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Page 14 text:
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The Beginning A SYSTEM of public free scliuuls fur ' irgiiiia was established July 11, IsTO, by the first Legislature to assemble after the War between the States. As these schools struggled year after year for a stable footing, it becaiiip more and more evident that they must be supplied with specially trained teachers before they could reach the desired effieienc3 To make pro- ' ision for this jDressing need, the Legislature at its regular session in March, 1S84-, passed the following act estalilishing the jSTormal School: Be it enacted by the General Asseinblj ' of Virginia: 1. That there shall be established, as hereinafter provided, a normal school expressly for the training and education of white female teachers for public schools. 2. The school shall Ije under the supervision, management and government of W. IT. Ruffner, J. L. M. Curry, John B. Minor, R. M. Manly, L. R. Holland, John L. Buchanan, L. A. Michie, F. N. Watkins, S. C. Armstrong, W. B. Taliaferro, George O. Conrad, W. E. Gaines, and W. W. Herbert, as a board of trustees. In case of any vacancy, caused by death, resignation, or otherwise, the successor shall be appointed by the Governor. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall l e cx-ofpno a member of the board of trustees. ' ? . Said trustees shall, from time to time, make all needful rules and regulations for the good government and management of the school, to, fix the number and compensation of teachers and others to be employed in the school, and to prescribe the preliminary examination and conditions on vhich students shall be received and instructed therein. They may ajipoint an executive committee, of whom the Superintendent shall be one, for the care, management and government of said school, under the rules and regulations prescribed as aforesaid. The trustees shall annually transmit to the Governor a full account of their proceedings under this act, together with a report of the progress, conditions and prospects of the .school. 4. The trustees shall establish said school at Farmville, in the County of Prince Edward: provided said town shall cause to be con-veyed to the State of Virginia, liy jiroper deed, the property in said town known as the Farmville Female College ; and if the said property is not so conveyed, then the said trustees shall establish said school in such other place as shall cr)nvey to the State suitable grounds and Iniildings for the purpose of said school. 5. Each city of five hundred inhabitants, and each county in the State, shall be entitled to one pupil, and one for each additional repre-
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Page 15 text:
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sentative in the Honsp of Delegates above one, who shall receive gratuitous instruction. The trustees shall prescribe rules for the selection of such ]5upils and for their examination, and shall require each pupil selected to gi -e satisfactory evidence of an intention to teach in the public schools of the State for at least two years after leaving the said normal school. 6. The sum of five thousand dollars is hereby apj ropriated to defray the expense of establishing and continuing said school. The money shall be expended for that ])urpose under the direction of the trustees, upon whose requisition the Governor is hereby authorized to draw his warrant on the treasury. 7. There shall be appropriated annually, out of the treasury of the State, the sum of ten thousand dollars 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 ]5ublic free school fund : provided, however, that the Commonwealth will ucjt in any instance be responsible for any debt contracted or expenditure made l)y the institution in excess of the ap]iropriation herein made. 8. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall render to the Second Auditor an annual account of the expenditures under this net. It was not until 188(i, however, that the institntiou was incorporated by the Legislature, under the nauic (if tli ' Stale Female Xdriiial School. That Farmville secured the school was owing to the fact that the t(iwn offered to give to the State,-ar building formerly used as a girls ' school, and this oft ' er was warmly supported by such influential men as Dr. W. H. Ruffner, Dr. James N elson, then ' pastor of the Baptist Church at Farmville, and Dr. AV. H. H. Thackston, at that time mayor of Farmville and most anxious to promote its interests. The first meeting of the Board of Trustees was held in Richmond, April 9, 1884, and organized by the election of Dr. J. L. M. Curry president. Dr. J. L. Buchanan vice-president, and Judge F. N. Watkins secretary and treasurer. The Board was confronted by a serious difficulty at the outset in the shape of the seventh section of the law establishing the sehnol. This provided that the money set ajiart for the support of the school should be taken from the public free school fimds. The question -as at once raised as to its consti- tutionality. It was the opinion of the Attorney-General, and, later, the decision of the Court of Appeals, that the seventh section was unconstitutional and void in so far as it attempted to divert the public school funds. The Board of Trustees thus found itself without funds for the proposed work, until an extra session of the Legislature amended the section, August
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