also corrects any error as to matter or manner" (7),

Another great change was the social code. Twenty-five years later. Miss Bush recalled.

The social life in those days was simple and wholesome. The students took readily to the idea that they were not boarding school misses over whom teachers must stand guard, but young women in a professional school, expected to carry themselves properly without watching. The community was rather incredulous that there was no terrorizing process behind their generally discreet behaviour (1909 VIRGINIAN 31).

However, the abrupt transition from the rigidly controlled "home atmosphere" of previous administrations to an ambience more suitable for a college campus, was perhaps the most difficult idea for the general public to accept, and within a few months it was the cause of dissension. Common sense would argue that a number of students who were already teachers, and therefore older than the average entering sixteen-year-olds, could not be expected to con form to the previous rules of conduct, and there is no evidence that the younger girls were in any way harmed by their "bad examples." On the other hand, it is equally understandable why some outsiders would view any departure from the previous rules as overly liberal, and undesirable. Miss Bush, as Vice Principal, supervised the boarding department, a charge she had not really wanted, and she was blamed for this new freedom. Two months after the Normal School opened,she was required to defend herself, a task which she must have intensely disliked. As she wrote to her family in a letter dated December 21, 1884,

This week has been a busv one. On Monday there was a Trustees Meeting to inspect the school and decide on another teacher. There was Gen. Taliaferro (they called it Tolliver) and Dr. Curry of Richmond, Judge Watkins and Dr. Nelson, my pastor of Farmville. They all visited classes and took tea with us. After tea, the young ladies came into the parlor and were introduced to the gentlemen, and later we took them around and showed them the girls' rooms. They had a committee meeting in the evening, and among other things. Dr. Nelson, who I don't like in the least, wanted them to make some regulations that the girls should not receive callers and should never go out without a teacher. He wanted to call in Mrs. Jeffress, who has gossiped shamefully about the girls to testify that there has been laxity in that direction, but Dr. Ruffner

Longzvood College: A History

insisted that I should be called instead. So I went and told them what the regulations were and they not only suggested no changes but thanked me for doing just as I had. They praised the school and seemed to be more than satisfied, really aston ished, at the settled and organized work. Dr. R. is so nice to me always, and he gave me all the credit and praise of what had been done. . . .

By the second academic year(1885-86), a preparatory department had been established, because some of the entering students, according to Miss Bush, . . were found deficient in the most elementary subjects"(1909 VIRGINIAN 30), a judgment with which Ruffner concurred and plainly stated in the 1886-87 CATALOGUE: "It is distressing to observe how low is the standard of proficiency recognized by many County Superintendents of Schools.[Students who attended the Normal School gratis had to receive the Superin tendent's recommendations.] Young ladies are often sent to us who should be sent to a really good primary school, if such could be reached"(12). Mrs. Bartkowska was put in charge of the Preparatory School, and the model school was placed in the hands of Miss Clara Miner ". . . who was induced to leave similar work in the training department of the great Normal College of New York City"(1886-87 CATALOGUE 10). The Normal School curriculum was also restruc tured around text books instead of the student-teaching-her-peers method, and included courses in Constitution and School Law of Virginia, Keeping Accounts, and School Management. Another innovation was the six-week summer term, tuition free for teachers in the Virginia public schools who wished to improve their skills and learn the latest teaching methods.

The great success of the Normal School was not unattended by problems, due chiefly to the lack of space. In his December 1885 Report to the trustees, Ruffner lamented.

The model school is taught in an outbuilding which should be the kitchen. The kitchen is in a cellar of half the needed dimensions where on one cooking stove must be prepared meals for sixty people, and from whose reeking vessels the whole house is scented with manifold odors. The family of the housekeeper is confined to one room. There is no place for the principal. Of the teachers, only the vice principal can have a separate room. Three or four, sometimes five students must be confined to one room (8).

He then urged the trustees to consider funding a new building, . . entirely without ornament. . . It will give us an office, a library, a laboratory, six large classrooms and thirteen lodging rooms...brick walls and a tin roof for $12,000" (9). He also urged salary consider ations, noting that the cost of instruction ". . . in the advanced courses, when fully developed, will be as great as the cost in the present school, even if all the teachers were women, which in my opinion would be a very great mistake! Well rounded education can be imparted only by the combined influence of male and female teachers". (9).

But despite the space limitations, or perhaps because of them, the students were kept fully occupied, especially the seniors. Jean Carruthers (later one of the first presidents of the Alumnae Associ ation) wrote to her parents on February 14, 1886,"We are to begin our teaching in the Model School tomorrow. The A's are to go in there in groups of three each and remain one week.[The A's were second semester seniors.] My turn comes tomorrow-week. We will then miss the lessons in the Normal School and will have to make up the work out of school time, also get the notes from those who are in the Model School when our turn is past." In addition,"I spent the greater part of my birthday writing an essay on the Aryan Family. .. ." The old requirement of the graduation essay had been retained, and competition must have been high, because only four seniors in a class numbering eight would be chosen to read them at the Commencement Exercises. In a later letter(undated)she writes,"At a Faculty meeting [May 3, 1886] it was decided that Misses Ander son, Blanton, Carruthers and Mapp should read." But there is a certain trepidation along with her obvious pride."Each one of us is to go to some teacher for suggestions and practice. Since mine lays [sic.] in Dr. Ruffner's subject, I have to take mine to him. They will have to be added to and remodelled in many ways. It will require much extra work and tedious practice. I will have to work like a major to keep in class every day, do this extra work, and study for the examinations."

However, on May 19, her main concern apart from preparing the story of Sir Walter Scott's MARMION for recitation—". . . it is so long. .."—was the typically feminine "What shall I wear?" She described what the other graduates had chosen: "Miss Mapp's dress. . . will be sent from Baltimore. My dress will be exceedingly plain, if it suits you all, 1 know Pop would like it to be so . . . I do not want a particle of lace abut mine. I want it made some new, pretty way for 1 will have to stand before all that is if I succeed in my final examinations."

Longwood College: A History

The tone of Jean Carruthers' letters, however, belies the tension beneath the surface, which would ultimately threaten the Normal School's very existence. The problems began in the 1885-86 session, when the female faculty members were moved to a single residence instead of living in the dormitory with the students. This change may have been occasioned by the need for more space for boarders, or, what is more likely, because the relationship between the Matron, Mrs. Jeffress, who was in charge of the boarders, and Vice Principal, Miss Bush, who was nominally in charge of the Matron, was no longer amicable, if indeed it had ever been. As a result, the students were no longer ". . . under the immediate control of the lady teachers, whose rooms shall be suitably located in the build ing. . . all under the general supervision of the Vice Principal" (Trustees Minutes, September 17, 1884), and were considered sub ject to no real restraints on their conduct. The ". . . whole matter of regulating the Boarding Department was committed to the Princi pal, with the authority to hire a housekeeper or a steward"(Trustees Minutes, June 23, 1885), an authority which Miss Bush would later note as ". . .a factor liable to variableness"(Trustees Minutes, June 22, 1887.

In defense of Dr. Ruffner, it should be noted—as he did in his 1887 Annual Report to the trustees—that his all important obligation was ". . . the constant supervision of the teachers in all the various schools. . . The Principal who does this properly will have but little time to teach and no time to keep a hotel." The difficulty of his continuing to teach the courses traditionally undertaken by the principal—psychology, ethics. School Management, and Methods of Instruction—became too great early in 1886, when he was involved in planning and erecting the new building. Accordingly,in the fall of 1886, he turned over the methods course to Miss Celestia Parrish, who was already teaching mathematics, ". . . whose abili ties I had tested while she was a student. She had had varied experience in teaching school in town and country, and was exceedingly thorough in all she undertook" (June 1887 Report). Actually during 1884-85 while still a student she had been named an assistant teacher, and presumably had occupied the same position during 1885-86. The faculty minutes reveal, however, that she had been attending faculty meetings regularly, and her presence, even without a vote, could have caused some resentment. Although she was later described as a ". wizard at Math and a marvelous teacher"(Eggleston 4), her "colleagues," all seasoned professionals, could very well have looked askance at what may have seemed sheer intrusiveness on her part. Dr. Ruffner, however, who always

Farmville Female Normal School 1884

presided at faculty meetings, apparently had no objection to her presence. During 1887, she taught Dr. Ruffner's other classes as well as her mathematics course, to his high praise: "This leads me to say that, if in the arrangement for another session, a teacher should be wanted for the branches referred to, it would be scarcely possible to find an abler one than Miss Parrish. She will attend the Normal Institute at Martha's Vineyard this summer for special study of the Methods of Instruction" (June 1887 Report).

It is difficult at a century's distance to determine the specific reasons for the adverse reactions immediately following Celestia Parrish's sudden elevation in rank. However, reading between the lines of Dr. Ruffner's and Miss Bush's reports, it is possible to speculate that Miss Bush and others were annoyed at what they perceived as unwarranted favoritism towards a "junior," a not unknown reaction on the part of senior faculty members. And the issue may, in part, have been financial. Dr. Ruffner, in his 1887 Report, insisted on "high salaries" for all his faculty, adding ". but high or low, they should certainly be equal among teachers of the same grade." And the revealing statement follows, standing as a separate paragraph: "There is no reason, however, why the teacher of Mathematics should receive $200 less than the rest." A

glance at the Trustees Minutes for June 4, 1886 lists Miss Parrish's salary for the 1886-87 academic year as $600, while the other faculty members received $800. Miss Bush may have felt, quite justifiably, that despite Miss Parrish's assumption of additional course respon sibilities, long teaching experience deserved financial recognition. It is also possible that Miss Parrish was not above exploiting her situation.

By June of 1886, Ruffner had announced his decision to retire at the conclusion of the 1886-87 session. Clearly, he was tired of squabbles which he would ascribe to female jealousy; they simply did not interest him. The question of school discipline remained a problem, as he noted in his 1887 Report: "1 cannot say that 1 have been entirely satisfied with the discipline maintained, and yet 1 do not wish to make any comments upon it." And his final recommen dation was to abolish the office of Vice Principal.

The Vice Principalship has been useful, especially the first session and the older members of the board will remember that the office was established to aid me in the details of which 1 was ignorant. Now, however, no such necessity exists, and there are inherent objections to the relation. . . as respects the Prin cipal, as respects other members of the faculty, as respects the students and the affairs of the school in general.

Miss Bush, despite her public concurrence with the decision, would have had every right to feel hurt and angry. She had left the security of one position to come to the Normal School, and was now being told in so many words that her services were unnecessary. Her own June 1887 Report, dignified in tone, stated her position;she had loved her teaching and felt that she had been successful in it, and she might have supervised the boarding department with equal success had she been given the necessary authority. She then continued, "During the last session the personal attitude of the Principal towards me has changed from one of confidence and support to one of almost total suspension of our communication. . . 1 was informed that 1 had no duties except in the absence of the principal. . . while in the many and protracted absences of that officer, 1 cannot now recall any instruction given me by him." And she concluded.

In the most trying, embarrassing, and wholly unexplained situation. . . it is to the matchless credit of the students that even under this imperfect supervision there has been no

perceptible lowering of the school discipline. But it must be apparent that many interests have suffered, and that such a state of affairs could not continue without causing injury and loss. From this explanation it will be understood that my regular report of my general duties is impossible.

Miss Bush had already made known her decision not to accept reappointment, though she had been urged to do so, but there was a greater blow to come. The Trustees Minutes for June 20, 1887, include the following (undated) letter:

Gentlemen—

We the undersigned would respectfully and frankly state that we are not candidates for reappointment. We feel that the course of injustice and misrepresentation pursued by certain members of the Faculty has made it impossible for us to work in the same institution with them another year.

We offer our indignant protest against this course of action.

Respectfully,

Lillian A. Lee

Clara M. Brimblecomb

Clara W. Miner

The prospect of losing four teachers, all experienced and well liked, was devastating, and the board had taken prompt action. Three trustees—Jackson, Nelson, and Whitehead—were named a commit tee to meet with the ladies. Their report, however, recorded in the same minutes, stated that the ". . . differences were irreconcilable," and recommended ". . . the Board accept the declination of Miss Bush and refuse to reelect Miss Parrish. This would remove the prominent occasion of estrangement, and your committee hopes that under wise and impartial administration, the remaining ele ments may yet be harmonized." Accordingly, the Misses Lee, Brimblecomb, and Miner were again offered reappointment, but all declined.

Celeste Bush,in her "Reminiscences," recalled her last days at the Normal School:

With the last day of our three years' stay, we saw the school in full review. The buildings had been doubled in capacity and were still brimming full. For furnishing and equipments we could hold up our heads with almost anybody of our age.

Longwood College: A History

Standards of scholarship and training had steadily risen. The four Northern teachers, who had cast their lots with the school at its start, had never intended a lengthy stay, but they were not permitted to depart without convincing proof that they had done well (for themselves at least) to come. At the railway station, the conductor held his train for a quarter of an hour while a host of friends filed through for final goodbyes. When at last we pulled out, one, at least, of the four lowered her face into the great bank of roses at her side and breathed into it a sigh of thankfulness that she had known Farmville (1909 VIRGINIAN 32).

It must have been obvious, however, to even the most deter minedly optimistic well-wishers that the school had suffered a major blow,one of genuine crisis proportions. Certainly, the trustees were acutely aware that the Normal School could close down, and there seemed to be no immediate answer to the question, "What can be done to save it?" The trustees convened in Richmond on July 20, 1887, to consider possible solutions. One paramount fact emerged: there must be a new principal, immediately if not sooner. After several hours of discussion, a vote was taken and the unanimous choice on the first ballot was John Atkinson Cunningham, the principal of the Madison Public School in Richmond. Unlike his illustrious predecessor, Cunningham was virtually unknown to higher education, and many observers must have thought the selection represented an even greater sense of desperation on the part of the trustees than had been suspected. Cunningham, how ever, would prove to be the right person, in the right place, at the right time; he was made for the position and the position was made for him, as the next ten years would reveal.

Chapter VII

I.n the British Merchant Service, there is said to be a timehonored tradition that each captain must spend one hour daily in solitary contemplation considering a given possibility, and then answer the question,"What would I do,IF—?" There is no way of knowing whether John Atkinson Cunningham had ever asked himself, "What would I do //1 were to be named principal of the State Female Normal School?" However, the manner in which he "took hold" from the moment of his appointment argues that, as a public school principal, the appropriate and necessary education of public school teachers must have crossed his mind and more than once. During his ten-year administration, the faculty increased from nine to fourteen, and the student body from ninety-three to twohundred and fifty; the curriculum was improved, and, most impor tant, the course of study was increased from two years to three. These gains may seem small by current standards, but Cunning ham's purpose was to make the school grow "steadily but not rapidly" ("Cunningham Admin." 2). From the beginning, his an nounced goal was to"make character and develop the mind," a goal which takes time to reach.

Cunningham was born on June 24, 1846 in Richmond, the only child of John Atkinson, Sr. and Mary Johnston Cunningham. His grandfather, Edward Cunningham, had come to America from Ireland about 1770, and had ". .. made a large fortune by iron

Longwood College: A Histoty

works near the present site of the Tredegar Works, and by a line of country stores which extended from Virginia to Ohio" ("Biog. Sketch" 1). Thus he was able to provide every educational advan tage for his son; John Cunningham, Sr. studied at William and Mary, Harvard,and received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1825. He then studied abroad in London and Paris, and ". . . was entered at St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London under Sir William Lawrence"("Biog. Sketch" 1). Upon his return to America, probably in the late 1830's or early 40's, he set up his practice in Richmond,and married Mary Johnston, granddaugh ter of Peter Johnston and a cousin of General Joseph E. Johnston whose birthplace was Longwood Estate, just outside the boundaries of Farmville.

John, Jr. was "...a very delicate child, and received most of his early education from a French governess at home, gaining in that way a rare familiarity with the French Language"("Biog. Sketch" 1). An unsigned biography in NORMAL LIGHT, the Normal School yearbook of 1898, mentions that he also spent much time ". . . reading to his mother who was almost blind" (17), an experience which gave him a knowledge of books far beyond his years. He attended private schools in Powhatan and Fauquier Counties, and also New London Academy, in Bedford County. Then, in 1863, at the age of seventeen, he joined the Confederate Army and served as a private until the end of the war.

After his discharge, Cunningham entered the University of Vir ginia, ". . . where he was graduated in Chemistry, Latin, Moral Philosophy, Natural Philosophy, Pure Mathematics, and French (Language and Literature)" ("Biog. Sketch" 1). He immediately began to teach, accepting a position of Professor of Latin and Greek at Western Kentucky Military Academy in New Castle, Kentucky; and when the Academy principal. General Kirby Smith, was named Chancellor of the University of Nashville, Cunningham was ". . . elected to the chair of Latin"("Biog. Sketch" 1). Here he remained until the university, under the aegis of the Peabody Fund, became the Tennessee Normal School(now Peabody Institute). During his years in Kentucky, he had married Florence Boyd of Nashville, but she died, probably in childbirth, only a year later.

Bereaved, he returned to Richmond with yet another affliction, a "threatened loss of eyesight"(1898 NORMAL LIGHT 18), which he had endured since 1872, and would endure for another five years. The extensive reading and study which had been his life was no longer possible; this was probably the reason that he worked as a druggist in Richmond in 1877, before he was appointed principal of

Madison School. His sight may have improved by that time, but apparently his mind was so well stocked with mental furniture that he not only supervised but also "taught with great success"("Biog. Sketch" 1). Certainly he must have kept himself fully informed concerning the development of the Normal School at Farmville; and there is reason to believe that the trustees of the Normal School knew his background, both educational and social, because there was no opposition to his nomination. The delightful informality of his confirmation is also noted in the minutes of July 20, 1887; the board recessed, and.

John Atkinson Cunningham

Longwood College: A History

On motion, a committee of trustees Lovenstine and Whitehead was appointed to inform Professor Cunningham of his election, and to ascertain whether he would accept the same. Whereupon the committee at once waited upon Professor Cunningham and soon thereafter returned to report that Pro fessor Cunningham accepts the position to which he has been elected.

He was probably already known to people in Farmville as well, but, even if he had come as a complete unknown, his mother's Johnston connection would have given him immediate entre. His second marriage in 1887, to Martha Eggleston of Cumberland County, would have been a further introduction. There were several other factors in his favor as well. He was young—forty-one years old—^but not too young. He had had ten years' experience teaching in public school classrooms; therefore, his own educational convic tions were very strong, but the flexibility combined with the persuasive firmness which he exhibited from the beginning of his administration indicated that the convictions were not graven in stone. His genial manner and charm, especially in his dealings with students, were assets recognized by all who came in contact with him. He quickly became involved with the community; his name on a brass plate set into the altar rail of Johns Memorial Episcopal Church commemorates his service as a vestryman.

The qualities which most distinguished Dr. Cunningham were originality of thought, strength of purpose, sympathy, and a sense of humor. Of these perhaps his sense of humor was the most valuable in the management of the school, in steering him through the difficulties and oppositions with which his ideas and methods frequently met. Many a strained situation has been instantly adjusted by a laugh, a timely anecdote; many a girl has been turned aside from a course of action which, if followed, would certainly have brought her trouble, by the twinkle in his eye, a shrug of the shoulder, a whispered word, which, as by a flashlight, showed her the ludicrous side of her conduct("Biog. Sketch" 2).

Most important of all, despite the "difficulties and oppositions" which he would periodically encounter, he had not been on the educational scene in Virginia long enough, nor had he become "important" enough, to have made enemies.

At that same July 20th meeting, the faculty were named for the

coming academic year, and are duly noted in the 1887-88 CATA LOGUE. Only three are familiar: Miss Pauline Gash and the survi vor Miss Celestia Parrish, in charge of English and mathematics respectively. Mrs. Bartkowska was still in charge of the preparatory department. Miss Martha Couling, who would remain at the Nor mal School for fifty-six years, taught drawing, penmanship, and accounts. From Mississippi came Miss Julia T. Johnson to teach the natural science courses. A surprising appointment was that of the new music teacher. Miss Madeline Mapp,a graduate of the class of 1886, who had spent the intervening year at the Norfolk College for Young Ladies, acquiring "... a diploma in the school of English Literature, and certificates of proficiency in all her studies—includ ing instrumental music. She. ..is now only sixteen years old"("100 Years Ago"). Miss Virginia Reynolds of Kittaning, Pennsylvania, was named head of the Model School, with Miss Anne Blanton as her assistant.

Cunningham's concern to develop minds is immediately apparent from the entrance requirements noted on page twelve of the 1887-88 CATALOGUE. At first glance, they seem easier than those of the Ruffner years, listing only four subject areas—English Grammar, Arithmetic, Geography, United States History—as opposed to the previous six. However,"In addition, each applicant will be required to write a letter or composition of two or three pages on an assigned subject" (1887-88 CATALOGUE 17). Nor were the applicants in formed of the subject in advance. In the catalogues that followed, prospective students were provided with examples of the kinds of questions they would be expected to answer before being admitted to the first year Normal School Classes:

How many revolutions will be made by a wheel SYa yards in circumference in going 198 miles?

Find the simple interest on $575 for 3 years, 10 months, 13 days at 4 Vi percent.

Analyze: Go into Turkey where the pachas will tell you that their government is the most perfect in the world (1889-90 CATALOGUE 17).

Find the cost of 2,315 pounds of coal at $5.75 per ton.

What is the most direct waterway from Norfolk to Calcutta?

What mountain range is on the boundary between France and Spain? between Norway and Sweden? between Russia and

Longwood College: A History

Siberia? between Tibet and Hindoostan? (1892-93 CATA LOGUE 21).

Students attempting to answer the last question must have been relieved to read, "Only two of the four ranges required."

The first great advance came in the 1888-89 academic year when the two year curriculum was increased to three. The 1896-97 CATALOGUE records the reason for that decision:"The time [1887] seemed now fitting to carry out the views which Dr. Ruffner had from the first desired to embody in the course of study, but which circumstances had made impossible to entirely adopt" (23). The three year course had made possible ". . . two of academic work and one year entirely professional. The Model School was converted into a School of Practice, and every member of the Senior Class was required to teach daily in this school, her work being supervised by the several teachers of methods and by an experienced teacher placed in complete charge of the School of Practice" (23). By the 1892-93 academic year, the School of Practice offered instruction through grade twelve.

