Virginia Military Institute - Bomb Yearbook (Lexington, VA)

Page 25 text:

THE xj; v roi RTU v i. t; ur ijarracks War, and the rooms, containing running water, were double, and were thought then to be the last thing in ultra-modernism. It was thought, at this period, that the pinnacle of the Greater V. M. I. had been attained, but ambition, until now lying dormant in the breasts of Institute sons, leaped forward by huge bounds, and plans were immediately drawn and approved for the demolition of the Francis H. Smith building and the erection of the fourth side of barracks on its site. New rooms were to be added on the north side, thus completing the square and bringing to a crowning conclusion the dream of all Cadets for the final steps necessary to com- plete and enclose the courtyard with barracks on all four sides. After the addition in 19 19, there was only a short span of time before the final step became a fact and not merely an idle pipe dream of devoted sons. The accom- panying photograph shows the last stage in the long-dreamed-of Greater V. M. I., the completed quadrangle. The last picture shows the entire Institute as it is today. The difference in this illustration and that of V. M. I. in 1859 is too marked to need any comment — the pictures speak for themselves — and succeed very well in depicting the giant strides '

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V. M. I., 1 918 new barracks, which remained as such until December, 1923. These rooms were added on the west side of the barracks, and they extend from the Jackson arch to within a few feet of the Library, thus adding a third side to the proposed quadrangle of Greater V. M. I. Between 1900 and 1919, although no additions were made to barracks, improve- ments were launched along different lines. The new Academic Building, contaim ' ng all the classrooms and lecture halls, and the Jackson Memorial Hall, which serves as a chapel and hall for the Final exercises, were built in 191 6, and this added greatly to the symmetrv ' and appearance of the Institute. On the main floor of the Jackson Alemorial Hall, and serving as a background to the platform in the rear of the hall, is the original painting of B. West Clinedinst ' s Battle of New Market. It depicts the Cadets at the very height of their historic charge. These two buildings have greatly enhanced the growth and prominence of V. M. I. and were a natural step in the next lap, begun in 1919, toward a larger and better institution. The next annexation was made in 1919, when more rooms were added on the same wing of barracks. This was done shortlv after the armistice ending the World

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THE GREATER V. M. I. made by the South ' s greatest military college in the last fifty years. This cut does not show the work complete, but today it is, and the final image is even greater than could have been hoped for by men of the Institute thirty years ago. Now that the quadrangle has been completed, there are many other fields in which the Virginia Military Institute may branch out, and it is the task of her present sons to see that means for further enlargement are provided, and that the progress of V. ]M. I. shall be as great within the next decade as it has been in the past. J! r4[