Longwood College - Virginian Yearbook (Farmville, VA)

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' irginia and the South must hold him most in honor and reverence. The next generation will hold him fully worth} ' of the appellation already frequently applied to him — ' The Horace Mann of the South. In 1891 Dr. Ruffner made a second visit to the State of Washington on a geologic er- rand, and since that time has made similar but shorter excursions. He has also engaged in literary work, especially in writing the history of Washington and Lee University. He is now at the age of seventy-four, resting at his home near I.exing-ton.

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over the State he frequently delivered popular lectures on the commercial mineralogy and geo- logical structure of the locality in which he hap- pened to be, as well as that of the State at large. When he left public ofilice, he passed at once into the service of the Georgia Pacific Railway, and in connection with Professor Campbell, en- tered upon a physical survey of the country from Atlanta, Georgia, west to the Mississippi river. The report of this survey was and is much sought after. Again we find him employed in making geological examinations and reports, chiefly in the Birmingham regions of Alabama, until again called to educational work in Virginia. From the beginning of his administration he had pleaded for the professional training of teachers, making the State and county institutes very effec- tive, and always, when possible, giving them dig- nity and force by his presence and teaching, he yet labored indefatigably, both before and after his retirement from office, for the establishment of a Normal .School in Virginia. In 1884 his views were partly met by a legislative enactment, pro- viding for what is now known as the State Female Normal School at Farmville. At the first meet- ing of the Board of Trustees Dr. Ruffner was elec- ted by acclamation the first principal of this school. and its organization was left entirel) ' in his hands. Sacrificing his inclinations and large personal interests, he left his beloved geologic work and reluctantly accepted the unsought responsibility. Under his wise, upright and efificient management the success of the school was phenomenal. The prestige of his name gave it the respect which, as an innovation, it could not otherwise have com- manded ; his sound educational philosophy shaped and gave tone to its professional instruction, and with quiet but steadfast courage he guarded it from dangers which might otherwise have overwhelmed it. In addition to psychology and didactics, he taught here, as far as the limited time allowed, botany, geology, and mineralogy, attracting to the weekly geology lectures large numbers of the citi- zens of the town. In 1887 failing health required change of occu- pation, and he turned his attention once more to the geologic field, working in Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia. In the autumn of 1887 he visited Washington Territory and reported on the projected route of a railroad three hundred miles long. It is probable that the country at large will know him best as a scientist, and in this respect, too, his own State has much reason to be grateful ; but it is as an educator that

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DR. JOHN A. CUNNINGHAM, A. M,, LL. D.