The course work, consequently, became more demanding:"Aca demic work was extended to cover the ground usually covered. . . in the best secondary schools" (23). For example, the 1888-89 CATALOGUE notes that the physiology course, in addition to what might be expected, would include, "The effects of alcohol on the different organs and tissues of the body" as "an important part of the work"(18). The entry concludes on a very practical note—"Such organs as the heart, lungs, brain, etc., are procured from the butcher and studied objectively." The sweeping changes had the full con sent of the faculty; as Cunningham stated in his June 15, 1888 report to the Board of Trustees which was recorded in the minutes.

The changes met with the entire approbation of the faculty who recognize the fact that [it] is injudicious to crowd into two years the work now done in that time, and inexpedient to carry on simultaneously professional studies and the study of matters as mere subjects of learning. This change will not involve any additional expense.

The 1893-94 CATALOGUE (the first in which Cunningham is named President rather than Principal) lists courses in physics and astronomy; for the latter, each student was required to keep a daily record book, ". . . in which is stated the time of sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset, position of the sun and constellations and the

slant of the sun's rays"(31). Latin was an elective, but most students elected it when Miss Minnie Vaughan Rice, who would remain at the Normal School for fifty-three years, returned to her alma mater as a teacher in 1893. The following year(1894-95) Miss Rice also taught German; the reading for the first year in the autumn of 1894 included Schiller's MARIA STUART and Goethe's HERMANN UNO DOROTHEA (CATALOGUE 30). The "Industrial Work" de partment in 1893-94 included shorthand, typing, and "garment cutting by measure"(1893-94 CATALOGUE);in 1894-95 telegraphy was added. Finally, although Calisthenics had remained a daily requirement, the 1893-94 CATALOGUE prescribes a definite regi men in "Physical Culture." The students met ". . . three times a week in groups of from twenty to fifty persons for bodily exercises. These exercises are not violent, but are intended to develop the body into grace and harmony, producing symmetrical growth and steady development of power" (33). The young ladies were enjoined to provide themselves with suitable attire, especially a blouse, in which ". . . chest measure should allow for expansion in breathing of at least four inches" (33).

Simultaneously Cunningham addressed the issue of "character"; his approach was to find the means by which the students could make character for themselves. His philosophy greatly resembled that of his predecessor; ". . . he felt it to be necessary to put each individual, to the farthest extent possible, upon her own resources; to have as few rules and as little surveillance as could be, consistent with his duty to parents and children; to teach honor and trust by trust, and to punish severely when this trust was betrayed"("Cun ningham Admin." 1). The 1887-88 CATALOGUE states the require ments in unequivocal terms; ". . . the good of a school for young ladies pursuing professional studies must be government suited to adults, and depend not on restraints but on the self-control and good sense of the students themselves. This is not a finishing school for young ladies, and not a suitable place for students whose character is not formed"(17).

Character naturally included deportment."Modest, dignified and affable behaviour is expected at all times and in all places, particu larly at church and elsewhere in public"(18). There was a warning: "Students are to bear constantly in mind that their personal conduct will be as seriously considered as their scholarship, in the estimate formed of their fitness to teach. . ."(18). Only one statement implies a recognition that there had been, or might be, a problem:"Any loss or injury to school property must be made good by the person occasioning it"(18). But he kept his word that betrayed trust would

Longwood College: A History

meet with severe punishment, nor was it administered unilaterally. The minutes of the faculty meeting on March 5, 1887, recorded that, by faculty vote, the father of one of the students ". . . should be informed of her conduct as directly violating the rules of the school, and be given the privilege of quietly removing her." One wonders what offense on the part of the errant young lady could have brought such retribution.

The Domestic Department, however, still was not in order. Cunningham evidently spent the 1887-88 academic year observing the situation, and by the time he made his first annual report to the Board of Trustees on June 15,1888, he had determined the source of the difficulty. The trustees had indeed abolished the position of Vice Principal upon the departure of Celeste Bush, and had appointed a Matron, Mrs. Portia Lee Morrison, to assume the responsibilities of the Domestic Department. Then, with that logic peculiar to boards, on June 27, 1887, they passed a resolution ". . . that a lady be elected. .. who shall be known as the 'Lady Superintendent' and subject to the control and direction of the principal and shall be charged with the supervision of the pupils in the Normal School. Their choice was Mrs. Don P. Halsey. Once again, the school had a Lady Superintendent and a Matron, plus a housekeeper. Also,some of the teachers were living in the same building with the students. Cunningham's statement,"The Domestic Department has not been carried on in harmony, the relations between the Lady Superinten dent and the housekeeper having from the first been strained," was probably a tactful description of chaos. He further inquired,"Would it not be well for the Board to take into consideration this whole matter. . . and see if some plan cannot be adopted which will not only secure harmony in the future, but by a reduction in the household will result in a more economical administration of the domestic department?" And he continued.

The putting together in one household of so many women of different authority—or no authority—or relation of subordina tion is another fruitful source of discord. 1 therefore suggest that privilege heretofore granted members of the faculty of boarding in the school be withdrawn. All of them cannot be accommo dated in the school, and it is unjust to grant to a few the privilege that cannot be accorded to all.

Cunningham's appeal brought both consideration and action. The minutes of the next board meeting on September 15, 1887, record a resolution to the effect that ". . . the office of Lady Superintendent

and the office of Housekeeper and the office of Matron be abol ished," and . . that the Board will elect a lady who shall have entire charge of the domestic department and the management of the young ladies resident in the school building under the supervi sion of the principal." The resolution also provided for the appoint ment of an assistant. Mrs. Portia Lee Morrison was named "Head of the Home," a position which she would occupy until her retirement in the summer of 1904. During her sixteen year term, she became a campus legend. Daughter of the Reverend John May Pleasants Atkinson (president of Hampden-Sydney College from 1857 to 1883), a graduate of Mary Baldwin Seminary (now College), she possessed the necessary firmness and graciousness to take immedi ate charge. After one year, she and her assistant. Miss Sarah Spencer, received the board's commendation (Minutes, June 18, 1888). The 1909 VIRGINIAN says of her,"It was her supreme aim to throw around the students as far as possible, the atmosphere of a real true home, where gentle demeanor, unselfish consideration for others, harmony and love prevail"(44). The lady also had a sense of humor and knew when not to exact a penalty. Mary Fitzhugh Eggleston in her FIFTY YEARS OF THE JUNE CLASS 1894, recounts the following episode in which she herself was involved.

I remember one rainy Saturday two of us went to spend the afternoon and have dinner with one of the town girls. Of course, the boys came around! When we suggested leaving, they all said, "Why go so early? Aren't you having a good time?" Each time we started to go there would be similar remarks. Finally our hostess whispered in my ear, "It's twelve o'clock!" Our anxiety was somewhat lessened by the boys saying they would put us in through the window. Only the high parlor window was unfastened. Just as the boys were ready to put us in, I had a vision of those two boys lifting me and my long legs through the window, so I rushed around to the front door and rang the bell. Miss Sarah let us in, wearing a very stern look on her face. The next morning Milton [who was in charge of the dining room] whispered to me, "Mrs. Morrison wants to see you." After hearing my explanation, she said with a smile, "Don't let this happen again." She was a darling!(3)

One of the more amusing aspects of the Faculty Minutes at this time is the occasional reference to "disorderly conduct" on the student's part, words which today would be considered an over-

Longwood College: A History

reaction to occasional loud conversation and laughter at inappropri ate times. The minutes for April 16, 1889, note the faculty consensus that . . stricter rules regarding silence will hereafter be enforced." Again, on May 15,"Hereafter the young ladies will not be permitted to walk on the front lawn during school hours as it disturbs the recitations." Of course, the students were expected to conduct themselves like mature young women, but sixteen-year-old girls could be expected periodically to forget. It may seem surprising that the faculty members should have concerned themselves with the problem, but clearly they viewed anything which interfered with academics as their problem. Indeed, faculty attention was given entirely to the raison d'etre of the Normal School—the preparation of young ladies to become the best possible teachers.

Although at Cunningham's first faculty meeting (he always pre sided and always signed the minutes), the faculty voted to meet only once a month on the fourth Friday (Minutes, September 14, 1887), by 1890 the discussions had become so protracted that "It was decided to limit the length of faculty meetings in the future to one hour, unless some point of special importance necessitates an extension of the time"(Minutes, November 12, 1890). By 1893, the weekly meetings had been resumed. Faculty members determined by vote which students should be permitted to graduate, a practice still retained at Longwood College. They considered graduation essays, class standings, student requests, and grades. Cunning ham's determination to develop minds is reflected in the minutes of January 21, 1892, where the grading scale is recorded:

99%, the very best mark.

85%, a mark justifying future omission [i.e., no need to take certain courses).

80%, a good average.

70%, sufficient ability to do the work of the next grade.

60%, showing unquestionable inability to do more advanced work.

50% and under, utter and complete unfitness for work of next highest grade.

By April 8, 1895, the standard was higher, if less explicitly stated: "Very good,90; good,80-90; fair, 75-80; poor, 65-75; unsatisfactory, below 65." The increasing number of the senior A (second semester) class made some restrictions necessary in determining who would read graduation essays; the minutes for February 19, 1894 noted that the privilege would be extended to only ". . . the best four writers,

as determined by the faculty." By 1896, the essays had disappeared altogether. An entry for February 26, 1894, will ring a responsive chord in present faculty minds:"The faculty are urged to use more uniformity if possible in their marking." Another interesting note from the May 21, 1894 minutes observes the tendency of students ". . . to indulge in too expensive dressing," adding, "The faculty requests that the entire school appear at Commencement in white muslins or other inexpensive dress made as simply as possible. It is earnestly requested that no one go to the expense of an extra dress for that occasion, as elaborate dressing is quite inconsistent with the aims and purpose of this school."

The kindly, watchful supervision of President Cunningham was omnipresent; no detail was too insignificant for his attention. It was said of him, "There was no department of the school the details of which he was not familiar with, and there was no girl or teacher he did not know" ("Cunningham Admin." 1). He was particularly sensitive concerning student needs:

His sympathy was broad and deep, especially for those struggling for an education. While he was president, the King's Daughters Society was organized, the object of which was to raise money as a loan fund for those who would be forced to leave school without such help. There was never anything in the school in which Dr. Cunningham took a more lively interest. It was for this reason that his friends have worked so hard to establish a fund as a memorial to him, bearing his name, which will go on doing that work ("Biog. Sketch" 2).

Thanks to him, two Peabody Medals for excellence in academic achievement were awarded to Zarelda Lucas of the Normal Depart ment and Virginia Ganaway of the Preparatory Department. With his approval in 1894, the Class Conversation Club began meeting each Wednesday evening. On October 12, the Faculty Minutes note his encouragement of a school newspaper. Apparently, even elocu tion did not escape his attention; the minutes for September 24,1894 record, "Because of the value of the morning quotation exercises in the Assembly Hall, it was decided to continue them through the present session. Mr. Cunningham requested that they be confined to selections from English classical literature, and that more atten tion be given to their delivery than was give during the last session. The year 1894 also included the following interesting entry in the minutes of February 19: "The University of Virginia's local exami nations having been sent to Mr. Cunningham, it was decided that

such members of the A class shall be permitted to stand them as teachers in their respective studies think proper. . . ."

Cunningham's leadership, and exertion, during his term of office, brought increased Legislative and Peabody funding, making possible additions and improvements. In 1891, the Farmville Electric Heat and Power Company was authorized by the trustees to provide the school with incandescent lights, at the cost of fifty cents per month per light (Trustees Exec. Com. Minutes, April 3, 1891). The acquisition of adjoining land brought the construction of "West Wing," now West Ruffner, providing the president with much needed office space and more room for the library located just across the hall from his office. Cunningham reported proudly in the 1896-97 CATALOGUE that the book holdings number ". . . several thousand volumes"(25).

A reading room receives, in addition to daily and weekly papers, about twenty of the leading scientific and literary periodicals. Due prominence is given to the educational jour nals. . . and students are referred to and required to make themselves familiar with the professional literature of the day as shown in these journals (25).

The same CATALOGUE notes the construction of the new ". . . Science Hall, with chemical, physical, and biological laboratories affording the students ample opportunity for intelligent and thor ough practical work in these departments" (25). He also mentions, with obvious pride, that the faculty ". . . now embraces graduates of Vassar, Harvard Annex [now Radcliffe College], the University of Virginia, the Peabody Normal School at Nashville. . . and Cornell" (24). Finally, with the purchase of Fleming House used for the School of Practice under its new name, the Training School, the Normal School now occupied an entire block. In recognition of these achievements and of his scholarly attainments. President Cunning ham was awarded an Honorary LLD degree by Hampden-Sydney College in 1896.

The 1896-97 academic year opened auspiciously and optimisti cally. Then on Monday, October 5, Cunningham was suddenly taken ill. By the next morning, both the family doctor, J. L. White, and the school physician, Peter Winston, met in consultation; their diagnosis was meningitis. During Tuesday, his suffering was in tense. "That evening he lost all consciousness and never again was in his right mind. . . At a late hour Friday night he suffered a stroke of paralysis which made it only a matter of time when there would be dissolution" (Farmville Herald, October 15, 1897).

Cunningham died on Saturday morning, October 9, 1897. The stunned shock and grief which greeted the news extended far beyond the boundaries of Farmville. Tributes to him came from across the state, and were unqualified in their praise. Former Governor(1890-94) Philip W. McKinne/s statement can serve as a summation;

The death of Dr. Cunningham is a shock to the State Female Normal School and a sad loss to female education in Virginia. It will be difficult to find another so well rounded in all the essential qualifications to take his place as president of the institution. He was doing a work for the school not excelled by any other educator in Virginia. I have never known a man more beloved of those around him or so idolized by the young ladies who were under his charge. Nor have 1 ever known a teacher more devoted to his work, or one who was so untiring in his efforts for their improvement and watchful of their every interest ("Biog. Sketch" 2).

But the greatest tribute that could possibly have been paid him may be read between the lines of the Faculty Minutes of October 11,1897, two days after his death:

With the sanction of the Vice President of the Board of Trustees. .. a meeting of the teachers was held this morning to make temporary provision for the classes of our beloved de ceased President. . . The school is so thoroughly organized that the instruction can continue in every department as heretofore, without injury to the school, for as long as the trustees consider it desirable.

The Trustees Minutes for October 21, 1897 concur: "On motion. Miss Virginia Reynolds, senior member of the Faculty, was desig nated to conduct the Academic Department of the school. . . and it was moved further that her authority as the head of said department be respected and obeyed accordingly." Even more telling is the following resolution passed at the same meeting:"Resolved: that it is not expedient to elect a president of the State Female Normal School at this time." There is no sense of the panic and desperation of ten years earlier, for John Atkinson Cunningham had attained the ultimate achievement of the truly superlative administrator, an institution which could continue to function smoothly without his presence.

Chapter VIII

W,hen the trustees met in Richmond on December 15, 1897, they had before them the credentials of thirty-five applicants for the Normal School presidency. The majority were Virginians, but there were also candidates from North Carolina, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New Mexico, indicating that the institution had acquired a certain prestige. Discussion occupied the entire morning and early afternoon, but by late afternoon, according to the minutes, "The ballot taken, Robert Frazer LLD, president of Mississippi Industrial Institute and College, Columbus, Miss., having received a majority of the votes cast, was declared elected and, on motion, his election was made unanimous. . . the Vice President was requested to notify Dr. Frazer by telegraph and to request his acceptance." That Frazer's "unanimous election" was effected by a separate motion was not considered important at the time, but later events would serve to recall it.

Frazer's record as an educator was a formidably successful one. He was also a native Virginian. Born in Orange County in 1840, he graduated from Dinwiddie Academy in 1856, and went on to study law at the University of Virginia. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he ". . . enlisted in the Rockbridge Artillery, Stonewall Jackson Brigade. . . In the campaign of'62, Frazer received five wounds;two at Kernstown in March,one in Sharpsburg in September, and two at Fredericksburg in December" (1898 NORMAL LIGHT 26). Dis-

Ucharged from the army as disabled, he returned to the University of Virginia in 1863 to continue his legal studies, . . yet there was ever present in his consciousness a sort of protest against it, accompanied by the conviction that his duty was in the direction of teaching" (1909 VIRGINIAN 47). The next year he was offered the . . chair of Latin and French in the Florida Military Institute at Tallahassee"; he declined, but in February 1864, having escorted his mother on a trip to Georgia, he confronted ". . . an embargo laid on all travel towards Virginia except for soldiers" (1909 VIRGINIAN

Robert Frazer

47). At that moment,the Tallahassee offer was renewed; he accepted and remained in Florida for two years.

In 1866, he returned to Virginia and opened a school for boys; then, in 1871, he ". . . bought the Fauquier Institute, a good boarding school for girls at Warrenton" (1909 VIRGINIAN 47). In 1873, he married Florence Spilman of Warrenton. Meanwhile, he had become acquainted with J. L. Monroe Curry and, in 1882 at Curry's urging, he ". . . accepted the presidency of Judson Institute at Marion, Alabama"(1909 VIRGINIAN 47). His five year adminis tration there resulted in enormous progress for that institution, but nearly broke his health—clearly he had never really permitted himself to recover from his war injuries. A three-year hiatus was necessary but, in 1891, he accepted the presidency of the Industrial Institute and College of Mississippi. "Here he remained seven sessions, making the school the pride of the state, though it had been the year before he took charge the subject of a legislative investigation which had brought much trouble and damage"(1909 VIRGINIAN 47). At the time his application for the presidency of the State Female Normal School was being considered, ". . . a Normal School had been established. . ." at the Industrial Institute and College (1909 VIRGINIAN 48).

The majority of the trustees had obviously found his credentials impeccable; that he was also a native son was definitely in his favor. There was, however, one drawback to his selection which was unanticipated in December 1897. The two schools he had operated, though successful, had both been private schools. He had had no experience with public education in Virginia and,in the words of the salesman, "He didn't know the territory." Nor did he realize, apparently, that what had worked at an Industrial Institute and College in Mississippi might not serve at a Normal School in Farmville, Virginia.

Frazer arrived in Farmville in February 1898. His first action was to tighten the admission requirements, which resulted in a small decrease in the student body (Trustees Minutes, May 13, 1899). The first catalogue of his regime (1898-99) detailed what students would be expected to know when they entered the Normal School. On the cover, applicants were confronted by the following statement: "Government by the people requires intelligence among the people," and on page 7 the material to be tested by entrance examinations was provided in some detail. Students had to demon strate.

The ability to read fluently, to write a fair hand, to spell correctly, and to express thoughts in grammatical English; to solve problems of moderate difficulty under all ordinary rules of arithmetic and to demonstrate any ordinary arithmetical prin ciple; to locate the principal cities, rivers, and mountains of the world, and to give the boundaries of any specified state of the Union; to analyze any ordinary English sentence and to correct ungrammatical English; to describe the leading events in the history of the United States.

Students seeking what is now called "advanced placement" might enter upper level courses upon successfully passing special exami nations in each subject.

Certainly academic excellence was Frazer's first concern; "If a student is found to be falling off in her studies or negligent of duty, steps are taken for her amendment.. . if one is found irresponsive to patient endeavors to bring her to the line of duty, her connection with the school is quietly severed"(1898-99 CATALOGUE 27). This concern was constantly reflected in the Faculty Minutes; for exam ple, a vote on May 8, 1899, decreed that ". . . 75% [of the grade] in English will hereafter be required in every class throughout the course." Another entry for October 15, 1900, notes the petition of a student to take ".. . Senior A Geography, 1st. B English, 2nd. A Nature Study, 1st. A Arithmetic. The motion was not granted on the ground that the young lady did not have sufficient intelligence." Whether the student was informed of the decision in so many words is not recorded; however, in 1900, college faculty members did not need to worry about being sued for lessening a student's self-image. It was simply assumed that students preparing to be teachers must know more than those who would sit at their desks before them. As the 1900-01 CATALOGUE enjoined, "Remember that successful teaching requires complete mastery of the subject matter of instruc tion. . . Let it be your chief concern to finish the course, not in the shortest time, but with the greatest thoroughness" (9).

Not surprisingly, character was also emphasized.

The school endeavors to uphold high moral and Christian standards, and to create an atmosphere of earnestness; for it is esteemed to be not the least important mission of the institution to send out young women equipped with a steady purpose to perform well and faithfully all the duties that lie before them—a

Normal School, Rear View, 1898

holy purpose to make the most of themselves that they may do the most for others (1898-99 CATALOGUE 27).

And while the Faculty Minutes do record some instances of "unladylike conduct" —for example, "Order in the halls was discussed. Dr. Frazer decided to speak to the students about this matter in Assembly Hall this morning" (October 8, 1900), and "Miss was reported by several teachers as extremely disor derly" (March 18, 1901)—Frazer's annual reports to the trustees unqualifiedly praised their general conduct. "I have heard of no unfavorable criticism, and their decorum and dutiful deportment has repeatedly been the subject of praise," he said on May 13, 1899. And again, on June 6, 1900: "The fine deportment of the students throughout the session has been the subject of frequent encomium, and it has received no word of praise, I think, that was not deserved. . . I have heard of no instance of gross disregard of the virtues that entitle women to deferential consideration."

There were, however, a few regrettable breaches of honor. The March 18,1901 minutes of a called faculty meeting record the case of a student ". . . who had been found guilty of deception and had in the early part of the year been known to cheat on an examination; it

was decided that Dr. Frazer should inform her that she should never be allowed to take the diploma of the school or to come back after this term." However, on October 21, 1901, Frazer informed the faculty at that meeting that another student accused of cheating, ". . . had made a full confession of her guilt in the matter of which she was accused last year. He stated that she had fully satisfied him of her penitence and it was decided that she should be given without reserve her former position in the school," thus showing that "mercy" could "season justice."

Although the students were expected to exhibit the mature and responsible behaviour deemed consonant with the vocation they were preparing to pursue, this expectation did not preclude recre ation and enjoyment. The graduation pictures in the annuals might be—indeed, are—those of very serious young ladies wearing straw boaters and "suitable attire," but the Frazer years saw a proliferation of clubs, reflecting every possible interest. One of Cunningham's legacies had been a ". . . flourishing Young Women's Christian Association" (1896-97 CATALOGUE 44), and the weekly prayer meetings and Bible study classes were an integral part of Normal School Life. (Indeed, until the 1970's, every entering student auto matically became a member of the YWCA.) The Alpha chapter of Kappa Delta national sorority was organized at the Normal School on October 23, 1897; the Alpha chapter of Sigma Sigma Sigma was organized in 1898; and that of Zeta Tau Alpha on October 15, 1898. The yearbooks list the various organizations with photographs, including the Bicycle Club whose members wore daringly short skirts over knickerbockers and knee socks, "Ye Select Moonshiners of Ye Old Dominion," whose purpose was left to conjecture, "The Seaside Club," whose motto was"We are the Only Pebbles on the Beach," and the Tennis Club. There was the German Club, whose members were photographed in beautiful ball gowns and dedicated themselves to learning the newest ballroom dancing steps and periodically staging cotillions. There was the Glee Club, directed by Miss Luli Ocilee Andrews from Lafayette, Alabama, a graduate of Peabody Normal Institute, who also taught Physical Culture and the History and Science of Education before she was named head of the English Department. The first basketball team was pictured in the 1900 yearbook.

Then there was Chi. Organized on October 15, 1900, its member ship drawn from acknowledged campus leaders, Chi's purpose was to commend, or not to commend, whatever persons, events or campus functions the members deemed worthy of either. In the early years, individual students who were not to be commended

Longwood College: A History

received a personal visitation from the white robed, masked Chi members, and heard explicit reasons for the decision. Over the years, however, visitations have ceased, the robes have changed to blue, and the simple statement at the Chi burning at the end of the college year—"Then there are those whom Chi does not commend" —^was substituted. Periodically, the strong suggestion is made that Chi be abolished, as having outlived its usefulness, but as long as freshmen at Longwood College anticipate the "Chi Walk" in their honor, the organization will probably continue. There is, after all, value in a near-century old tradition.

NORMAL LIGHT, which became THE VIRGINIAN in 1900, reveals that student spirit remained irrepressible, and that serious study could not obliterate the usual feminine interests. An an nouncement from Tri-Sigma sorority proclaims, "We, the under signed, do hereby record our promise that, as a class, we will present some tangible expression of our felicity to the member of our class who first leaves this state of single blessedness for the uncertain waves of the matrimonial sea; she being in duty bound to give us one month's notice"(1898 NORMAL LIGHT 29). In the same volume,"Love a la Mode" appears:

Arms will be worn around the waist, fitting neatly. The effect is particularly pleasing in the dark.

Kisses will be worn on the lips as usual.

The face should not be worn at all, but should appear without any evidence of care.

The size of a girl's bank account will regulate the sighs of the ardent wooer's heart, as usual.

Engagement rings should be worn only when the giver is present. Otherwise they might frighten away another chance.

The 1900 VIRGINIAN carried the following "Statistics:"

The average age of the Normal School girl is eighteen years old; the average height, five feet four inches; average weight, one hundred and nineteen pounds. Their dispositions range from vile to excellent.

Eighty percent claim to dance; twenty percent are engaged; ninety-five percent are in love; only three percent flirt (quite a model set), and ninety-five and seven-eighths percent expect to get married (15).

The final "expectation" was doubtless facilitated by the more liberal social rules. On Friday evenings ".. .friends of the opposite sex are permitted to call. . . Another privilege granted to the girls is that of attending church on Sunday nights with escorts. This is a pleasure not allowed in many schools, and it is consequently highly appre ciated"(1900 VIRGINIAN 5). A Mr. E. H. Richardson contributed a short article entitled "My First Call at the Normal," describing an event well-remembered by alumnae of any all-female college prior to the 1970's:". . . the servant opened the door and presented a waiter for my card, and at the same time exposed me to the gaze of a dozen or more girls assembled there in the hall by chance" (52).

But the academic program remained paramount. The quasihumorous tone of the "History of the Class of June 1898" only underscores the fact that the students did take their work seriously.

We all studied English. We developed a "composite critical consciousness" which enabled us to give in a moment's notice an account of Goldsmith's ethical influence, and the essential features of Hawthorne's romanticism. Carlyle might have en vied us. If Franklin could have seen us generating electricity, or could Herschel have heard us discussing Jupiter's moons, they would have stared in astonishment at the great wisdom dis played by the class of June '98(1898 NORMAL LIGHT 43).

The real test came in the ". . . professional year, when each student was required to teach actual classes to the exacting standards demanded by her supervising teachers." Criticism was unsparing: "Miss , you came before the class with a spirt [spurt], your lesson was a spirt, and you left with a spirt." And, "Miss , never in the record of the method's class has such a complete failure been made"(1898 NORMAL LIGHT 43). But the students did not melt or withdraw, and in his June 4, 1901 report to the trustees. President Frazer could say with pride, ". . . requests for [Normal School] teachers are already coming from both private and public schools."

There were also many additions and improvements. In his first report of May 13,1899, after a little over a year in office, Frazer noted that the buildings had ". . . been thoroughly cleaned and fumi gated," and that parts of the roof were not worth repairing,"... so should be replaced throughout." He requested the sum of $7,000 for a new gymnasium, because ". . . last winter. . . for nearly two months the students were enhoused by the unspeakable conditions of the streets upon which we are wholly dependent for our outdoor

Longwood College: A History

exercise." The library had been enlarged to the extent that a full time librarian was needed; the "Library Rules" in the 1897 NORMAL LIGHT may indicate an additional reason.

When consulting the Century Dictionary, don't use more than ten volumes at a time.

When a class of thirty are referred to two books, get out one of the books and ask your roommate to get out the other (98).

He suggested that.

The value of a department of instrumental music and the importance of its establishment becomes more and more appar ent. Music,for both its artistic and practical worth, is a study of no mean importance, and there is. . , a growing demand for it which the State Female Normal School should supply.

and he requested $10,000 to build and equip a "suitable building," noting that the students would be required to pay "modest tuition fees." The trustees agreed to the roof repairs, the gymnasium, and a $500 annual salary for a librarian. The music department was taken under advisement, as was the "suitable building."

Another suggestion in Frazer's 1899 Report was that the students be required to purchase their own textbooks. During the Cunning ham regime, the books had been supplied at a two-dollar rental fee, annually. Frazer strongly objected to that practice, saying,"To put into the hands of a new student a defaced, soiled and torn book cannot but have a degrading tendency as regards both her own aesthetic tastes and also her impression of the institution she is entering." His view was eminently sensible, but the trustees dis agreed. Nonetheless, he persisted, raising the issue in every report, until finally, at their June 4, 1901 meeting, the trustees voted in his favor.

But despite these and other improvements (on June 6, 1900, Frazer reported a $20,000 appropriation for the gymnasium, a steam laundry, and "an addition to the Main Building providing both rooms and an Infirmary"), there is a detectable, pervasive under tone of lessening cordiality in the relationship between the president and his faculty, and even more so between himself and the Board of Trustees. Because all involved were ladies and gentlemen, explicit details remained unrecorded in the minutes of both constituents, but growing problems can be inferred. There is a statement in the Trustees Minutes for November 10, 1899: "On motion it was

unanimously resolved that the places of all teachers of the State Female Normal School are declared vacant at the expiration of the present session, viz. June 7, 1900," which was amended at a called meeting on April 14, 1900, with an assurance that the November action . . does not imply that the services of none are desired beyond that time. Those who desire re-appointment are invited to make application with the President by the 1st of May." That some oil needed to be poured on very troubled waters is evidenced by the Faculty Minutes for February 1, 1900:

At the close of the meeting. Dr. Frazer requested all teachers having outside work to discontinue that work until the meeting of the Board. He stated that the teacher's whole time belonged to the State. He also stated that he had conferred with the resident members of the Board who heartily concurred with him in all his views. He likewise announced to the Faculty that he would ask the Board, at its next meeting, to pass a resolution requiring the teachers to give all their time to the school.

That the statement was made without warning or seeming cause, and that the trustees did pass such a resolution at the April called meeting, could only have distressed loyal faculty members, and, justifiably, Frazer would have been blamed for the inevitable tension and lowering of morale. On the other hand, the initiative nia}/ have come from the trustees, as the biographical sketch of Frazer in the 1901 VIRGINIAN seems to imply:

As far as his own decision could make it possible, it was his distinct policy to set a strong and faithful faculty far ahead of all other aims; and so he was never willing to apply to things material what should or could be used in exalting the character of instruction. If this lofty policy had not always the good fortune to find favor with his coadjutors, it can readily be seen that there was no occasion for it to cause him any disquiet of conscience (48).

The problems with the trustees ran deeper, and appear to have risen from what he saw as his principle duty as the Normal School President.

His four years' work was characterized by the same earnest ness and zeal, the same conscientious devotion to his convic tions of duty he had displayed elsewhere. . . His aim in the

Longwood

College: A History

conduct of school affairs was first, to provide the best possible advantages for the students; second, to offer these advantages to the students at the lowest cost so that the benefits might reach the greatest number. If, in carrying out these ends, he found it necessary to take a stand that might be misunderstood, he never felt he had the right to seek the easy path when a matter so vital as the proper training of young people was at stake (1909 VIRGINIAN 48).

He was an excellent businessman, but he was also an educator. In his letter of resignation, dated October 30,1901, he refers to his perception that.

This period of my service has not been wholly void of occasion for uncomfortable, not to say embarrassing suspicion of some lack of full accord between the Trustees and the President, that is essential to the successful conduct of school affairs. Encouraged by the hope that time would bring a better understanding, I have endeavored to subordinate every ad verse consideration to the supreme one of devotion to the vital interests with which my position is connected. Since your last meeting, however, I have learned of certain occurrences that lead to the abandonment of that good hope.

Again, it is necessary to read between the lines, but the final difficulty arose when ". . . a larger balance than usual was discov ered in the treasury," and, ". . . inquiry was made whether it was known to the President, the objection being stated that he would be worrying the trustees again for reduction in the charge for board—a thing they were resolved not to allow." The letter continues,

It was suggested that the steward, having made this money, had the right to spend it. That officer was then asked what he wanted, and the list of improvements which had been agreed upon in conference with the President was revised, and a number of items were added involving expenditures double those contemplated in the original list.

The board had evidently conferred with the steward and reorga nized the improvement list without Frazer's presence, or knowledge until after the fact, an action hardly calculated to create an atmo sphere of trust or collegiality. At the same time, the trustees held the president "to full accountability" for all financial matters, reversing

Normal School, 1898

a decision made early in Frazer's term that finance was the complete responsibility of the steward. There is a strong implication that, in their eyes, Frazer may have been misusing the funds, a suspicion which he could not brook. He felt he had no option but to resign, effective, ". . . the last of January, 1902." The trustees accepted his resignation.

That Frazer had contributed much during his four years is indisputable, and the achievement which probably brought him the greatest satisfaction was recorded by Rebecca Jane Whealton in the 1900 VIRGINIAN:

Though the State organized this institution for her teachers, yet until last year she did not accord recognition to her own work, but required Farmville Normal graduates to be examined to hold schools just as she did pupils from the country public schools. But Dr. Frazer worked hard that this should be otherwise, and his effort plainly showed the girls that their president is fully alive to their best interests, and that he thinks them competent to teach in the public schools.

He also instituted the "Junior Year," a third year of study before the professional year, concerning which Fannie Talbot Littleton, a faculty member, wrote.

Science Building

I wonder if the student who does not make a persistent effort to take the junior year realizes what she gives up. She has neither French nor German. She has but a slight course in Mathematics, no Solid Geometry, no Trigonometry. She has no Chemistry, and her knowledge of Physics is that confined to that offered in the most elementary course. She has some Literature, it is true, but a mere introduction to the subject. In short, such a student has but a bare foundation, and is fitted to teach only on the primary and grammar grades, while those taking the junior year successfully would be fitted for positions in our best high schools (1900 VIRGINIAN 7).

As a result,

... he [Frazer] procured official recognition of the School as related to the public school system of the state; the diploma of the Normal Course now being the basis of state license for five years, and that of the full course, either scientific or Classic, for seven years (1900 VIRGINIAN 7).

Another of his credits was the Virginia Normal League,composed of faculty members, which functioned as a placement bureau, a

sJouSaJhU

financial aid bureau, and an agency to maintain an alumnae net work. In later years, after he had become a Field Agent of the General Education Board, a position he held until his wife's death and his subsequent return to Orange County, all personality con flicts were forgotten. He was remembered with affection as ". . .a courteous, cultured, Christian gentleman of earnest and unbending principles, staunchly loyal to his lofty ideals of duty"(ROTUNDA February 12, 1936).

Ruffner, Cunningham, and Frazer had established the Farmville Female Normal School on a firm foundation, in terms of both curriculum and facilities. The old wooden buildings had been replaced by brick; the boarding department could accommodate one hundred ninety-three students. The faculty now numbered twelve. The School enjoyed an excellent reputation and its graduates were in high demand. The task of finding a successor for Frazer was quickly accomplished; the Faculty Minutes for January 28, 1902 record, "The faculty was called together to meet Mr. Jarman, the new president."

Chapter IX

T.he forty-four year presidency of Joseph Leonard Jarman really requires a full-length biography to do it justice. His impact, not only upon his own institution, but also upon higher education in the Commonwealth of Virginia, is incalculable. His first twenty-eight years, 1902-1930, saw the transformation of the campus from a single monolithic Victorian building to the graceful succession of white colonnaded, red brick buildings which is now Longwood College. The academic program was restructured from a two year preparatory-two year teacher training program to a four year college program with permission to grant degrees. The various disciplines were organized into departments; the number of faculty members increased from twelve to sixty-six. Student Government and the Honor Code, innovations at that time, were established, thus placing much of the responsibility for day-to-day campus life in the hands of students. Honorary societies, the Dean's List, and honors courses were created to recognize academic achievement. The years between 1931 and 1946, when Jarman retired, were devoted through the great depression and World War II to maintaining and strength ening the foundations so painstakingly laid, so that for many years after his death in 1947, State Teachers College was recognized as the finest institution of its kind in Virginia. All this success stemmed from Jarman's leadership, and his conviction that preparing young

women to be teachers was the most important contribution to society that a college could make.

Although anecdotes concerning Jarman after he became president of State Female Normal School are legion, published biographical facts about him prior to his arrival in Farmville are meager. There is a general consensus that he was reluctant to speak of his childhood, perhaps because it was an unhappy one, or perhaps because he simply wanted to maintain some privacy since, from 1902-1946, he was constantly in the public eye. Or he may have felt that those years were not important to what he ultimately wished to accom plish. One characteristic attributed to him and evident in his annual reports to the several governing boards of State Female Normal School, which became the State Normal School for Women (1914) and finally State Teachers College (1924), was his enthusiastic optimism which constantly directed his vision to the future. He also possessed that humility so aptly defined by the late Bishop Fulton J. Sheen as "Knowing one can build the best bridge in the world, building it, and then forgetting it and building a better one." The analogy is not exact, but substituting college for bridge makes Jarman's contribution self-evident, though building a college requires many types and kinds of "bridges" and their constant maintenance.

Jarman was born on November 19, 1867, at Charlottesville, the son of William Dabney Jarman who had served in the Confederate army, and Mary Goodloe Lindsay. His early education was in the public schools; then, in 1884, an orphan at the age of fourteen, he was sent to the Miller Manual Training School. In 1886, he entered the University of Virginia, having won the Miller Scholarship in competitive examination. That he did so argues a great dedication and commitment to scholarship, and the self-discipline necessary to study largely on his own to prepare for this first great challenge of his life.

At the University he concentrated on the Natural and Physical Sciences until 1889. He taught at Miller School for a year, then, in 1890, he was named to the Chair of Natural Sciences at Emory and Henry College. (Emory and Henry would award him his AB degree). Tall, slender, and handsome, he quickly established him self as an excellent teacher very popular with the students. On December 22, 1891, he married Mary Ellen Wiley, daughter of former Emory and Henry president Dr. Ephraim Emerson Wiley, a cousin of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who had come from New England to teach in Virginia. The young Jarmans lived in Wiley's home on the college campus, and it is impossible to overestimate the benefits that the twenty-four year old Jarman derived from his association

Longwood College: A History

with the experienced, knowledgeable, eight-four year old Wiley. The confidence he showed in even his first report to the Normal School trustees is evidence that he had acquired considerable knowledge himself as to how a college should be run.

Joseph Leonard Jarman, 1902

Ellen Wiley Jarman, 1902

Precisely how the Normal School trustees learned about Jarman is unknown. It is possible that a former trustee, the Reverend John Buchanan, with his Emory and Henry connections, had noted the young science professor as a "comer." It is also likely that the trustees, cognizant of the on-campus tension which had begun in the spring of 1900, and had culminated in Frazer's October 1901 letter of resignation, had been quietly looking for a new president. There is a very interesting entry in the Trustees Minutes for June 5, 1901, noting a call to order but no minutes. The next entry is dated

Mary

January 22, 1902:"On motion, the election of a President was gone into and, after a careful consideration of the testimonials of appli cants, the Board proceeded to ballot. After several ballots, a decision not having been reached, the Board adjourned to meet again tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock." And the next morning, "The Board again proceeded to the election of a president and, after several ballots, determined on the selection of Prof. J. L. Jarman, of Emory and Henry College."

Jarman accepted the appointment and within a few weeks he, his wife, and their five children arrived in Farmville. The Honorable William M. Neff, member of the State Board of Education, recalled Emory and Henry's reaction to their departure in his remarks delivered at the dedication of Jarman Auditorium on October 20, 1951, later published in the February 1952 ALUMNAE MAGAZINE.

I myself recall the high regard which the people of the Southwest felt for him, their regret on his leaving Emory and their good will and good wishes for him when he decided to accept the call to the post of larger responsibility at Farmville. It is, of course, fruitless to speculate as to what might have been had he chosen to remain at Emory. It is very possible that he would have become president of that institution and had a distinguished and useful career there as an educator of young men.

Very quickly the Jarmans established themselves, not only as the Normal School presidential family, but, equally important, as resi dents of Farmville. Jarman immediately became an active member of the Methodist Church and of various civic organizations; he would be the first president of Southside Community Hospital and a founder of the Farmville Lions Club. Possessed of a fine tenor voice, he sang regularly in the church choir and frequently was the soloist at weddings. Mary Ellen Wiley Jarman was charming, attractive, and, like her husband, an accomplished musician. Her great contri bution would be her direction of the restoration of Longwood House, home of successive generations of Venables and Barbers, which the college purchased in 1928 as a recreational center. An added historical interest was the fact that General Joseph E. John ston had been born in a house on the estate. Fire had destroyed the original Longwood House about 1811; the present house had been built in 1815 by Nathaniel E. Venable. With the active cooperation of Robert Carter Bristow, at that time the Normal School's superinten dent of Buildings and Grounds, the house was restored to its

original beauty. The extensive grounds were cleaned and the garden beds replanted, and the magnificent boxwood allee now bordered the grass instead of overgrowing it. A riding ring and a golf course were delightful additions, and the cabin was added for student activities. Ultimately there would be a sunken garden for outdoor theatricals and the annual May Day pageant.

Unfortunately Mrs. Jarman died on January 29, 1929, so she did not see the completion of her project. But from the moment it opened on October 5, 1929, Longwood House stood as a memorial to her genuine love for the college and its students. Nor did the students mind the mile-long walk for tea and Longwood buns in 1929. Later, however, that willingness changed, and after World War II, Longwood House became a tea room and a guest house. For a short time, it was leased to the Alumnae Association and later it was used for faculty housing. Finally, in 1969, after extensive repair and renovation, Longwood House became the official residence of the president of Longwood College. Thanks to the indefatigable efforts of Richard T. Couture, a member of the Longwood history faculty whose interest and involvement in historic preservation is well known throughout Virginia, it was designated a state and national Historic Landmark in 1984.

As already indicated. President Jarman's contributions fall into three categories: the strengthening of the academic program, the improvement of the student body, and the complete renovation of the physical plant. Of the three, the last is the most readily perceivable and can be summed up in one sentence: Between February 1902 and the 1904r-05 academic year, the rather ugly, utilitarian main building had been transformed into the beautiful front campus complex of today. Jarman favored the Jeffersonian style of architecture, and remodeling the present Ruffner and West Ruffner halls was the first order of business. The 1902-03 CATA LOGUE provides a photograph and description of the new West Wing (renamed Grainger Building in 1967):

On the ground floor there are six large classrooms. On the second floor there are six rooms used by the training school with adjustable desks. The principal's office and a nature study room are also on this floor. On the third floor is the library and reading room and three class rooms. On the fourth floor is a well furnished infirmary, thoroughly sanitary in its appoint ments, in addition to dormitories (31).

Longwood College, 1907

The CATALOGUE for 1904-05 notes, "During the past year, a large new building known as the East Wing has been completed. . . the entire ground floor is occupied by the new assembly hall."(East Wing was often referred to as "White House Hall" because it was built on the site of the old White house.)The second and third floors were dormitories. The CATALOGUE adds further, "By fall, a second new building will be nearing completion. . . In the center of this building is a spacious new reception hall with an arcade open to the roof and there crowned with a graceful dome, decorated on the interior with beautiful paintings, the copies of well known pictures." This is the present Rotunda. Eugene B. Malfonconi was commissioned to paint the interior of the dome: portraits of Jefferson and Horace Mann who symbolized the educational philosophy of the Normal School, and of J. L. Monroe Curry and William Ruffner who had been responsible for the School's existence, and inter spersed with Delsarte-draped female figures symbolizing the insti tution's four purposes—Study, Meditation, Recreation, and Rest. From its completion, the Rotunda, its staircases, and its circular balconies have been the gathering place for "sings," never more so than at the Christmas season when candles glow in the windows and a huge tree rises almost to the dome.

On June 5,1907,Jarman reported to the trustees that the following buildings had been completed: . . the middle East Wing, the three-story connection between this wing and the Reception Hall (containing offices for the administration and dormitories), the kitchen and equipment; the octagonal extension to the dining room;

The Rotunda, 1907

the old art class room has been thoroughly remodeled and turned into parlors; the front campus has been partially graded." But he also reiterated his concern that, "Our Science Hall is very far from being a credit to our State." The trustees responded at a called meeting on January 15, 1908, at which "President Jarman was directed to appear before the Finance Committee of the Legislature, to present the claims of the school for appropriations; he was also directed to ask for a $95,000 special appropriation for buildings, etc., and an increase in the annuity from $40,000 to $50,000."

Jarman did so, probably a few days later since the Virginia Legislature convenes in January, saying.

Our present Science Hall is a little four-room structure, costing about $5,000, built fifteen years ago and VERY poorly equipped. It was far from adequate at the time of its erection, but, for lack of money, was the best that could be done. A Science Hall should be built with lecture rooms and laboratories for Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Geography, Domestic Science, Manual Training, and Elementary Agriculture (APPROPRIA TION STATEMENT, 1908).

His request was for $35,000. Then, after mentioning the needed work on the laundry and gymnasium, and the need for proper landscaping—"... if any place should have attractive grounds, it is a girls school. . .", he continued.

The infirmary should be in a separate building; in case of epidemics (which will occur every year at a large school) students who have contagious diseases should be entirely isolated, and when an ill patient is in the infirmary she should not be where there is constant noise of students passing from class to class through the halls.

Cost of infirmary building

$12,500.

He noted emphatically that the special appropriation was also needed for work on the power house, and for fire prevention:"We have a large plant here, valued at $225,000. In case of a fire getting much headway, it would be impossible to save any part of the building. We should have a system of hose on the inside, so arranged as to have two large reels on every floor of the various wings. Cost of a system of hose for fire protection, $2,500." He finally requested two additional faculty members and a 10% acrossthe-board raise for all faculty, noting that their average salary was

$918 a year. The Legislature did raise the annuity to $50,000, but the special appropriation was only $54,000, a little over half the re quested amount.

The new science building was described in the 1909-10 CATA LOGUE; the infirmary had to wait for a special appropriation of $15,000 in 1910. (In that year, the Legislature voted an additional $67,000 for property, and the annuity was increased to $55,000.)The specific infirmary appropriation was doubtless the legislative re sponse to the measles epidemic in the spring of 1908; there were one-hundred-sixty cases and three deaths. As Jarman reported on May 29, 1908, ". . . we were on the verge of panic among the students," not surprising since nearly one-fourth of the student body was affected. Characteristically, Jarman went on with his plans; the 1909-10 CATALOGUE describes the projected facility. "There are to be four wards, several isolating suites, baths, diet kitchen, dining room, solarium, and convalescents' reading room, besides office rooms and apartments for doctor and nurses. .. near the main building, yet entirely apart from it"(15). Dr. Susan Wilson Field was appointed resident physician in 1911, and by 1912 the new infirmary was a reality.

Jarman's next focus was a separate building for the Training School, which had long since outgrown the first floor of West Wing. His report for June 3, 1912, recorded a special appropriation of $35,000 for a building on the Pine Street property south of the West Wing, which had already been purchased. What is now known as Hiner Building was ready in time for the 1913-14 academic year, and it was ". . . planned and constructed so as to meet the needs of a thoroughly up-to-date school, and at the same time to facilitate the training of teachers. There was room for the children to play during recess on the lawn at the rear of the building, without disturbing the Normal School classes.

It is interesting to note that never once did Jarman ask for anything for himself or his family. His March 29, 1906 report had recommended that a new house be built for the College Steward, ". . . at a cost of no more than $5,000," and on May 29, 1908, he had said,"Since the present home of our Janitor is a blot on the campus, I recommend that the corner lot adjoining the Cardwell property on Spruce Street be purchased and used for a home for the Janitor. . ." So when John Cunningham's gracious Palladian home came on the market in the autumn of 1908, the board directed its purchase for the president's official residence, and so it remained until the move to Longwood House in 1969. It is now the Alumni House.

That Dr. Jarman (he had received an honorary LLD from Hamp-

Longwood College: A History

den-Sydney in 1906) was able to accomplish so much in such a comparatively short time argues that his powers of persuasion must have been remarkable. That he enjoyed the full confidence of the Normal School trustees, and, after June 1914, of the members of the Virginia Normal School Board, is obvious, and this confidence carried over to his dealings with the Legislature. Nowhere is his persuasiveness, and tenacity, more evident than in his persistent campaign for the Student Building. Student life during the Jarman regime will be discussed in the next chapter; suffice to say here that the proliferation of student organizations, the activities of the YWCA, the honorary societies, the sororities, plus the student publications demanded, in Dr. Jarman's opinion, a separate build ing providing meeting rooms and a reception area. When he first broached the idea in 1911, the Legislature was, to say the least, "underwhelmed," and the trustees were inclined to agree. How ever, he cannily presented the building as a multi-purpose one, the ground floor to be occupied by the Physical Education Department, including a modern gymnasium, and the fourth floor to be dormi tory space. The Legislature agreed with the gymnasium and the dormitory, but two entire floors for student activities?

So Dr. Jarman appealed to the students. The class of 1911 responded immediately, as did successive classes. Contributions from former faculty members were appreciatively noted in THE ROTUNDA.The campaign was really launched during the spring of 1922. According to the Faculty Minutes of April 14, faculty pledges totaled $4,600, and the Committee on the Student Building urged that the sum be increased to $5,000. It was. The Alumnae Associa tion, newly incorporated, raised $40,000. The Farmville Chapter sponsored a benefit concert by John Powell, the noted Virginia composer-pianist, the proceeds designated for the Student Building.

Enough money was accumulated so that the official ground breaking could take place on September 9, 1922; there is a photo graph in THE ROTUNDA of November 22 of Dr. Jarman, his straw hat perched jauntily on the back of his head, his usual cigar between his lips, with his foot purposefully planted on the shovel. But money was still needed, and the town of Farmville set a goal of $30,000 to be raised by March 7, 1923. And the Legislature voted a $50,000 special appropriation for the ground and fourth floors. The Student Building, now French Building, opened in Autumn 1924. Many past and present members of the college community remem ber the social functions in the beautiful reception room, especially the YWCA reception which marked the opening of the academic year, at which young ladies in long white gowns took turns at

greeting the guests, serving the punch, and playing background music on the piano.

Only one near disaster marred the general excitement, the fire of November 17, 1923. Dr. Jarman reported on August 8, 1924, to the Virginia Normal School Board that.

About 5 A.M. on November 17, a fire broke out in the South Wing immediately behind the Rotunda which totally destroyed the dining room, kitchen, pantries, storerooms, cold storage, bakery, and the servants dining room, besides dormitory ac commodations for a hundred students. The origin of the fire is unknown. It made rapid headway, but on account of the excellent behavior of the students and the system with which the matter was managed, every student escaped unhurt and very little was lost in the way of clothing, etc.

The Farmville Fire Company did wonderful work;companies from Lynchburg and Crewe were telegraphed for but the fire was under control before they arrived. . . The people of the town did everything in their power to assist; the students were invited to private homes for breakfast; telegraph and telephone operators were untiring in their efforts to get messages through for them; the ladies prepared dinner for them in one of the churches; the hotels of the town were put at their disposal; the railroad put on extra coaches, and through all the excitement, the conduct of the students was worthy of the highest praise. By evening, they were all on their way home.

Jarman had been in Richmond on the night of the fire, and when he returned he brought Governor Lee Trinkle with him. In 1934, at the celebration of the school's fiftieth anniversary, his excellency recalled the occasion, especially the headline in one of the Richmond newspapers: "Farmville Normal School on Fire. Young Ladies Escape Scantily Clad. Governor Trinkle Rushes to the Scene," much to the audience's amusement(Draper 8). The new dining hall wing, built on the same site with a seating capacity for one thousand students, was opened within the year. A building called the Annex was constructed between East Wing and the Student Building to replace the dormitory space lost in the fire. Meanwhile, the already completed ground and first floors of the Student Building were used as temporary dining hall and kitchen while the remainder of that building was still under construction. The students remained at home for two weeks, which meant that only Christmas Day was a holiday that year.

Longwood College: A History

September 1928 saw the opening of the junior dormitory. North Cunningham, across the street from the Training School, the last construction of Jarman's "first phase." But his vision did not stop there. As land surrounding the campus became available, the Normal School purchased it, thus providing for its future expansion. The campus was beautiful; the students took pride in it. Dr. Jarman was well aware, however, that buildings, however beautiful, were empty shells if they did not serve their excuse for being, the highest possible calibre of instruction; and this he knew depended upon his recruiting the best faculty members. Fortunately for himself, and for the School, his own self-confidence and sense of leadership was so great that he did not need to fear competition. From the outset, he voiced his concern about scholarship, starting with his June 3, 1903 Annual Report when he said that the Academic Department (the first two years) of the Normal School was really on a high school level. Improvement was called for, and was forthcoming; in January 1916, the State Normal School for Women was granted the privilege of awarding degrees, and the trustees had authorized a four-year course of study leading to a Bachelor of Science degree in Education. Again in 1924, he felt there was room for improvement. The institution was now State Teachers College, and he shared his thoughts with the faculty at a meeting on October 7 of that year: "Now we are a college, we must be sure to keep our courses up to the highest college standards. . . He also stated that, as we are a teachers' college, we should teach not only subject matter, but the professional attitude, and stress teaching ability."

During Jarman's first twenty-eight years, faculty members came to Farmville, some of whom remained into the 1960's and are remembered with affection by alumnae. Already "in residence" at the time of his arrival were Miss Martha Coulling, Professor of Fine and Applied Arts, whose ". . . cheery whistle. . . and sympathetic understanding of a student's artistic failures" is recalled by Helen Draper, one of her students. Miss Draper also knew Miss Estelle Smithy, the only woman to have received a degree from RandolphMacon College at Ashland and a Phi Beta Kappa key; she . . was much in advance of her time, probably the first to establish the oral method in her State, and among the first in the country. Her old cylinder recordings and 'direct method'" are the ancestors of today's modern laboratory equipment and audio-lingual instruction of Longwood College. And of course there was Miss Minnie Vaughan Rice, ". . . a vigorous teacher of the classics." Miss Luli Ocilee Andrews was also on hand; she would become the first "Writing Across the Curriculum" advocate of the Jarman administration.

Jennie Masters Tabb was hired in 1903 to fill in for a history teacher forced by failing health to leave before the term was over, but her term in the classroom was brief, for she was quickly tapped by the president as his secretary. In 1915, she was named Registrar, a position she would hold until her death in 1934. She wrote the lyrics for the first Alma Mater. Carrie Sutherlin's name appears in the 1906-07 CATALOGUE as "Assistant in English." James Moses Grainger became a member of the English Literature faculty in 1910; in 1912, Miss Andrews having resigned, "English Branches" and "Literature" were combined, and he was named head of the Department of English and remained so until his retirement in 1950. He established two college literary magazines, THE FOCUS and THE COLONNADE, and was faculty advisor to THE ROTUNDA when it began publication in 1920. He also organized the literature honorary, Boerc eh Thorn(now Lambda Iota Tau), and he is credited, by one account at least of having suggested Joan of Arc as an appropriate symbol for the Normal School. It is a fact that the graduating class of 1911 gave the statue of Joan of Arc which stands in the Rotunda, which is still occasionally "decorated" according to the whim of fancy or of the season. The symbolic value of Joan of Arc as a spiritual inspiration was re-emphasized when the members of Alpha Delta Rho sorority decided in 1927 that a duplicate of the equestrian statue created by Anna Hyatt Huntington, America's leading woman sculptor, would be an appropriate adornment for the recently completed Colonnade, which connected East Wing and the Student Building. Much to the joy of all concerned, Mrs. Huntington graciously agreed to present a bronze copy of the statue to the Normal School, and she and her husband were present for its unveiling and dedication on April 9, 1927.

Leola Wheeler, who taught Speech and Dramatic Arts, came in 1911. She is well remembered for her presentations at the annual faculty Christmas party held at Longwood House. She is also remembered by her genuinely distressed exclamation, "Young ladies, ah am mohtifiedl" when students appeared on front campus inappropriately attired, defined as a coat over a gym suit. The CATALOGUE for 1913-14 lists Martin Boyd Coyner in the Educa tion Department, and Grace Eldridge Mix as supervisor of Kinder garten Education. Florence Stubbs was named supervisor of Rural Education in 1917, signifying an important development in the curriculum. In 1919, the Normal School would enter a formal agreement with John Randolph High School for their service as a "rural training center:" the program later expanded to include schools at Prospect, Worsham, Rice, and Curdsville. But even in

Longwood College: A History

1917, according to Jarman's July 13 report to the Board, "Our Rural School Department has grown considerably; it is absolutely neces sary that these students have both training and observation in rural schools. For this end, it will be necessary for us to own automobiles. I therefore recommend the purchase of two Ford machines at $375 each." Because of the Depression and World War II, the Rural School program ultimately had to be abandoned, but Miss Stubbs was already teaching Sociology. Faculty members who came to Longwood College, particularly from the north, still comment on

Jenny Masters Tabb

her inevitable introductory statement: "Now, ah'm not from Vir ginia. Ah m from South Cahlinah." Only time could reveal that statement's significance.

Mary Belle Barlow joined the Physical Education Department in 1919, and Mary Clay Hiner, whose sister Winnie was already College Treasurer, began teaching in the English Department in

'Joanie on the Pony'

Longwood College: A History

1921. The 1922—23 CATALOGUE lists Mildred Dickinson (Davis) and Mary Pomeroy Nichols as student assistants in English; ulti mately they became full-fledged members of the faculty. Helen Draper, Associate in French, began teaching in 1922, and in 1924 John P. Wynne was named Associate in Education. In 1926, Kate Trent was a student assistant in Kindergarten Education; her later specialty as Professor of Education would be the Teaching of Reading. Olive Iler, Associate in Physical Education; Thomas McCorkle, Associate in Chemistry and Physics; and Dr. James Walmsley, head of the Department of History and Social Sciences, came to campus in 1925; and George W. Jeffers was named to the science faculty in that same year. In 1927, Francis Butler Simkins arrived; he, like Miss Stubbs, was a South Carolinian but he became nationally known as a scholar of Virginia History. Virginia Bedford joined the Fine Arts faculty in 1927, as did Dr. Edith Stevens the science department. In 1929, Dr. Charles George Gordon Moss was ap pointed Professor of History, and Raymond Holliday French, known as"Charley-Hop" to generations of students, was appointed Associate in Chemistry.

There are two factors which must be mentioned concerning these faculty members. First, they quickly became residents of Farmville, as well as of the College community. They really lived, as well as worked, in Farmville. Of course, they were encouraged by the president's already noted precept and example; for instance, in 1934 when funds were being raised to establish Southside Community Hospital, he told the faculty on April 3 that, despite the Depression and salary cuts, . . all members of college faculties should consider themselves members of the communities in which they work, and they should feel that they have their share of responsi bility for the enterprises of that community." A second, very important quality of the Jarman faculty was their willingness to serve as mentors to new "junior colleagues" well into the midsixties. "There will be some things strange to you," Dr. Moss, then Dean of the college, said at the opening faculty meeting in Septem ber 1962, "but before you say anything, ask those of us who have been here a while."

Over this faculty Dr. Jarman presided, and their well-being was a concern equal to his concern for the students. In his view, the latter was totally dependent upon the former. He was pragmatic enough to realize that money was a major issue, and faculty salaries loomed large in his annual reports. In his 1908 presentation to the Legisla ture, he asked for an across-the-board increase of 107c, citing the average faculty salary as $918 a year. On July 19, 1920, he told the

Normal School Board unequivocally, "It has been exceedingly difficult to hold our faculties at present salaries and even more difficult to fill vacancies without lowering our standards." And he continued, "We are placing the best of this year's graduates at salaries ranging from $900 to $1,200, almost as much as the salaries paid our supervisors, most of whom are graduates of standard colleges and universities with good experience in addition to their training. This situation must be remedied. . . He frequently expressed his annoyance that other colleges were able to attract his faculty away from State Teachers College, just when their expertise made them the most valuable.

The faculty, however, were expected to respond by improving themselves scholastically and professionally. Dr. Jarman again led the way; under his aegis the faculty voted on November 20, 1902, to join the State Teachers Association (now the Virginia Education Association). In 1920, they agreed to form a local branch of the State Educational Association. Dr. Jarman's own professional involve ment is almost incredible, starting in 1910 when he began an eight-year term on the State Board of Education. During the 1920's, he served on the Southern Education Board, the National Council of Normal School Presidents, as president of the Virginia State Teach ers Association, and as director of the Co-Operative Education Association, to mention only a few. Faculty members were also encouraged to participate in professional organizations as their schedules permitted. The Longwood College Chapter of the Amer ican Association of University Professors was organized in Decem ber 1931.

"Faculty Governance" was a term unknown in 1902. A college president was expected to govern and to have the power of final decision. But from the beginning of his administration, Jarman involved the faculty in the operation of the institution. Faculty committees may seem to be a contemporary invention, but the 1904—05 CATALOGUE lists committees on Schedules of Recitation, Course of Study, Higher Classification, Entertainments, and Liter ary Societies. New Committees to supervise Training School Course of Study, Editing the Catalogue, The Annual, Athletics, and Chapel Seating appear in 1909-10, and others were added in 1913-14: Accredited Schools, The Library, Training School Bulletins, The School Magazine, and Averaging Grades. Dr. Jarman was an ex officio member of all committees, but there is no evidence of intrusion or interference on his part. In fact, the obvious trust between faculty and president is remarkable, a trust due in large measure to the faculty's being made to feel that their decisions and

Longwood College: A History

deliberations were important in the institution's success or failure. And failure was unthinkable.

Another move intended to strengthen the academic curriculum was the organization of the various disciplines as departments. The 190b-07 CATALOGUE lists fourteen, most of which still appear in the CATALOGUE of Longwood College. Only one. Manual Train ing, was disbanded after World War 11, and the separate Kindergar ten and Training School Departments were absorbed into the Education Department. Some departments were small indeed, num bering only one or two faculty members, but Jarman was looking forward to future demand. On June 4, 1904, he had recommended to the Trustees that a Department of Domestic Science be estab lished. The trustees endorsed the concept but the Legislature declined, though Worthy Johnson's (Crafts) name appears in the 1907-08 CATALOGUE as teacher of Domestic Science. By 1914, Jarman's foresight had become self evident; he requested more faculty members for what was now a full-fledged department. The Faculty Minutes for September 17, 1918 further record that, "Dr. Jarman stated that the junior high schools were being organized in the state and home economics would be a required subject;" hence more teachers would need to be prepared. On July 1, 1918, the Normal School Board had already approved a four-year home economics curriculum leading to the Bachelor of Science degree. With the physical growth of the college, and the increase in enrollment and widening course offerings, came the realization that greater demands would be made upon the faculty. What is now termed "Faculty Development" was a top priority for Dr. Jarman. Faculty members were urged to spend their summers in meaningful study or field experience, and the first faculty meeting of the year was given over to short reports concerning summer activities. A number completed their Master's degrees; frequently a leave-ofabsence with salary was given so that an individual might accom plish this. However, at a faculty meeting of January 6, 1931, Jarman confided his concern that not enough Master's degrees appeared on the faculty roster, and that he . . blamed himself, since he should have made it clear five years ago that, by 1931, we were required to have all our professors holding the Master's degree." In an era when the PhD has become the sine qua non for academic advancement, such preoccupation with the M.A. may seem naif, even amusing. However, it should be noted that the PhD as the "union card" was not demanded by the various accrediting agencies until the mid fifties, when—due in large measure to the post-World War II G.l. Bill—the Master's degree had become almost commonplace. In the

1920's and 30's, comparatively few men pursued the doctorate and even fewer women. Still less was publication expected, though Dr. Jarman did note at that same meeting that ". . . one way in which much prestige may be gained for the college is through productive scholarship on the part of the faculty; there are many of the professors whose tastes and abilities run along this line, and all they need is a chance to get the work done."

Jarman approached "faculty development" from yet another perspective when, in September 1910, he inaugurated a "Theme for the Year" approach for faculty meetings. Much meeting time was still occupied with the usual routine matters—graduation certifica tion, class cuts, absences and general discipline, but the president also realized that faculty attention must be focused on wider issues. The year 1910 saw the first attempt to study the place of good English usage in disciplines other than English, with Miss Luli Andrews leading the attack at the meeting of December 13 by saying, "Bad habits in English cannot be laid at the door of the department of English. . . English teaching is nullified by the indifference of other departments," and, "Every pupil owes to all his teachers as good English as he gives his English teacher." On November 13, 1911, she provided each member of the faculty with a copy of "Guides for Written English" and asked for cooperative effort and support in having students adhere to these guides in all written work. Four years later, in 1915, Mr. Grainger presented his colleagues with a pamphlet entitled "Directions for Oral and Written English in All Classes of the State Normal School." It was adopted unanimously. An amusing footnote is provided by the Faculty Minutes of March 16, 1916, when the question was "Simplified Spelling." The faculty agreed to accept maneuver and catalog if necessary, but refused even to consider adopting ritten, helth and tung.

Faculty attention was directed to every aspect of academia. The year 1920 was devoted to a study of the entrance requirements, and the final report of the ad-hoc Committee on Qualification for Admis sion of Professional Students to the Training School concluded that the requirements were too low, adding that, "This condition . . . encourages certain students to enter a profession for which they are not yet, perhaps never can be ready . . . and feeds into the profession weak teachers whose presence lowers professional stan dards throughout the state." The topic "What Constitutes Good Teaching?" was debated from the fall of 1927 to the spring of 1929. As might be suspected, all this "self study" had a purpose which Dr. Jarman revealed to the faculty on October 21, 1930; he said ". ..he

The Training School

had given much thought to making this a real Teachers College; it was because it is not easy to change a two-year normal school into a four-year teachers college that he had had the discussions on What Constitutes Good Teaching. That no administrative officer can make a teachers college, that all the teachers themselves must do it."

The only interruption in the college theme approach resulted from World War I. The faculty had already gone on record for American neutrality, and on May 11, 1915, . . had voted to send President Wilson a telegram expressing our confidence in him and assurance that he will do all in his power to preserve our neutrality."

However, when America entered the conflict in September 1917, the college's response was immediate, starting with the president's. Both he and Mrs. Jarman were on the executive committee of the Farmville Chapter of the American Red Cross; he served as chair man of the War Work Committee of the YMCA and of the United War Fund Drive. Faculty and students knitted, and rolled bandages; the students raised money for the Students Friendship War Fund, the Armenian Relief Fund, and the Red Cross, and, as Jarman reported to the board on July 1, 1918,"Several French Orphans were adopted by classes and organizations." He further reported that the YWCA ". . . adopted 'Y Hut 80' at Camp Lee. . . They have put up

curtains and shades, furnished pictures, plants, pennants, etc., for decoration and have sent subscriptions to a number of magazines and newspapers." But the war was not over for the faculty on November 11, 1918. At their meeting of December 3, 1918, less than a month after the Armistice, the faculty heard the report". . .of the committee to formulate a plan for the systematic study of the war. . ." All departments were to be involved in the study and were expected to address such topics as Geography, Governments of European Countries, Historical Background, Russia, Socialistic Ten dencies, Biological Effects, and International Law, certainly an undertaking that would "stretch" faculty minds above and beyond the classroom, which was precisely what Dr. Jarman intended.

In the 1980's, it would be expected that, after a period of such signal success in making State Teachers College's reputation for excellence, the president of such a college would move on to a higher position. But the announcement from Richmond in Decem ber 1930 came like a bolt from the blue, stunning the entire community. It is succinctly summed up in a statement in the Faculty Minutes inserted between those of the last meeting of 1930 and the first meeting of 1931:

On December 22, 1930, Governor John Pollard announced that he had appointed President J. L. Jarman to succeed Mr. Harris Hart(resigned)as State Superintendent of Public Instruc tion. Such pressure was brought to bear on Dr. Jarman that he, unwillingly, accepted the appointment. There was a storm of opposition to his leaving his present position by faculty, alum nae, and friends, and on December 27 he asked Governor Pollard to release him and allow him to remain in the position he has filled for twenty-nine years. This the Governor kindly did, much to the delight of all connected with State Teachers College and Farmville.

There has been considerable speculation as to precisely why Dr. Jarman changed his mind. His statement to the faculty, recorded in the January 6, 1931 Minutes, was simply that ". . . he had accepted the appointment unwillingly and against my better judgment," but that "sober reflection" had made him change his mind. Certainly the outpouring of alumnae and student objection to his leaving would have had its effect. At the January 6, 1931 Chapel Exercises, the students, throwing all decorum to the winds, cheered, whistled, shouted and sang "There is in Old Virginia, " and Alma Mater, ending with the rousing "What's the matter with Jarman? NOTH-

Longwood College: A History

ING! He's ALL RIGHT!" When they finally quieted down. Dr. Jarman responded in a single sentence:"1 had rather be here in this spot at this time, than any other place in the world"(ROTUNDA, January 7,1931). At that time, everyone believed him, and he never in the future gave anyone reason to doubt.

Nor is there reason to assume that he ever regretted the decision. His "sober reflection" probably included two factors. First, he was sixty-three years old, and the politics involved in the new position (he had served two terms on the State Board of Education) might not have appealed to him. Also, he was not a native Richmonder;closed political doors would not have been a problem because he was so widely respected, but would there be enough time, especially without Mrs. Jarman, to establish the equally important social network before he would be required to step down? The second factor, however, may have been even more important to his decision to remain where he was. State Teachers College was already feeling the impact of the Great Depression; the enrollment had decreased and money was tight. To a man like Dr. Jarman,a resignation at that time would have been tantamount to desertion. At that juncture in her history, he could not put State Teachers College in the hands of a stranger.

Chapter X

T.hat financial exigencies may have been the major reason for Dr. Jarman's decision to remain at STC is borne out by his state ments recorded in both the Faculty Minutes and his reports to the State Board of Education. (In 1928, the State Normal School Board was absorbed into the State Board of Education, which became the governing body for all state supported schools and colleges.) As early as December 17, 1929, he had candidly addressed the faculty ". . . with reference to the situation in the State resulting from the recent crash of the Stock Market which is reported to have decreased revenues by one million dollars for the next biennium owing to the reduction of income taxes." He said further that ". . . the reduction would largely be in the appropriations for institutions of higher learning, and, consequently, he feared that we would not get as much as we had hoped for." His July 16, 1930 Report to the Board stated that enrollment had dropped from 1,087 to 849; on October 30, he said that ninety additional students had been unable to return, because of". .. the drought and attendant financial strain." The situation continued to worsen; on January 1, 1932, he reported further losses: "On account of the general depression, and espe cially bad conditions which prevail in our immediate part of the state due to the almost absolute failure of the tobacco crop, our enroll ment is smaller than last year, the total for the quarter being 667." Then the blow, expected but dreaded, fell. In an April 1932 Report,

Longwood College: A History

Jarman made the following statement: "In order to balance our budget, we will need to make a straight 20% cut in salaries and wages of all officers and employees of the college, instead of the 10% required of us."

The faculty, however, had been prepared. The February 1, 1932 meeting had been given over almost entirely to money matters. After congratulating Dr. Simkins for winning the American Histor ical Society Award for his SOUTH CAROLINA DURING RECON STRUCTION, Jarman soberly announced that the Legislature had ordered an across-the-board 10% cut in all state salaries. He contin ued,"The economic condition in our territory is worse than in any other part of the State, and indications are that there will be a still smaller student body than at present. The Legislature has made no provision for our deficit, and although they have cut us to the bone, they expect us to absorb it in some way." He added that". . . a great many institutions are worse off than we are. . . there are Teachers Colleges in which the faculty has had no pay for five months." Dr. Walmsley, speaking for his colleagues, responded, "We are sure that you have done all that could be done, and that whatever is done hereafter will be the best that can be done." Dr. Jarman spoke again at the April 5, 1932 faculty meeting, proposing a 20% salary cut and that all share equally whatever revenue was available. "It is easy," he said,"to suggest that we drop 'So-and-So.' Suppose it were you? And it might be you." Actually, between July 1, 1932 and January 1, 1933, the cut for all personnel at State Teachers College was 30%. What the situation would have been without the presence of Dr. Jarman, and the general trust voiced in him so sincerely by Dr. Walmsley, can only be imagined. Certainly a salary cut was prefer able to losing a job, but one cannot but be impressed by the collegial concern and institutional loyalty such acceptance reveals.

The College survived, but the situation remained precarious. The Faculty Minutes for March 7, 1933 record that "President Jarman went on to say that we will have to battle it out with our next Legislature not only for funds, but probably for existence." But Jarman's favorite song, which he always sang for the seniors at the last chapel, was "Keep on Hoping;" and in November 1934, he launched the first student recruitment drive. A field agent was hired, whose salary was paid by faculty consent to assess them selves 2% of their own salaries to cover it (Faculty Minutes, October 8, 1933). Along with recruiting, the field agent was given the responsibility of organizing the loyal but loosely-knit Alumnae Association into local chapters, whose members could serve as a visible STC presence in their communities and also keep on the

lookout for good prospective students. Faculty members also con tributed as they could; Raymond French was especially active and was commended for his efforts. And their work met with success; enrollment in the fall of 1935 increased by 100 students, and in October, because of the increase, 5% of the salary cut could be restored.

In a similar situation today, students would probably be aware of every sober detail, but there is no evidence that students during the depression years were involved or even aware. State Teachers College had entered a new phase in the 1930's and there were changes noted in the CATALOGUE. The 1935-36 CATALOGUE was pragmatic and student directed: "The first thing a high school graduate has to do is decide whether or not he wants to continue on a higher level, in a wider field the kind of life he has led in high school. . . Teachers need as general a background in scholarship and social experience as do members of other professions" (18). And, thanks to a State authorization in 1935, there was a significant addition: "The teachers colleges in Virginia now offer the A.B. degree, which provides for an education in the liberal arts like that offered by the liberal arts colleges"(19). Thus, a young woman who might not feel that teaching was her vocation could ". . . prepare herself for graduate work in the universities; select courses that will lead to social welfare work; select courses that meet the require ments for advanced work in library science." Should she decide after two years that she did want to teach, ". . . she may, if she chooses, take as electives courses in education and directed teaching leading to the Collegiate Professional Certificate and teaching in the secondary schools" (58).

Nowhere were the CATALOGUE changes more evident than in the section concerning "Discipline;" the 1903-04 CATALOGUE statement echoes those of the previous generations:

Beyond the expectation that the life of our students shall conform to the requirements of promptness and fidelity in duty, and exhibit the gentleness of demeanor and considerate regard for others which denotes refined womanhood, we have no rules. This does not mean, however, that the girls are absolutely without restrictions with opportunity to turn freedom into license. It is the sole duty of the able head of the home. . . to keep in close contact with the daily life of the pupils, to know where they are and what they are doing, and to provide suitable chaperonage whenever necessary. . . When there appears oc casion for admonition, it is faithfully given. . . A young person

Longwood College: A History

who does not show some disposition to conform to high standards can hardly be considered good material for making a teacher; and, so, if one is found irresponsive to patient endeav ors to bring her to the line of duty, her connection with the school is quietly severed (17).

Since most of the students, upon their agreement to teach for two years in the public schools of Virginia after graduation, were attending STC tuition-free, they were expected to recognize the privilege accorded them, and to act responsibly. Should they not, the trustees authorized the following action, also stated in the CATALOGUE:"If, in the judgment of the President, it shall at any time appear that a student is not making proper use of the advantages which the State offers. .. or that her influence is in any way prejudicial to the interests of the institution, or to her fellow students, it shall be his duty to proclaim her place vacant" (7).

In the 1935-56 CATALOGUE, however, "Discipline" was re placed by "Citizenship Requirements" and the tone was markedly different.

The long tradition manifested in the cooperative spirit of the administration, the faculty, and the student body makes strict rules and regulations almost obsolete. Most students appreciate the privileges and opportunities which the State has generously provided them and conduct themselves as becomes citizens who wish to make the best of their opportunities and allow others to make the best of theirs.

The Head of the Home Department and her assistants keep in touch with the daily life of the students, and provide for proper chaperonage when necessary. Whenever a student is found failing in her work, neglecting her duty or exercising an unwholesome influence on others, every effort is made to diagnose the case and save her for herself, for her parents and friends, and for the State. No student can be suspended or expelled by the student government without the approval of the president of the college (26).

The Head of the Home was Miss Mary White Cox, daughter of Benjamin Cox, the Business Manager, who had joined the Home Department under the aegis of Mrs. Portia Lee Morrison. "Miss Mary" had served as Assistant Head until her appointment as Head in 1911, and her continued presence until her retirement in 1944 guaranteed that the same standard of good manners, good breed-

ing, and honorable behaviour would be maintained. Generations of STC students recall her as a "lovely lady" who was greatly admired and loved, but who did not hesitate to reprimand "unladylike conduct," defined as any word or action on a student's part which could bring discredit to her school.

The faculty were also involved in the issue of student deportment as it reflected on the College's reputation. Prospective graduates were minutely, rigorously reviewed. From the beginning of the Jarman presidency, the Training School faculty met once a month to

V#- fe,'

Mary White Cox

Longwood College: A History

discuss each student's progress, so that any problems could be identified early and, if possible, solved. The minutes for May 29, 1903, for example, indicate how detailed that scrutiny was: is considered a faithful student, but incapable of planning lessons. lacks the teacher spirit, is a very poor disciplinarian, does not prepare her work well. shows poise and considerable improvement, but she shows lack of scholarship. has passed the State examination in English grammar, but after the fifth trial.

None of these young ladies graduated! That character was an issue as well as competence, is evident from the minutes of the faculty meeting of November 11, 1911:"Dr. Stone raised the question as to the advisability of graduating certain types of girls and said he thought of her as belonging to the type of girl we should not graduate." No further explanation was forthcoming, nor was it needed—everyone just knew. Though one wonders how the young professor came by his knowledge?

Major efforts were made, however, to prevent these extremities. Progress reports for every student in every course were filed in the president's office by every teacher twice a month. In 1913, a formal faculty advisory system was instituted, and in 1916 Dr. Jarman appointed a "Committee on Delinquent Students"—delinquent de fined as ". . . a student who for any reason is not doing well in her work, is not doing herself justice." The report was presented at the May 29, 1917 faculty meeting, and contained a number of conclu sions and recommendations, some of which provoke a strong sense of deja-vii. One hundred and fourteen students were found delin quent because of ". . . native inability, inferior previous training, poor health, absence,lack of application, moral weakness. . . and all were students whom the president had already taken in hand." Several other causes were advanced, such as the difficulty experi enced by some students in adjusting to . . new living conditions, new standards, conduct on a higher plane," and also to ". . unplanned and unsupervised study periods, unstudious room mates, dormitory visiting, large classes, professional type of work, our grading system."

Faculty responsibility was also noted: their ". . . failure to provide adequate help in such adjustment and in the establishment of such standards. . .." One recommendation was that more effort be made

to ensure that the students and faculty members get to know the "new girls" as quickly as possible. Another was that each "new girl" work out a study schedule with her advisor. The report concluded, "That the present moral standards of the school are not as high as they should be and can be improved to our advantage; that a number of our weaker girls could with sufficient help and the removal of undesirable influences be enabled to do average work, and that some who fail might be saved." One faculty action was called for and passed unanimously: "That the faculty shall recom mend by two-thirds vote that any student whose conduct reflects discredit on the institution or jeopardizes the moral welfare of others in the school shall be suspended for any period it should deem wise."

The question of character formation, especially for the freshmen, was raised periodically during the Jarman years. As late as May 1945, the faculty discussed establishing a freshman orientation course to be taught weekly by the Dean of Women during the fall and winter semester. No action was taken, however, because the faculty could not agree whether or not such a course should receive credit. The emphasis on character may ring strangely in the 1980's, but the concept that professional performance could be divorced from personal conduct—i.e.,"I do my job and my private life is my own"—was completely foreign to the mind-set of the 1930's. The students at STC were preparing to teach and, therefore, inevitably to be role models for their students. It was considered imperative that their standards and values be, if possible, higher than those de manded of others.

And those students who did achieve high standards both academ ically and personally were rewarded. The honorary society Pi Kappa Omega was organized in 1918,".. . in recognition of scholarship, character, and leadership" (1920-21 CATALOGUE), and the "Joan Circle" of Alpha Delta Rho, the honorary fraternity for leadership, was founded in 1926 with Ellen Glasgow and Anna Hyatt Huntington as honorary members(1926 VIRGINIAN).(Pi Kappa Omega was incorporated into the national fraternity Kappa Delta Pi in 1928, and Alpha Delta Rho was similarly incorporated into Alpha Kappa Gamma, until its metamorphosis into Geist.) The Delta Chapter of Alpha Phi Sigma was established in 1930 to honor high scholarship, and the Gamma chapter of Pi Gamma Mu, the national social sciences honor society, was organized in 1927. The two debating clubs merged to become Alpha Chapter of Pi Kappa Delta, the national honorary forensic society. Sigma Pi Rho, the Latin honorary society, came to the campus in 1929, and Beta Pi Theta, the French

Longivood College: A History

honorary,in 1930. The Mathematics Club was also organized in 1930 and listed eighty-five members (1931 VIRGINIAN).

It may seem that STC was an institution rigidly controlled, both academically and socially, by the president and the faculty, but nothing could be further from the truth. One of Dr. Jarman's greatest convictions was the need for cooperation among all members of the college community, a theme he constantly stressed in his chapel talks. But cooperation,for him, meant a concomitant respon sibility. On May 30, 1911, he informed the trustees that, after a year of deliberation, "Student Government had been instituted and put on trial this year." Elected student officers were made responsible for seeing that rules and standards were obeyed and upheld. As the need arose, the House Council was organized to take care of residence hall problems, and the Freshman Commission to provide student assistance to new students was instituted. On May 30,1930, student representatives were invited to a faculty meeting to discuss the proposed Honor Code. The Honor Code has since undergone many revisions; the version in the present STUDENT HANDBOOK spells out specific violations in far greater detail than did the original, but in 1930 there was a more general understanding of what honor entails. One provision of the original code would probably not stand up today under the present legal system: "Therefore every student should be careful to avoid all appearance of questionable conduct. Any student who is so careless as to place herself in any such situation is not justified in resenting her conduct being questioned," but it might be reinstituted to advantage. The formal signing of the Honor Code Pledge is still an important part of freshman orientation. The Honor Board was a natural consequence; its elected members were responsible for seeing that the Code was strictly observed and to deal with any infractions. Students looked upon election to any of these organizations as an honor, as they did their election to the honorary societies. The cultivation of academic excellence and leadership qualities were emphasized throughout Jarman's forty-four years.

There was ample opportunity to demonstrate leadership, for the number of student organizations was astonishing. Many were inspired by the students themselves; some had serious purposes and others were for enjoyment. The year 1903 saw "The fact of the organization of a Dramatic Club among the girls. . ." (Faculty Minutes, November 24). The 1903-04 CATALOGUE records the organization of two literary societies, the Argus and the Cunning ham ". . . to arouse and encourage literary and social instincts." During the 1904^05 academic year, the Cunningham Society studied

southern writers (1905 VIRGINIAN). The Athletic Association was organized in 1907; the College had long enjoyed a basketball team, and now there were two tennis societies, the Skimmers and the Racket Raisers. There was also a Leap Year Fishing Club, but the variety of fish is not specified. Two more literary societies, the Athenian and the Peirian, were established in 1908, as were two foreign language clubs, the Deutscher Sprachverein and the Republique Francais. El Circulo Espanol was added in 1925.

Then there were the new sororities: Alpha Sigma Alpha (1902), Delta Sigma Chi(1919), Mu Omega (1911), Delta Kappa (1912), and Zeta Tau (1920). The sororities were both social and service oriented; some supported scholarships and loan funds. There were also clubs reflecting special interests such as the Kodak Club, whose members were pictured in the 1906 VIRGINIAN in long skirts and straw boaters, each purposefully holding her Brownie. There was also an Anti-Matrimonial Mutual Tontine Benefit Association with its motto, "Tis better to have loved and lost than to be married and bossed." The first school orchestra is pictured in the 1925 VIRGIN IAN, together with the photograph of the Sensational Syncopators—piano, violin, mandolin, ukulele, and drum; these musicians had bobbed hair and wore white trousers. By 1927, the xylophone had been added, and the freshmen had an "orchestra" of their own, including all the above-mentioned instruments plus two on Kazoo. Early in Jarman's administration, clubs were organized which drew students from different cities and localities together—Albemarle, Lynchburg, Portsmouth, Southwest Virginia, Northern Neck, Richmond, Roanoke, and Nottoway, to mention only a few. There was the Granddaughters Club, for daughters and grand daughters of students who had graduated from STC. There were also "secret" societies such as the Imps, and the Dummy Club with the faculty listed en masse as "Honorary Dummies." And over and above all these groups and their individual activities, there were the college-wide events in which the entire student body could be involved. Alpha Kappa Gamma organized Circus(now Oktoberfest) every October; the Cotillion Club held two formal balls a year; the YWCA staged the annual Christmas pageant in which one of the students was elected to portray the Madonna; and the May Day pageant, climaxed by the crowning of the May Queen, was an eagerly anticipated occasion. Athletic events occupied the weekends and nobody went home. There was simply too much going on that no one wanted to miss, and the students worked zealously to maintain the overall C+ or better average which was required for participation.

The president and the faculty maintained a watchful and con cerned eye on all these proceedings, especially as new campus traditions evolved. The 1930's brought "Ratting," a raucous form of freshman initiation presided over by the sophomores attired like nightmares out of a Charles Adams cartoon; for a week, the freshmen were required to do whatever the sophomores demanded. "Napkin-waving" in the dining room, water battles in the dorms, and the periodic "stampede" when students would race from West Wing through the Rotunda to the Student Building and back were a far cry from the dignified out-of-class deportment demanded by the past. At the April 14, 1944 faculty meeting,"Mr. Grainger, on behalf

James Moses Grainger

of the Committee on the Faculty Handbook, presented a series of questions concerning the relation between student activities and student studies, mentioning secret and anonymous groups, respon sibility of student government, horseplay in the classrooms, the appor tionment of student activities and Faculty guidance of Student Clubs." Delicacy probably forbade his mentioning the fact(sworn to by several Hampden-Sydney alumni) that certain young ladies, having applied leg make-up, would hang their legs out of the windows to dry, certainly providing an interesting and enjoyable prospect for observation.

The College enrollment continued to increase and so did the number of faculty members. Dr. Edgar Johnson, in 1930, and Dr. Floyd Swertfeger, in 1940, joined the Department of Education. Norman Myers came to the Commercial Department in 1941; as the 1942 VIRGINIAN soberly noted, "Never has there been a greater demand for stenographers, secretaries, and bookkeepers than today because of the increase in defense organization and the vacancies left by men now in the armed services" (20). Still, the sudden growth of what would be named the Department of Business Education (1944) caused concern. At the November 14, 1941 faculty meeting, Mr. Grainger ". . . expressed the fear that the College might be diverted from its original purpose of training teachers and made into a commercial school. . . ." Dr. Jarman responded that, . . . he had opposed the changing of the names of Virginia's teachers' colleges, the abolition of the two-year teachingtraining program, and other policies which tended to divert these institutions from the primary purpose of training teach ers, but that measures making these institutions into four-year colleges has been adopted, and that the expansion of the commercial department was part of this policy. . . He welcomes the presence of commercial students as a means of sustaining the enrollment of the College.

The issue concerning the relative importance of the various depart ments, embodying as they did different emphases on the vocational and the academic, has been a recurrent one to the present day.

Increased enrollment also meant a need for enlarged facilities and, with the establishment of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the first Franklin D. Roosevelt administration, came the possibility of outside funding. Dr. Jarman immediately applied, and the Student Building swimming pool, the best such college facility in Virginia, was a reality on October 13, 1934. Even more important, as

Longwood College: A History

Dr. Jarman informed the faculty on December 15, 1936, the WPA funds for a library and a dormitory had been approved in Rich mond,". . . and now needs only Presidential approval to become effective." Additional funding for the library was supplied by the Carnegie Corporation of New York City; State Teachers College at Farmville was one of the twenty-nine colleges nation-wide to receive a Carnegie grant and the only one in Virginia. The library, later named in honor of President Dabney Stuart Lancaster, was com pleted in September 1939, the hundredth anniversary year. The dormitory, now known as Main Cunningham, opened in time for the 1940 fall semester.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and America's immediate declaration of war,first against Japan and then against the Axis powers, abruptly changed the focus of the students at STC. Not that they had been unaware of the conflict in Europe; week after week, the ROTUNDA published "Gleanings," a column written either by a faculty member or the student editor, giving the latest information and its implications for this country. A guest editorial by Dr. James Walmsley appeared in the October 1, 1941 issue, reminding students that their education was more important than ever because,"The college student. . . should be a more loyal citizen than the average citizen because he more fully understands what democracy means." Student editorials stressed the need for cooperation, restraint, and sacrifice: "The younger generation. . . has had an easy life and has no idea of what is ahead," was the warning on December 10, 1941, three days after Pearl Harbor. On December 17, students were reminded that European college stu dents were "war victims" and urged contributions to the World Service Student Fund. On March 11, 1942, there was a call for more student commitment to civilian defense:

In brief, let's get going. We can spend many hours formulat ing programs but unless each of us resolves to sacrifice our selves, then the entire program is merely a straw in the wind. We must not content ourselves to maintain our present level. We must do that and more too.

In other words—

Let's have more blackouts and less backouts.

A second editorial urged the regular purchase of Defense Stamps to help to pay for the war:"Start buying Defense Stamps today. Start buying them regularly. And do not waver from your course."

It is, regrettably, difficult for today's students to understand, much less identify with, the sustained patriotism which existed on STC campus—and on almost all college campuses—during the war years. It is probably even more difficult for them to understand why Farmville and STC felt a need for air raid wardens and a bomb shelter in the basement of West Wing. However, German subma rines were in the Atlantic, and the military installations at Hampton Roads and Norfolk were not all that far away. Nor was Washington, D.C. Blackouts had to be scrupulously observed and air raid drills were routinely executed. Much of the initiative was taken by the students, for Dr. Jarman could not supply the energetic leadership he had displayed in 1917. In 1941, he was seventy-four years old, and his health was no longer good. Successive photographs taken of him reveal the visible stress he had sustained as president for nearly forty years. The red rose continued to ornament his lapel, the famous cigar was seldom absent, and his smile and urbanity had not altered, but his hair was white and he walked with a cane. His mental acumen had not diminished, but he could no longer be an active participant. He continued, however, to be a presence to whom his "girls" rallied and responded.

"What can we do to win the war?" was the all-important question for the next four years. Early in 1942, the College War Council, composed of the presidents of all campus organizations, was formed to coordinate the projects and activities which had become the focus of student life. War-time restrictions became a part of that life very quickly; the May 6, 1942 issue of the ROTUNDA records sugar and gasoline rationing, and students were urged to travel by train as little as possible—"Is this trip necessary?" Going home for Christ mas was considered so, but a weekend at the University was definitely not. But no one complained. War work absorbed all spare time outside of class or studying. Bandage rolling, under the direction of the Farmville Red Cross, became the Wednesday eve ning occupation; the Freshman Commission collected newspapers and the Dramatic Club bought a $1,500 War Bond and adopted an English baby. All students who could knitted; the faculty decided that knitting in class was permissible, but not in chapel. Physical Fitness was enjoined; for three hours a week, all students were required to participate in hockey, swimming, horseback riding, basketball, tennis, golf, or volleyball. Courses were offered in safety and first aid.

Longwood College: A History

The various honoraries held panel discussions: Pi Gamma Mu sponsored ..a year's program of talks and discussion based on the new world order that will follow the war"(Moore 18), and the Debate Club with Pi Kappa Delta gave . . civic talks, forums and round-table discussions on war and post-war problems"(Moore 19). Boerc Eh Thorn brought speakers to campus, among them Robert P. Tristram Coffin, Robert Frost, and (a most enviable coup!) Vladimir Nabokov, who very much enjoyed his visit. And if all this were not enough, there were the USO in Farmville, and the on-campus entertainments for servicemen from Camp Pickett, at which ". .. many new contacts were made that proved interesting and educa tional"(France 19). Even though the Senior Dance of June 1944". . . came with a sad situation—a V-mail letter but no date for the dance" (France 20), the students survived, in part because they were constantly reminded that their four years at STC would make possible an important contribution for the future:"While many of us yearn for more active service, we must stop and remind ourselves that we are training teachers who must be the front line of defense at home, who must interpret the whole war situation intelligently, and who must be imbued with the ideals of a just peace"(Moore 20). Similarly, the ROTUNDA urged the students to consider their education as paramount; an editorial in the July 20, 1943 ROTUNDA castigated the idea that"A war job . . . that pours forth 'big money' is preferable to an educational background that no war-returnee can steal, and no post-war depression can undermine. . . ."

On August 14, 1945, Japan surrendered and the war was over. Gradually STC returned to pre-war normality, but with a significant difference. Seventeen male veterans registered for the fall semester. "Just a reminder," the ROTUNDA warned,"the same rules apply to dating our boys as any other town boy—only on weekends,so make all the time you can between classes" (Carillo). Their admission would have far-reaching future consequences. There was another change, not as significant, but indicating a new direction for the college. Miss Mary White Cox (whose death on October 8, 1944 saddened the entire community)had retired in June 1944 as the last Head of the Home. STC now had a Dean of Women, Mrs. Martha Smith.

The major concern, however, was Dr. Jarman's health. His stamina had been remarkable; Faculty Minutes record his presence at every meeting except one—April 4, 1939—missed because of "illness." He had refereed the Progressive Education debate, with Dr. Walmsley and Dr. Wynne leading the opposing factions, and, at one point, he had ". . . expressed regret that certain remarks had

been made by some of the speakers." He had presided over chapel exercises. Founders Day, and three Commencements a year since September 1902. He had seemed almost indestructible. But in June 1943, the impossible had happened; Dr. Jarman had been too ill to be present at Commencement and ". . . Governor Colgate Darden not only delivered the address, but also conferred the 'sheepskins'" (France 20). He had been able to preside at the 1944 Commence ment, but he was visibly failing.

On June 21, 1944, Dr. Dabney Stuart Lancaster,Superintendent of Public Instruction, wrote a letter to Dr. George Jeffers. Dr. Lan caster, who had been appointed to his position in 1941, was no stranger to STC; the ROTUNDA notes several visits to the campus and he had given the Commencement address in 1941. Pointing out that Dr. Jarman was in his forty-second year as the College president and his fifty-fifth year of "service as an educator in Virginia," he suggested.

One very satisfactory way of showing men of this kind the esteem and love in which they are held is through a bound volume of letters written by some personal friends and profes sional associates. Without his knowledge, some of Dr. Jarman's friends are getting together such a collection of letters, and you are one of those who we think will appreciate the opportunity of writing.

Dr. J. M. Blair Buck, Director of Teacher Education, also wrote to Dr. Jeffers on June 23, saying that the "Jarman project" was underway, and asked for his assistance. Dr. Jeffers' response of July 2 presented the inescapable question of who at the College would be invited to write?

Especially, 1 did want to ask if you planned to invite all members of the faculty and Administration to write letters. Otherwise, we must have some basis of discrimination—length of service, heads of departments, or something else. There would be less kick-back if everybody were invited to write, but all would not avail themselves of the opportunity.

Dr. Buck replied on July 6, noting that it was a "delicate and difficult decision," but he left the solution to Dr. Jeffers and to Mrs. Coyner, the other faculty member of the Committee to Honor Dr. Jarman. They finally decided to ask each department head to write or to delegate that responsibility to a member of the department.

Longwood College: A History

The dinner took place at 7 p.m. on Friday, July 28, at the Hotel Jefferson in Richmond. Dr. Lancaster presided and each committee member was invited to speak for not over five minutes. Their speeches were followed by two-minute "remarks"from a number of other guests. The volume of letters was presented to the gratified, but very tired honore as the climax of an exciting, emotional evening.

The 1945-46 academic year opened with the customary presiden tial greeting to the freshman class. All was proceeding as usual; then on January 29, 1946, Dr. Lancaster announced that Dr. Jarman would retire on July 1. With his customary courtesy. Dr. Jarman told the faculty on February 6 that, "... he had hoped that the announcement could have been kept secret until he could announce the fact at this meeting of the faculty." At that same meeting, an unprecedented action was moved and passed unanimously; ". .. that the Faculty go on record as favoring the election of Dr. Dabney S. Lancaster as President of the College." Apparently, this action had been anticipated in Richmond, for the minutes of April 3, 1946 record the following resolution:"The Faculty of STC Farmville, in its regular meeting. . . expresses gratification that Dr. Dabney S. Lan caster has accepted the Presidency of the College. The members of the Faculty assure him of a hearty welcome and look forward to continued progress by the college under his leadership."

The spring of 1946 quickly became "Jarman Spring." Founders Day, observed on March 9, was dedicated to Dr. Jarman, a major celebration with speeches and a musical program given by the concert choir, which included his favorite song,"Keep on Hoping." War-time travel restrictions were no longer in effect, and alumnae came from all parts of Virginia, and from as far away as New Jersey and Georgia. A second,even more gala event, was the banquet and symposium on May 23 in the College's Main Recreation Hall with Dr. Charles W. Hunt, President of the American Association of Teachers Colleges, as the featured speaker. Dr. Lancaster, the in-coming president, was a guest and Mr. Grainger acted as toastmaster. The May 1946 edition of the COLONNADE was dedicated to Dr. Jarman and he was formally named President Emeritus. His final message to the graduating seniors, published in that May issue, was on his favorite theme, "Cooperation."

And so the much honored, greatly loved Dr. Jarman retired. Everyone knew that an era had ended,though the smooth transition to the Lancaster presidency, which he had helped to effect, meant that STC would experience no drastic change. He vacated the President's House and went to live in a house on the corner of Randolph and Buffalo Streets, directly across from the Rotunda,

next door to the honie of Dr. Thomas and Elizabeth Hardy, his daughter and son-in-law. Few people knew that he had been fighting a battle against cancer, and the community was shocked when news came of his death on November 14, five days short of his eightieth birthday. Tributes poured in from all over the state, none more eloquent than that of Dr. Jeffers, which said in part.

If simplicity without brilliance and genuineness without genius be greatness, then Dr. Jarman was a great man. He left no learned volume to insure a spurious immortality; he was not renowned for his famous addresses; you will find no witty sayings of his. His life was simple but not austere. Almost his only indulgence was his cigar which came to be as much a part of himself as his cane which he neither used nor flaunted. The lessons he learned in childhood, both formal and from hard experience, never forsook him,so his attitude toward life never swerved despite the changing tempo of the times. The lessons stood him in good stead because from them issued those simple commonplace virtues which marked him a kindly gentle man.

Generations of students listened to him intone from the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians: "Without love I am become as sounding brass or tinkling cymbal"; they heard him sing,"Be the Best of Whatever You Are;" . . . they suffered his censure because it was usually deserved and always tempered with his famous smile. Whatever the occasion, his "girls" were liable to burst forth with "What's the Matter With Jarman?" What it was that generated it, I do not know, but that intangible something that we call the "Farmville Spirit" was Jarman's greatest contribution. It is today our most priceless asset, and we lose it at our peril(ROTUNDA, November 19, 1947).

A memorial service was held at 11:45 on Wednesday, November 19, in the auditorium, at which the principle tribute was given by a visibly moved James Grainger. He began with Hamlet's words:"He was a man, take him all in all, I shall not look upon his like again." He spoke particularly of Jarman's love of beauty expressed in "The symmetry and fitness and calm classic air of the College plant. . ." and "The harmony of color and design in the interior decorations and furnishings to which he devoted much personal attention. .." And he concluded.

Longivood College: A History

There was no showmanship or exhibitionism about Dr. Jarman. The beauty he sought expressed itself in a deep sense of the fitness and harmony of things physical and spiritual. "Look your prettiest," he often said to his girls when some special occasion was announced,and he always liked his faculty to be dressed suitably and well. But to him, there was also a beauty in order, in punctuality, in duty well done,in goodness, truth and kindness, a beauty of holiness and unselfish service, a beauty in tolerance and charity and love. . . Browning put into words what Dr. Jarman instinctively felt and unobtrusively made the guide of his life:

Oh world as God has made it All is beauty; And knowing this is love And love is duty. . .

(ALUMNAE

MAGAZINE,

February 1, 1949)

An era indeed had ended, but not altogether. Jarman Auditorium was dedicated in 1951, an imposing facility for the time, providing seats for 1,235 people. But one of those seats is periodically filled by a most interesting occupant. An elderly gentleman, dressed impec cably in a dark suit—some say with a rose in his buttonhole—has been observed seated in the balcony, smiling benignly on the proceedings. It must be admitted that, from time to time, the spirit presence has been provided by student ingenuity; still ghosts are a time-honored tradition of southern folklore and it is altogether appropriate that Longwood College should have its own "ghost of Dr. Jarman" as a symbol, perhaps, of that intangible "Farmville spirit" of which Dr. Jeffers wrote. And the source of that spirit? Dr. Jarman himself, of course, but one of the greatest gifts a leader can possess is the ability to make people look beyond himself or herself, to awaken to a higher, broader vision. As Gertrude Burton (class of 1906) wrote in an article entitled "School Spirit" which was pub lished in the 1905 VIRGINIAN,"As is a country without patriotism, so is a school without loyalty," loyalty meaning that "None will be allowed to defame her on the outside, and none will be permitted to be treacherous on the inside." This understanding of loyalty, not just to himself, but beyond him to the College, was Joseph Leonard Jarman's greatest legacy.

Chapter XI

I.n the forty-three years between Dr. Jarman's retirement in 1946 and 1989, her sesquicentennial year, Longwood College has expe rienced eight presidents—two, Mr. Fred Orr Wygal and Dr. George W. Healy, as interims—and changes that would leave the early graduates of State Teachers College gasping for breath. During that time, new classroom and dormitory facilities were built to accom modate an expanding student body. More faculty were hired as academic programs were revised and expanded to meet new edu cational demands. A change of major proportions came in 1976 when the college became co-educational. In addition, there were the pressures that all colleges and universities sustained during the sixties and seventies, stemming from the political assassinations, from the Viet Nam War, and from the Civil Rights movement. Certainly, there was less open protest and dissent at Longwood than at many other institutions (there was only one "sit-in" in the president's office during that time), but there was a definite rest lessness on campus which those who remembered Dr. Jarman's administration found totally incomprehensible. The faculty's in creased demands for a greater role in college governance also played its part. The entire direction of the college was changing. However, important as these past forty-three years have been, close examina tion of them must be left to future historians. They are too near in time, too much involved in the very human perceptions and

Longwood College: A History

memories of those who lived through them, to permit an objective analysis. These final chapters, therefore, will present an "overview" of those years, concentrating on the main events and contributions of successive administrations.

The momentum established by Dr. Jarman carried over into the administration of Dr. Dabney Stuart Lancaster, who arrived on campus in September 1946, with the welcoming support of both town and gown. Both the new president and his wife, the former Mary Crump, came from prominent Richmond families. Lancaster (1889-1975) was educated at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, then he entered the University of Virginia where he received his bachelor's degree, followed by graduate study at VPI where he received his Master of Science degree in Biology in 1915. (In 1945, the University of Richmond would award him an LLD.)Then, after teaching stints in Richmond, Charlottesville, and Blacksburg, the Lancasters (they had married on June 12, 1915), with their four daughters, returned to Richmond where he served as Secretary to the State Board of Public Instruction from 1923 to 1929. He was then appointed Dean of Men at the University of Alabama, a position which he held until 1937 when he returned to Richmond for a second term on the State Board until 1941 when he was named State Superintendent. Described as ". . . a tall slender man with a firm handshake and a warm smile. . ."(ROTUNDA, April 3, 1954), he brought an extensive background both professional and social to his new position in Farmville.

Quickly, the Lancasters established themselves as "first family of STC." Mary Crump Lancaster's immediate contribution was open ing the president's house to students, especially for freshman orientation teas. Remembered as a quiet, gracious lady with a delightful sense of humor, she was held in great admiration and affection by the students; when her husband retired in 1955, the members of Alpha Kappa Gamma sorority presented a scroll to her with the following tribute:

Because you have given Longwood College and Longwood girls so generously and graciously of your time, your strength, your talent, and yourself; Because you have been a real friend to us individually and collectively—sharing with us our "ups and downs;" Because you have won our greatest admiration and appreci ation, we shall hold you in our deepest affection always (ALUMNAE MAGAZINE, Dec. 1955).

Dr. Lancaster felt that those preparing to teach should have minds capable of being educated, and his first action as president was to raise the admission standards, thus establishing the first selective admissions policy in a Virginia state-supported institution. It took courage because the "pool" of potential students was low; students of college age in 1947 were "depression babies." In addition, many Virginia high schools still did not have a twelfth grade (fourth year) class. Dr. Lancaster made the fourth year an entrance requirement, so the enrollment did decline for the next five years. However, as is so often true, the higher the demand, the greater the response, and in 1954, he could report proudly to the Alumnae Association,

At the present time, the number of applicants for admission is increasing steadily each year and the college will operate at capacity in 1954-55. I think the tremendous demand for teach ers will doubtless make it necessary to construct additional dormitories during the next four years and such dormitories can doubtless be filled without lowering in any particular the standards for admission (ROTUNDA, Dec. 8, 1954).

He also remarked,"The State should not be interested primarily in the number of students on campus, but in those who are preparing to make a sound contribution to the welfare of the Commonwealth." The need for more dormitory space had already arisen due to a near tragedy, the East Wing fire. (East Wing, built in 1905, was the building which exactly matched West Wing on the other side of front campus,adjacent to the"Annex" and the Colonnade.)The fire actually started late Saturday evening, March 4, 1949, but was not discovered until early Sunday morning. Almost all of the forty-six students were there, having attended a dance in the Student Building the night before, but fortunately all of them escaped unharmed, and the Farmville and Prince Edward County fire departments managed to contain the flames so that the other buildings were saved. But East Wing, including the auditorium on the first floor, was totally destroyed and with it all students' clothing, bedding, books, and other possessions. However,just as in 1923, the town and county came to the rescue. Three hundred people attended a meeting at the County Court House on March 7 to learn what they could do to help. The Reverend Benjamin F. Bruner, pastor of the Methodist Church, suggested a contribution of $100 per student to replace their lost books and personal effects. An immediate pledge of $5,000 was raised, and a number of the merchants agreed to sell clothing at a

discount (ROTUNDA, March 30, 1949). The Farmville Red Cross supplied blankets, and a committee headed by Mrs. Lancaster was appointed to purchase the needed toilet articles, books, and bed ding. Contracts were issued for reconstruction, but there was no plan to replace East Wing. Instead, the Annex and the Colonnade were extended to what is now East Ruffner, and the Sunken Garden was designed for the below-street area between the two.

But the year 1949 saw progress as well. In that same year. State Teachers College was authorized to grant the Bachelor of Science degree in Business Education and Music Education, the latter arisine from Dr. Lancaster's continued personal commitment to the music program which prepared graduates to teach in the public schools. In 1946, there had been one professor of piano and voice, and one associate professor who had charge of the teaching preparation; by 1954, there would be six full-time and one part-time faculty mem bers. The long awaited new science building, named for Dr. Edith Stevens, had been under construction since 1946; in 1950 it became a reality, and was dedicated along with Jarman Hall, the new home for music and drama in October 1951. Of course, the greatest change also came in 1949 when State Teachers College became Longwood College. The ROTUNDA for February 2, 1949 noted the suggestion that the institution be named "Jefferson College," but added "However,some of us feel that such a choice would be trespassing on property which is not ours." On March 30, the ROTUNDA reported the new name as a fait accompli. While teacher preparation remained the primary focus, it was felt that Longwood College better reflected the new challenges and opportunities that students might find there.

In May 1954, Dr. Lancaster announced his intention to retire effective June 30, 1955, to his family farm, "The Brow," in Bath County. In a letter to the State Board of Education, included in their Minutes of May 27, 1954, he expressed the hope that his successor could be appointed by January 1, 1955; clearly he hoped for as smooth a transition as his own had been. The achievements of this quiet man were appreciatively recognized on Founders Day, March 26, 1955: there were speeches by the out-going president of the Alumnae Association; by Helen Draper, an alumna and now Pro fessor of French; and by Dorothy Vaden, president of the Student Government Association. One moment must have especially pleased Dr. Lancaster when Miss Vaden announced the establish ment by the Student Government Association of the Dabney Stuart Lancaster Scholarship, to be awarded annually to an outstanding upperclassman. After a musical program and a festive luncheon,

there was a reception at the president's house so that the entire community might meet the new president of Longwood College and his wife. Dr. and Mrs. Francis Greenfield Lankford,Jr. Dr. Lancaster was later named President Emeritus.

Dr. Lancaster may have retired as president of Longwood, but his contributions to education continued; from 1956-64, he chaired the State Council of Higher Education and was very much involved in the organization of Virginia's Community College system. It is not surprising that, when the Clifton Forge branch of Virginia Polytech nic Institute was transformed into a community college, its local board requested that it be named for him, a request which was promptly granted. Lancaster Community College, along with his portrait in Longwood's Rotunda, provide a perpetual memorial to his essential character and convictions. In the words of George Burke Johnston, both "... Remind of dignity and goodness, rare/In any age and sorely needed now"(Johnston ms.).

Dr. Lankford's arrival on campus was greeted with enthusiasm by the faculty, who had already advocated his appointment. In an October 27, 1954 letter, signed by M. Boyd Corner, Virginia Bedford and George Jeffers, his scholarly and administrative abilities were complimented;in addition,"His philosophy of education will likely favor the continuance of the present college policies of selective admissions, a respectable graduate program, strong academic de partments, and a democratic approach to policy making and admin istration." And his background in both teaching and administration was impressive. He had received his bachelor's degree in mathe matics at Randolph-Macon College in 1928; then, after teaching at Heathville High School in Northumberland, Virginia, for three years, he entered the University of Virginia to pursue his MS degree which he completed in 1932. He was simultaneously teaching mathematics and science at the University, and also at Lane High School in Charlottesville where he met Florence Fleet, a graduate of William and Mary, who was teaching English and Latin and who did not like mathematics. They were married on June 4, 1935. He received his PhD in mathematics at the University in 1938; then, in 1939, he was named a General Education Board Fellow in Mathe matics and Science Education at the University of Michigan. The Lankfords returned to Richmond in 1941, where he assumed the newly created position of Superintendent for Public Education and Director of Research. In that capacity, he made a thorough study of high school education in Virginia for the Chamber of Commerce in 1942. The following year, he and his family returned to Charlottes ville, where he had been appointed assistant professor of mathe-

Ujtigwood College: A History

matics, and where he continued to teach until the call to Farmville. During all this time, he had published extensively in his field and had gained wide respect for his scholarship.

The Lankfords and their two sons—William Fleet and Francis Greenfield, III—moved into the house on High Street in July 1955, and Mrs. Lankford immediately established her own place as first lady of Longwood. She was, like Chaucer's Criseyde, "Her own woman, well at ease," and quite undaunted by following in Mrs. Lancaster's footsteps. Dr. Lankford set himself to establishing Longwood's future direction which his predecessor had charted. He had already expressed his view concerning women's education: he believed in the liberal arts because they prepared ". . . young women to perform vocational tasks efficiently and to live rich, happy, and satisfying lives beyond them" (ROTUNDA, Dec. 8, 1954). In his inaugural address of December 12, 1955, he had said firmly.

The teacher, as with members of other professions, will live with himself; he will be a member of a family; he will be a citizen of community, state and nation, as well as a practitioner of his profession. His college education, therefore, must contribute to an enrichment of his living as well as to the development of professional competence. Since the early days of the Renais sance, we have turned to the humanities as a foundation of an education designed to equip a student to enjoy a full life (Lankford ms.).

In his judgment, there was a need for balance and breadth in both academic and professional courses. Expressing his ". . . great satis faction that the dominant purpose of Longwood College is the preparation of teachers," he continued.

Given preparation for professional competence and a capacity for a full and rewarding life, the teacher also needs thorough grounding in the content of his teaching field. However high a degree of excellence a teacher may attain in the techniques of the classroom, he will never teach with confidence until he has mastered the content of his teaching field considerably beyond the level at which he is teaching.

He also called attention to the needs of those already in the profession to further their education, including ". . . opportunity for graduate study for those qualified and interested in carrying

their education beyond the bachelor's degree." Perhaps in response to this statement, Longwood College was authorized to grant t e Master of Science degree in education in 1956. Later in his admin istration, master's degree programs in English, biology/ history, mathematics, and music education were approved. Of these, on y the education and English programs remain, the latter becoming a straight MA in English Literature in 1974.

While recognizing, as did college and university presidents across the country, that the post-war "baby boom" children were rapid y approaching college age. Dr. Lankford emphasized quality over quantity, and actually did not want Longwood's enrollment to increase at too swift a pace. However, preparation for the increase was needed. South Cunningham Dormitory was opened in the fel of 1959, Wheeler Dormitory in 1962, and Cox Dormitory in 1963. There were new facilities: Worthy Johnson Crafts House opened in 1958 as the "Home Management House," where senior Home Economics majors might live and have the responsibility of manag ing a home for a semester, under supervision but by themselves. In 1962, Her Gymnasium was ready, and the Training School was completely remodeled to house classrooms and offices for the Education Department. A new "shop" building, Graham, was also opened in 1962.

There were also important additions to campus life. The first Institute of Southern Culture, which brought noted authorities to lecture four times a year, was held in 1957, and the first Fine Arts Festival was a highlight of 1958. Also in 1958, under Dr. Lankford's aegis, the Longwood College Foundation was established to receive and disperse private—as opposed to state—contributions to fund scholarships and other special projects which could be financed in no other way. A major contribution, which was more Dr. Lankford's personal one but which certainly enhanced Longwood's reputation, was the invitation extended to him by the University of Chicago to chair a committee of educators to suggest improvements for the schools of East Pakistan. His request for a leave of absence was granted;from July 1,1962 to June 30, 1963, Fred Orr Wygal, Director of Teacher Education for the State Board of Education, filled most capably the position of interim president.

There was one event, however, which marred the steady tenor of the Lankford presidency. On June 2, 1959, the Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors, in order to avoid federally mandated integration and apparently with no concern for contracts already signed by teachers both black and white, voted to withhold funds for public education and thus closed the county public schools. Over

Longwood College: A History

the years, Longwood College and Dr. Lankford have received some harsh criticism for not exerting more "leadership" in averting the crisis, but it is difficult to know what "leadership" could have been exerted by an institution and its president who had not been privy to advance consultation. There had been rumors that such an action was contemplated, but the action itself came as a total surprise. The Lankfords were enjoying a brief holiday; their first apprisal came from the front page of the Richmond NEWS LEADER. The effects of the supervisors' decision, which came to a climax in the litigation which began in 1959, produced both immediate and far-reaching repercussions, some of which continue to this day.

The immediate concern was for student teaching. Seniors had already been assigned to the county schools for their practicums, and it should be noted that the salaries of public school teachers who supervised Longwood students were supplemented by the college. Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Earl Boggs, the dean, the seniors were reassigned to schools in Roanoke and the surrounding area, and alumnae opened their homes so that they would have places to live. Ironically enough, the situation ultimately was a great benefit to Longwood's teacher preparation program; instead of teaching a few hours each day, seniors now had the experience of teaching fulltime. And after the first traumatic year, other school districts accepted Longwood student teachers, providing them with a wider, more cosmopolitan view than had hitherto been afforded them.

A second repercussion of the school closing was its effect on the college faculty and staff. Campus opinion was split down the middle and continued to be equally heated on both sides. Two particularly out-spoken faculty members, who viewed the supervisors' decision as totally unacceptable, did not hesitate to voice their objections emphatically; as a result, a petition was circulated in the town and county demanding that both of them be fired. Dr. Lankford, however, was more than equal to the occasion. Although he felt that, as president of a state-supported institution, it would be inappropriate for him to take a public stand in a local matter, he reminded the petitioners that the faculty members in question had not abrogated their rights as American citizens when they signed their contracts, and that one of those rights was freedom of speech. The acrimony engendered on both sides by this dispute was great. The third consequence was the inevitable change in the makeup of the college faculty and staff. Prior to 1959, people had come to Longwood prepared to stay. But in the late fifties and early sixties, competition for faculty members holding the doctorate increased dramatically nation-wide, and Longwood had to compete. Married

couples with young children understandably did not want to come to a location where good public schools were not available; unmar ried men and women—as did younger married couples who began to return after the county schools reopened in 1964—had frequently been told by the various placement bureaus that "Longwood was a good place to comefrom." For many of these, Longwood was merely a stepping stone on the upward road of advancement; as one of the "old guard" remarked sadly, "Institutional loyalty seems to have gone down the drain,"

Dr. Lankford returned from Pakistan in July 1963. Two innova tions were introduced during the 1963-64 academic year; the first was a development program which would seek to raise five million dollars from Longwood alumnae to fund scholarships, enhance faculty salaries, enlarge student services, and provide other impor tant assets. Alumnae in the past had been urged to be generous, but this was the first systematic approach to fund raising. The second was the General Assembly's creation of a separate Board of Visitors for each state-assisted college or university. The new board's task was to function as had the earlier Boards of Trustees, to oversee the operation of the college but not to create policy.

Dr. Lankford submitted his resignation at the February 3, 1965 board meeting. His reasons for the decision were simple; he felt that he had done all he could personally do in developing the college academically and in terms of facilities. Entrance requirements had been tightened and the number of faculty members holding doctor ates had doubled. A new dormitory, Stubbs Building, and a new student building, which would be named for him, were under construction. There was an additional reason which he shared with the board—while Longwood had not experienced the student unrest already visible on other campuses, he better than anyone else knew that similar tensions existed which would inevitably lead to problems. The University of Virginia had made him an offer which included his return to teaching, which he had sorely missed. His resignation was accepted with regret because his administration had been a decade of accomplishment which had brought Longwood to the threshold of a new era.

And, despite his concern for the future, student life at Longwood had continued to be very much the same. Classes, exams, athletics, clubs, picnics, concerts, plays, and dances filled the college year. Rules concerning "ladylike conduct" remained much the same as in the Jarman era, but the wider availability of cars and alcohol made for a great many additions. Well into the sixties, students were forbidden to sit in parked cars, or to drink within three miles of the

Longwood College: A History

town limits. The "sign-in, sign-out" rule was strictly enforced, and all students had to be in their dormitories by 11 p.m. unless they had special permission to be elsewhere. Freshman bedcheck was man datory. The House Council periodically black-listed male visitors for stated periods of time, or with the ultimate "Never to return to our campus." Penalties were rigorously exact: a minor offense such as an untidy room or excessive noise would receive a "call down:" three "call downs" resulted in "campusing," and "campusing" could lead to "strict campus," meaning no dates and no absences from the college. There was also "social probation," which put the student on notice that her next offense might incur suspension or even expulsion. Records of penalties were kept on file in the Dean of Women's office; a log book from the forties and fifties reveals that the House Council was very busy indeed. The Dean had the unhappy task of notifying parents; a surviving portion of one letter, dated July 20, 1946, reads as follows:

It is with deep regret that 1 feel it is my duty to advise you that your daughter. .. left the dormitory at 11:30 last night via the fire escape. She was apprehended by the campus policemen and returned to the dormitory. While we have no regulation in our handbook forbidding leaving the building via the fire escape after the doors and gates of the college are locked, it is an unwritten law arising from custom and convention. . .

Clearly, such things were not done\ Rules concerning illegal entry and exit were in the STUDENT HANDBOOK the following year. Then there was the episode involving the ingenious student, now one of Longwood's highly respected faculty members, who, with her friends' help, managed to keep the college bell ringing all night. Off-campus behavior was also subject to the rules. On May 3, 1949, a student was put on social probation for a year "For behavior at the University of Virginia unladylike and detrimental to the reputation of Longwood College." Another penalty (undated) was . . social probation for the remainder of her college years" for "attending a fraternity party at Hampden-Sydney which was not officially chaperoned by the college," and for "Staying at a fraternity house during the dance," both offenses compounded by "Falsifi cation of facts in a previous conference." Over the years, however, students became increasingly rebellious against rules which they perceived as antiquated and restrictive in comparison to those they found on other campuses, and when Longwood became co-educa tional, the old penalties, perforce, underwent a drastic change.

There are still rules; the 1987-88 STUDENT HANDBOOK lists forty-five possible infractions with subheads, but "Disciplinary Probation" does not convey quite the same impact as "Strict Campus until end of semester."

The Board of Visitors, having accepted Dr. Lankford's resigna tion, immediately instituted a search for a new president. The faculty were asked Tor their suggestions as to the qualifications a candidate should possess. The President's Advisory Council, a committee established by Dr. Lankford to which the faculty elected their representatives (in 1965, they were Virginia Bedford, Charles Lane, and Elizabeth Burger [Jackson]) provided a list of thirteen, beginning with age: ". . . no more than 50 years. . . and preferably less than 45," plus an earned doctorate, administrative experience, scholarly publication, teaching experience, . . . knowledge of leg islative procedures and the psychology of fund raising." In addition, ". . . his wife must be capable of entertaining graciously and assuming the role of official college hostess."

The choice was Dr. James Heflin Newman, the fifty-seven year old executive vice president of the University of Alabama,a position he had held since 1957. He had graduated from Alabama in 1929 with high academic honors and a Phi Beta Kappa key; in 1930, he had received his MA in political science and was named director of student activities. From 1939 to 1942, he was Dean of Men. In fact, his entire career had been spent at Alabama, with the exception of World War 11 during which he served as a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy, and four years(1946-50) as Dean of Students at the University of Virginia. From 1950-56, he was Dean of Administra tion at Alabama, and during 1957-58 he had been its interim president. He had held office in a number of educational associa tions, such as the Association of Alabama College Administrators (president), and had been a member of the executive committee of others. In recognition of his service to higher education, his alma mater had awarded him an honorary LLD degree in 1957.

Newman was a man of great personal charm, and his attractive wife, Dixie Ann, was all that could be expected of a college president's wife. Certainly his administrative qualifications were impressive. But he did not have an earned doctorate or scholarly publication, factors which worked against him from the beginning in his relationship with many of the faculty. In all fairness, it should be noted that a flair for scholarship and administrative experience do not often co-exist in the same individual, and also that neither Cunningham nor Jarman, nor Lancaster, three of the college's most successful presidents, had held the PhD. But by 1965, the various

Longivood College: A History

college accrediting agencies were pressuring colleges to require more doctorates, and colleges in turn were pressuring their facul ties. Younger people newly come into the profession—Longwood hired thirty-three for 1966-67 academic year—held the opinion that the same demand should be made of a college president and were not at all backward about letting their opinion be known.

Another problem during the Newman administration was the continued difficulty of faculty recruitment. The public school system could not recover quickly from the five-year closing, and parents were concerned about the quality of education to be found there. On the other hand, many,for philosophical or financial reasons, did not want to send their children to the private Prince Edward Academy. A laboratory school, modeled on the old Training School, which would be integrated and which would provide students majoring in elementary education opportunities to observe and participate in the classroom prior to senior student teaching, was the proposed solution. The 1966 Legislature voted an appropriation of $450,000 for the school, but it was not enough; by the following year, the cost was estimated at over a million dollars (Richmond TIMES-DIS PATCH,May 16,1967). There was also community concern over the announced policy that the children of Longwood and HampdenSydney faculty members would be given entrance preferment.

The demands of office took their toll of President Newman. He remarked on several occasions that he had never expected to have to spend so much time in Richmond. He was unaccustomed to Virginia legislative procedures and often exasperated by them, especially when he was criticized on campus for his frequent absences, criticism which invariably was echoed in the town. Relationship between town and gown were cool, partly because Mrs. Newman had not accompanied him immediately to Farmville so there could be no official entertaining. When she did arrive, she was immedi ately liked and is still remembered with affection. The Newmans tried to bridge the gap by hosting a beautiful pre-Christmas party, only to be informed that such an expenditure was an improper use of state funds.

Money was really the issue during Dr. Newman's two-year term. The Legislature appropriated $2.7 million dollars for new construc tion, over and above that of the laboratory school, in 1966. In May 1967, Governor Mills Godwin, with several influential members of the Legislature, visited Longwood and expressed concern that only one new building, Stubbs, had opened and only Lankford building was under construction. Newman responded that the land owned by the college south of the campus was occupied by black families

who would have to be moved before the proposed expansion could proceed. Robert Holland, the Richmond TIMES-DISPATCH educa tion writer, quoted him as saying, "The local anti-poverty agency has sought federal urban renewal funds to relocate the families, but town officials have delayed action. . ." (May 16, 1967). Holland continued in the same article, "Governor Godwin later in the day said that Longwood's problems aren't typical of other state schools." Again, Newman was criticized, but one wonders how his critics would have reacted had he ordered the bulldozers to roll?

The Godwin visitation came in May. On June 22, 1967, the Board of Visitors met in Richmond in special session ". .. to discuss the position of James H. Newman, president." After a lengthy discus sion,"The President appeared before the Board and gave his views. After further discussion, the Board voted unanimously to give Dr. Newman a leave of absence until September 1, 1967 with pay, and not to reemploy him for another year." No further details are given in the minutes, but it is possible to surmise that the board members were distressed by the Governor's reaction and by the implied legislative annoyance which a state-supported college could not afford. Also, there were persistent rumors that both the Legislature and the State Council of Higher Education were seriously consider ing closing Longwood altogether. It was a difficult time for all concerned, and it must be said that the Newmans, as a family, took the blow without visible resentment or rancor. And, in all honesty, given the complexities of the situation, it would have been difficult for anyone to solve the problems, especially given so little time.

Chapter XII

M, -r, Wygal returned as interim president on July 17, as the board began a search for a new president. Their choice was announced on October 12; Henry Irvin Willett, Jr., Assistant Super intendent of Public Instruction for the Chesapeake school system, would assume office on December 1. Thirty-six years old, tall, attractive and outgoing, he was perceived as one who could institute a fresh beginning for the college; E. Angus Powell, rector of the board, described him as .. an outstanding educator who is recognized in educational circles for his demonstrated professional leadership and qualities of personal growth"("Campus Release", Oct. 12, 1967). He had received his education in the Churchland schools, then, when his father Henry I. Willett, Sr. moved from a position in school administration in Norfolk County to become Superintendent of Schools in Richmond, he had transferred to Thomas Jefferson High School. After graduating in 1948, he at tended Washington and Lee University, receiving his BA degree in history in 1952. A two-year stint in the army followed, then he went on to the University of Virginia where he completed his master's degree in education in 1955.

Returning to Norfolk County, he taught seventh grade at Churchland Elementary School, then, in quick succession, he was named principal of Hodges Manor Elementary School(1956)and of Churchland Junior High School (1958). In 1960, he was appointed admin-

istrative assistant to the Superintendent of Schools in Norfo^ County, and when Norfolk County became the city of Chesapeake in 1963, he was named administrative assistant and clerk of the school board for the new city. Later that same year, he became Assistant Superintendent for Instruction. In 1964, he was the first Virginian to win the Finis Engelman Award, given by the American Association of School Administrators for graduate study in that field which made it possible for him to pursue his Ed.D. He had just received it in 1967 before coming to Longwood; when asked by Brenda Holly in a GYRE interview what his hobbies were, he responded that"For the past three years, my hobby was writing the dissertation and getting my doctorate"(Winter 1968, 5). But he also mentioned his fondness for tennis and his devotion to the Baltimore Colts.

His devotion to and pride in his family were also noted with approval. His wife, the former Mary Madison Turner,daughter of T. Preston Turner, assistant executive secretary of the Virginia Educa tional Association, was a tall, most attractive, gracious young woman who was quickly recognized as a perfect complement—and occasionally more than a match—for her husband. Their three sons, Rodney, Scott, and John Todd—aged four, three, and one respec tively—quickly made themselves at home at Longwood and in Farmville; as one faculty member who had taught under Dr. Jarman remarked, it was nice to have some nice lively children at the president's house again. The community welcomed the Willett family with open arms and their expectations were not disap pointed.

Lankford Building and the new tennis courts, which had actually been under construction during the Newman years, had already opened in the fall of 1967, but with Dr. Willett's arrival every effort was put into new buildings. Both the McCorkle Wing and Jeffers Auditorium, additions to Stevens Hall, were completed during the summer of 1968. Wygal Building, the new home for the music department, with practice rooms, studios, a listening library, a Green Room,and a recital hall later named for Dr. John W. Molnar, professor emeritus of music, was ready for the 1968 fall semester. Bedford Building for the fine arts, housing studios, a gallery, and an auditorium was opened in the summer of 1970. Curry Hall, the first high-rise dormitory, was completed in the fall of 1969, and its "twin", Frazer Hall, was ready for occupancy in the fall of 1970. The John P. Wynne Campus School(the laboratory school) welcomed its first students in September 1970, with classroom facilities for kin dergarten through grade seven,a library, an auditorium, and special

Longwood College: A History

facilities for art and music. Its circular shape was a startling contrast to the traditional campus architecture, as were the high-rise dormi tories. Coyner Building for home economics opened in 1972, and the new service building, named for Robert Bristow, superintendent of buildings and grounds from 1925 to 1929, was a 1973 addition. The last building. Lancer Hall, named for Longwood's sports symbol, to house the Department of Physical Education, Health, and Recrea tion, was dedicated on October 25, 1980.

The account of construction during the Willett years would not be complete without a mention of the renovation of Longwood House, for which Henry Willett gives his wife full credit. Money had been appropriated during Newman's term to build a presidential resi dence somewhere on the Longwood Estate grounds. It was Mary Willett who immediately saw the possibilities of the house, and asked the Board of Visitors to request the legislature to permit the appropriation to be spent for restoration and renovation. The Willett family moved from High Street in November 1969, and the many delightful functions held there, especially the annual children's Christmas party, are still remembered.

Dr. Willett was formally inaugurated as president on November 29, 1968. Already popular, his popularity continued to rise, an especially amazing phenomenon when viewed in context of what was happening on other college campuses in the late sixties and early seventies. This was the demonstration era of Vietnam and the Civil Rights Movement, but the Longwood student body staged a "demonstration in reverse" on the afternoon of April 29,1969, when Angus Powell invited the president for a stroll on Wheeler Mall. Here he was greeted by the students, cheering and waving banners that proclaimed, "This is Willett Country!" His wife and family, including both sets of parents, were leading the applause. Dr. Willett was taken completely by surprise. "About the only thing 1 can say at this point," he responded,"is that it would take a group of females to organize this"(Wchmond TIMES DISPATCH, April 30, 1969).

There were other changes that were of signal importance. The first black student was admitted in 1971, quietly and without fanfare. In 1976, the ROTC program was instituted, an addition which was not received with unmitigated delight by all observers. And in 1976, Longwood accepted the first male resident students. "Going co-ed" involved more than just men in the dormitories; there had to be fraternities, an expanded athletic program, a new "inclusive" Alma Mater, and, as Dr. Willett remarked recently, "The meal prices had

to go up because men eat more than women!" One other campus addition must be noted—the birth of Henry Irvin Willett III in 1973. It is difficult to pinpoint the precise moment when Dr. Willett's popularity began to decline, but by the end of his administration he exemplified the statement, "If a leader is liked, he can do nothing wrong. If a leader is disliked, for no matter how frivolous the reason, he can do nothing right." Various reasons have been advanced for the decline; there was the grand jury investigation in July 1979, concerning an alleged conflict of interest in a printing contract. The grand jury found no evidence of contract preferment or collusion on the college's part, but the entire episode was unpleasant and detrimental to Longwood's reputation. And there were other factors at work, equally detrimental, but which were beyond any college president's control. In the early seventies, there were more PhD holders who wanted to go into teaching than there were jobs. Some junior faculty members who had come into the profession at Longwood,confident of moving on after no more than five years, found themselves unable to do so, and their frustration vented itself in resentment at being, as they put it, "stuck." Inevitably Longwood and Dr. Willett were blamed for their visible discontent. Salaries were another issue; legislative appropriations geared to "cost effectiveness" and "accountability" had not been generous, so raises were small. Again, the president was blamed for "lack of leadership," ironically by those least inclined to follow.

Another source of friction was the increase in the number of administrators;some faculty remembered the days when the college functioned with a president, a dean, a dean of women, a registrar, and a business manager. Of course, the student body had increased to 1,700; the projection for the 1980's was 2,000, so some increase was justifiable. But the expanding enrollment was yet another source of annoyance. Keeping the high-rise dormitories filled so that state appropriations would not be cut had permitted students to enter who were not always prepared for college level work, a situation by no means uniquely Longwood's since colleges and universities across the country were experiencing the same situation because SAT scores had declined nation-wide. The suspicion that certain unqualified students had been admitted simply because they were athletes added fuel to the fire. That it was an era of student demand for more freedom and of refusal to accept the old idea of a college's being in loco parentis brought yet more pressures, as some faculty members became justifiably impatient with "student rights," and others felt that student demands should be unconditionally met. A most unfortunate outcome of this phenomenon was the

Longwood

College: A History

involvement of students by some faculty members in their personal concerns.

From the summer of 1979 until September 1981, the anti-Willett faction kept their dissatisfaction in constant view. Actually, their number was small, but their voices actively opposed whatever "they"—meaning the administration—undertook. Faculty members who openly deplored such methods,even while agreeing that some of the complaint was justified, were perceived as "their" allies, and, therefore, equally the enemy. Then there were the "silent bystand ers," who either had no opinion or preferred not to voice it, who by their silence seemed to give consent. Everything, from the choice of a new dean to the operation of the college Tea Room (which Dr. Jarman had instituted as a "pleasant amenity" for faculty members and their guests),became a topic of controversy. Dr. Willett had conducted faculty meetings in the time-honored manner of his predecessors, and other administrators attended as they had in the past; this procedure was now proclaimed "intimidation of the faculty." When the dean became the presiding officer, the situation worsened and the insidious phrase "climate of fear" was increas ingly heard. The year 1978 was marked by the establishment of the Organization of Teaching Faculty(OTF)for the announced purpose of excluding administrators from faculty meetings. That position has been greatly modified as time has revealed the renewed need for cooperation on the part of all members of a college community.

The campus situation was finally taken up by the media. Profes sional reporters can sense a good story—it is their job—and they also know how to find sources of information. For the first time in the college's history, faculty and board members "went public," the latter probably more from naivete than from a deliberate design of harming Longwood. Some board members had received complaints from faculty members; those board members had listened and, inexperienced in analyzing academic complaints or understanding that they are an inevitable accompaniment to campus life, appar ently believed that they had been deliberately kept uninformed of the real state of affairs by the president. This perception was reported to the newspapers and also to Governor Thomas Dalton's management team who arrived at Longwood during the fall of 1969, at Dr. Willett's request, to investigate the internal workings of the college. Two weeks before the report was presented to the Board of Visitors on December 17, word was leaked to the press that it was "very damaging" to the president. Actually, the report was far less "damaging" than some had obviously hoped;areas of improvement

were suggested and the need for long-range planning emphasized, with which no one could or did disagree.

But the continuing media bombardment—there was hardly a week without some comment detrimental to Longwood in the press—affected every aspect of college life. Dr. Willett had pre sented his resignation on August 6, 1980, to be effective August 31, 1981. Some board members unsuccessfully demanded that his resignation be immediate, as they began a search for a new presi dent. The sense of turmoil and uncertainty is impossible to describe; even the 1981 graduating class did not escape. During their last semester on campus, the board argued as to who should sign their diplomas. Dr. Willett or his already designated successor. The seniors, bewildered and distressed by what they perceived as an opposition incomprehensible as it was implacable, felt that Dr. Willett was their president and wanted his signature. Their wishes ultimately prevailed.

Dr. Willett graciously presented Longwood's president-elect. Dr. Janet Daly Greenwood,at the Founders Day ceremonies on April 25, 1981. With a notable display of tact on her part, she was not seated on the platform; she came to the podium from the audience, and the college community thus saw their new leader for the first time. Thirty-seven years old, a petite, strikingly attractive brunette with an infectious smile, she had been selected after an exhaustive search in which the board had received assistance from faculty, students, and residents of Farmville. Her credentials were impressive. She had been an English and psychology major at Peace College, and had received her BS degree from East Carolina in 1965. Between 1965 and 1969, she studied psychology and counseling at North Carolina State University, and had pursued further studies in the humanities during 1969-70 at the University of London. She re ceived her PhD in psychology from the University of Florida in 1972, and, after a few years of teaching, was named Vice Provost for Student Affairs at the University of Cincinnati in 1977. She was a licensed psychologist who had published in her field; she was married and the mother of an adopted son, Gerald. Hailed as the first woman to be president of Longwood College, she came with an announced purpose of making the college a place where not only academics would be rigorously emphasized, but also where the education students received would enhance and assist their later lives. As she said in her inaugural address,

1 hope this College, in all of its relationships, can bring individuals a step closer to the kind of perfection and complete-

ness that will add quality and meaning to the totality of each life.

1 pledge to you my full effort toward that goal (Greenwood ms.).

The transition moved quickly, as the Willett administrative ap pointees resigned, and either left campus altogether or returned to the classroom. For some,the transition was almost too swift, as new vice presidents arrived. Ultimately, the college was reorganized into three schools—Arts and Science, Business and Economics, and Education and Social Services—each with its own dean, who re placed the former Academic Affairs Council composed of all depart ment heads; a more efficient arrangement undoubtedly, but viewed by many faculty members as yet another "management layer" between the departments and the Vice President for Academic Affairs, the ultimate authority in academic matters. Inevitably, so many changes brought problems; there were administrative dishar monies arising from unforeseen, and unforeseeable, personality conflicts which led to frequent changes in personnel, especially in the Vice President for Academic Affair's office, which had their effect on faculty morale. And, also inevitably. President Greenwood was blamed for the disharmonies and the attendant confusion.

The faculty, too, was involved in change. The OTP became increasingly zealous in guarding its prerogatives, especially those of recommending curriculum structure, and promotion and tenure policies, which led to more responsibilities than the original propo nents of faculty governance had envisioned. At times, the tradi tional collegiality seemed in danger of disappearing altogether. Student demand for an education which would indeed prepare them for future jobs—"I want to go where the big bucks are," was a line increasingly heard—also brought new tensions and pressures, intensifying the debate between those who held the traditional view of education as the cultivation of the mind to enrich the spirit, and those who encouraged the new trend of training for a specific vocation. "Student Development" was a particular concern of the new president, and "Student Development Educators" were added to the staff of the Vice President for Student Affairs, but they and the faculty frequently disagreed over what direction that development should take.

However, despite admitted setbacks, some of the changes inau gurated during the Greenwood administration were, and will con tinue to be,good for Longwood College. One was the establishment of the first Office for Institutional Advancement, headed by a Vice

President whose responsibility is to coordinate funding and to seek out new financial resources. The Alumni Association has played a major role in this endeavor, and could say proudly in 1986 that Longwood ranked second nationally among state-assisted institu tions in the percentage of alumni giving. Students have been involved in an annual "phonathon" to raise funds. Legislative support was also increased; Longwood received over $25,000,000 during the 1984-86 biennium in state funds for a projected new library, the Business Innovation Center, and for the renovation of Jarman Auditorium and several dormitories. To help fund the long dreamed of Fine Arts Center, Longwood, for the first time, ap plied for and received a grant from the Jessie Ball Dupont Reli gious, Charitable and Educational Fund, established by an alumna of State Teachers College to aid institutions in Florida and Virginia. Last, but not least, better financing made faculty sabbaticals a reality. Faculty salaries also improved and research funds were increased.

A second improvement involved the Board of Visitors, and was actually a return to past practice, when faculty members and the early Boards of Trustees knew each other and worked together to advance the college. The present board members have made a definite effort to bridge the gap hitherto existent between them selves and the faculty and have sought to be better informed about campus activities. Their meetings, except for executive sessions to discuss personnel matters, had already been open to the faculty during the last years of the Willett administration, but under Dr. Greenwood's aegis board committee meetings became open as well. The OTF now elects a representative to the board, who has "seat and voice" if no vote, and who reports on the actions taken to the faculty in writing.

Another, highly significant, contribution of the Greenwood years was the "internationalization" of Longwood. A few students in the past had studied for a summer in Mexico, but there was no organized foreign language "junior year abroad" program. By the time Dr. Greenwood resigned in 1986 to become the president of the University of Bridgeport, agreements had been reached with uni versities in France and Germany for students and a faculty exchange was instituted with a university in Finland. In the past year (1988), thanks to the efforts of Dr. Maria Milian-Silveira, professor of Spanish, arrangements have been made for Longwood students to study for a semester or a full year at the University of the Andes in Venezuela. Other scholastic innovations were the undergraduate

Longwood College: A History

Arts and Science Honors Program, and the Freshman Seminar, required of all freshmen in their first semester, conducted by faculty members on a voluntary basis to acquaint them with the pleasures and perils of college life. On the other side of the coin, the athletic program has been greatly expanded, as have the offerings in drama, music, and dance. Add to these the periodic appearances of visiting lecturers, poets, theatre and ballet companies, jazz and concert artists; during some weeks there are as many as three entertain ments every evening, catering to a variety of tastes.

Finally, major efforts were launched to make Longwood more visible in the surrounding community with the emphasis on service. In the fall of 1984, a Superintendents Network was established to restore the connections to the public schools which had somewhat weakened when the college was no longer an exclusively teacherpreparation institution. One important contribution of the network has been its support of a summer Writers' Workshop,conducted by writer-in-residence Billy C. Clark, and of VIRGINIA WRITING, a statewide publication for student writing, art, and photography. VIRGINIA WRITING has received two first-place awards from the Educational Press Association as an "outstanding special publica tion" produced by colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. Another notable community contribution is the Virginia Literacy Network. The Office of Continuing Studies has arranged summer seminars, workshops and conferences, and the Elderhostal program, which came to campus in 1982, has become the most popular one in the state.

It would be naif, and certainly inaccurate, to present the Green wood administration as an unqualified success. The tensions of the preceding administrations did not disappear, nor did the appetite for contention, an emotion which grows by what it feeds on. Mistakes were made, on all sides, which frequently created an atmosphere of "three steps forward, two steps backward." But one thing must be said of Dr. Greenwood: she possessed a vision for the college and a commitment to fulfilling it. As she wrote in the LONGWOOD FIVE YEAR REPORT, published in 1986.

Nothing is more significant than working with the develop ing lives of young people and meeting the educational needs of people of all ages.

Education, after all, is the whole future, the whole hope. We have such exciting work to do. Together we can do it.

Indeed, we approach our Sesquicentennial in 1989 as a

celebration of a proud past to build upon and a promise to fulfill.

Dr. Greenwood resigned in June 1986. After an interim year, presided over with superb eclat by Dr. George W. Healy, former provost at the College of William and Mary, who came out of retirement to take charge. Dr. William F. Dorrill arrived on campus in August 1988 to become Longwood's sixth president. Dr. Dorrill holds impressive academic and administrative credentials: a BA degree from Baylor University in philosophy, history and political science;an MA in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia; and a PhD in political science from Harvard. He has served as Chairman of the Department of East Asian Languages and Literature at the University of Pittsburgh (1968-77), as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of political science at Ohio University (1977-84), and in 1984 was appointed chief academic officer at the University of Louisville. His immediate contributions to the "inter nationalization" of Longwood include his encouragement of the newly-instituted program in Japanese language and culture, and the exploration of a possible exchange agreement with Jiangxi Univer sity in the People's Republic of China. His first priority, however, is for Longwood to become "the best medium-sized comprehensive college in the Virginia state system and one of the best in the United States," where "intimacy and collegiality [are valued] above large ness and the impersonality that so often goes with it"("Longwood College Strategic Plan," January 9, 1989). He has said further that he wants to be a ". . . true colleague who shares the academic values, and a true friend who is part of the college community"(Farmville HERALD, September 1, 1988). He has also indicated that he wants to preserve the best of Longwood's past tradition, while seeking to fulfill a potential which the college has only begun to recognize.

This history was begun, in part, as an attempt to discover what salient qualities have kept Longwood alive through wars, depres sions, and radically changing times. One immediately noticeable quality which has always characterized Longwood from its very beginning, under its several names, is the care and concern for the individual student. Freshmen, from their first day on campus, recognize that they are regarded as persons, not just names on a computer printout. Faculty members and students know each other, at least by sight. Students are aware that all faculty members, starting with the full professors, teach the lower level-courses, and make themselves available for counsel—and occasionally Kleenex—

Longwood College: A History

outside of class. As they frequently remark, "There is always someone there for you." Visitors also learn quickly that Longwood is a "friendly" campus; as one visiting lecturer said enthusiastically at the end of his visit, "I had never heard of Longwood, much less Farmville, but I can certainly say that, once you get there, you have a marvelous time!"

But the Longwood spirit goes deeper than concern for the individual, important as that is. The founding fathers of Farmville Female Seminary in 1839 were men of vision, who saw a place in a small town in Southside Virginia for a school to educate young women, and they committed themselves wholly to it. Longwood's greatest days have resulted from that sense of vision of what could be, possessed by administrators, faculty, and students alike, and their willingness to help to realize it, with their accompanying loyalty to the school. One great danger of academia is a tendency to want to recreate the past. New PhD's in their first teaching jobs want to teach undergraduates on the same level that they were taught in graduate school. Alumni who loved President X look for his clone in successive presidents. Parents who graduated from Z University are shocked to discover that campus life differs radically from what they fondly remember. The world has changed in the past thirty years and that those changes should have affected, and will continue to affect, all college campuses is inevitable.

But some,albeit intangible, factors remain unchanged. Vision and commitment: these have characterized Longwood in the past, and these are the qualities which will ensure its future. A renewed vision of what Longwood can be, and a firm loyal commitment to realizing it in the hearts and minds of all who administer, teach, or leam will favorably launch the next 150 years. Longwood does indeed have "a proud past to build upon." And the promise will be fulfilled.

Bibliography

Books:

Alderman, Edwin A. and Armstead C. Gordon. J.LM. Curry. New York, 1911.

Bradshaw, Herbert D. History of Prince Edward County, Virginia. Richmond: Dietz Press, 1955.

Buck, J.M. Blair Buck: The Development of Public Schools in Virginia. Richmond, VA 1952.

Burrell, Charles Edward. A History of Prince Edward County. Rich mond: Williams Printing Company, 1922.

Jackson, Luther Porter. Negro Office Holders in Virginia. Norfolk: Guide Quality Press, 1945.

Morton, Richard Lee. Virginia Since 1865. New York, 1924.

Smith, ].D. A History of High Bridge. Richmond: Morrow Printing, 1987.

Venable, Elizabeth Marshall. Venahles of Virginia. New York: pri vately printed, 1925.

Wall, J. Barrye, ed. Today and Yesterday In The Heart of Virginia. Farmville, 1955.

Longwood College: A History

Woody,Thomas. A History of Women's Education In The United States. New York: The Science Press, 1929.

Documents:

Acts of the General Assembly. Senate Document 10, 1883-84.

Prince Edward County Deed Books, 335, 596, 597.

Periodicals:

Except as noted below, citations from college literary publications, year books, the Alumnae Magazine, the Rotunda, Gyre, and college catalogues are noted in the text.

'TOO Years Ago." Eastern Shore News 15 July, 1987.

Carillo, Linda and Lori Davis."Looking Back at S.T.C." ROTUNDA 13 Dec., 1977.

France, Sara Wayne. "On Our Campus." Alumnae Magazine, 30 (1944) 18-20.

Frazer, Walter J. Jr. "William Henry Ruffner and the Establishment of Virginia's Public School System." Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, 79 (1971), 259-79.

Grainger, James Moses. "Joseph Leonard Jarman." Alumnae Maga zine, 35 (1949) 24-25.

Jeffers, George W.Jeffers. "Tribute to Dr. J. L. Jarman." ROTUNDA, 19 November 1947.

Moore, Susie. "War and Defense Work on Our Campus." Alumnae Magazine, 29 (1943) 17-23.

Schlagel, Marvin W."How Old Is Longwood?" Alumnae Magazine, 39(1953) 11-15.

Shackelford, Meade L. "Longwood College." Rpt. from The Iron Worker, 19 (1955).

Unpublished Material:

Citations from Faculty and Board of Trustees/Visitors Minutes and presidents' reports are noted in the text. All materials, with the exceptions of two indicated below, are in the Longwood College Archives.

Bush, Celeste. Family Correspondence.

Bibliography

Bland Letter. Couture private collection.

Carruthers, Jean. Family Correspondence.(Some published in The Colonnade, March, 1932.)

"Dr. John Cunningham's Administration." Typescript, undated, unsigned.

"A Brief Biographical Sketch of Dr. Cunningham." Typescript, undated, unsigned.

Chace, Jacob. Grey's New Map of Farmville. Philadelphia, 1878.

Draper, Helen. "A History of Longwood College." Typescript.

Eggleston, Mary Fitzhugh. "Fifty Years of the June Class of 1894." Typescript.

"The Idler's Column." Photocopy dated 5 May 1950. Source uni dentified.

Johnson, George Burke. "In Memoriam Dabney Steward Lancaster, 1889-1975." Printed single copy.

John, Margaret Hathaway. "Round Robin Letter." Typescript, un dated.

La Monte-Preot-Kern Papers.

Lancaster-Jeffers-Buck Correspondence, June-July 1944.

Lankford, Francis G. Inaugural Address, 12 December 1955. Type script.

Morgan Letter. Molnar Private Collection.

Saville, Kathleen. "Dr. William Henry Ruffner." Unpublished Mas ter's thesis. University of Richmond, undated.

Index

Andrews, Luli Ocille, 83, 104, 105, 111

Barlow, Mary B., 107

Bartkowska, Carrie, 54, 58, 69 Bedford, Virginia, 108, 137, 143

Berkeley, Wm. R., 37

Bickers, Garnett, 34, 48

Blanton, Willis, 1, 6

Branch, Tazewell, 44

Brimblecomb, Clara, 54, 63 Buchanan, J. L., 49, 95

Buck, J. M. B., 129 Bugg, Charles, 37 Bush, Celeste, 53, 54, 56, 57, 58, 60, 61, 62-63, 63-64, 72

Carruthers, Jean, 58-59 Carter, Mary Eliz., 42 Clubs and Organizations, 83-84, 121-123

Coburn, Lorenzo, 12

Conrad, George O., 44

Cox, Mary White, 118-119, 128

Couling, Martha, 69, 104 Coyner, M. Boyd, 105, 137 Crawley, J. D., 34 Cunningham, John A., 64, 65-68, 72, 74, 75, 76-77, 91, 98

Curry, J. L. M., 44, 47, 48, 50, 57

Daniel, George, 1, 6, 10 Davis, Mildred, 108 Davis, Thomas, 37 Dorrill, William F., 155 Draper, Helen, 104, 104, 108

Early, Rev. John, 5, 13 Edwards, F. M., 33 Ely, James, 1, 6, 10

Farmille, College, 34-35, 37, 38-42, 48

Farmville Female College, 11, 13-20, 24-26

Farmville Female Seminary, 1, 6-9

Farmville, Town of, 12-55

Farr, R. R., 49 Fire of 1923, 103 Fire of 1949, 135-136

Flournoy, Thomas, 1, 5-6, 10

Flournoy, W. C., 1, 3-4, 6, 10 Frazer, Robert, 78-80, 82, 85, 86-91

French, Raymond, 108, 117

Gaines, W. E., 49 Gash, Pauline, 54, 69

Gould, Benjamin, 9

Grainger, James M., 105, 111, 124, 131

Grant, Ulysses S., 27, 29, 31

Gray, J. T., 34, 37

Greenwood, Janet D., 151-152, 153, 154-155

Griggs, Nathaniel, 44

Harris, Rev. H. H., 49

Healy, George W., 219

Heustis, A. J., 3

High Bridge, 11, 28

Hiner, Mary Clay, 107

Hiner, Winnie, 107 Huntington, Anna Hyatt, 105

Her, Olive, 108

Irving, Francis, 37

Jackson, Elizabeth Burger, 143

Jarman, Joseph L., 92, 93-96, 100-102, 108, 109, 110, 111, 113-114, 115, 116, 120, 128-132

Jeffers, George W., 129, 131, 137

Jefferson, Thomas, 98

Johnson, Edgar, 125

Johnson, Julia, 69

Kern, Lucretia, 14, 15, 17, 18, 21, 22

La Monte, George, 11-13, 14, 17, 21, 22

Lancaster, Dabney S., 126, 129, 130, 134, 136, 137 Lane, Charles, 143

Lankford, Francis Greenfield, 137-141

Lea, Lorenzo, 9

Lea, Solomon, 7, 9 Lee, Lillian, 54, 63 Longwood House (Estate), 96, 148

Malfonconi, Eugene, 98

Mann, Horace, 3, 46, 98

Mapp, Madeline, 59, 69

Michie, L. A., 49 Miner, Clara, 58, 63

Mix, Grace, 105

Molnar, John W., 147 Morrison, Portia Lee, 72, 73 Moss, C. G. Gordon, 108 Myers, Norman, 125 McCorkle, Thomas, 108 McKinney, S. B., 37

Nelson, Rev. James, 44, 57, 63

Newman,James H., 143-145

Nichols, Mary P., 107 Nottingham, S. F., 33

Parrish, Celestia, 60, 61, 62, 69

Paulette, R. S., 34, 37

Preot, Amaud, 18, 23-24, 31

Read, George W., 1, 6 Reynolds, Virginia, 69, 77

Rice, L. H., 44

Rice, Minnie Vaughan, 71, 104

Rice, Wm. D., 37

Ruffner, W. H., 44-47, 49, 50, 51, 53, 54, 57, 58, 60, 61, 62, 91, 98

Silveira, Maria Milian-, 153

Simkins, Francis B., 108, 116

Smithy, Estelle, 106

State Female Normal School, 49, 69-72

State Normal School for Women, 104

State Teachers College, 104, 112, 114

Stevens, Edith, 108

Stubbs, Florence, 105, 106

Sutherlin, Carrie, 105

Swertfeger, Floyd, 125

Tabb, Jennie M., 105

Taliaferro, Wm. B., 48-49, 57

Thaxton, W. H. H., 29, 38, 44

Tinsley, John B., 9 Trent, Kale, 108

Vaden, Dorothy, 136

Venable, Joseph E., 1, 5, 10, 14

Venable, Nathaniel, 4, 96

Venable, W. G., 34, 44

Walmsley, James B., 108, 128

Warren, Howell E., 10-11, 34, 37

Watkins, Francis Nathaniel, 10, 37, 49, 57

Wheeler, Leola, 105

Whitehead, Paul, 34-37, 38, 42, 49, 63

Willett, Henry 1. Jr., 146-151

Wilson, William, 1, 6

Winston, Peter, 37

World War 1, 112-113

World War 11, 126-128

Wygal, Fred O., 133, 139, 146

Wynne, John P., 108, 128