Longwood College - Virginian Yearbook (Farmville, VA)

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23, 1884, by passing a law requiring that the ten thonsaud dollars be paid ont of the treasury of the State, which was just what it should have done at first. At the first meeting of the Board, Dr. W. H. Ruffner was unanimously chosen president. At the same meeting a committee composed of Dr. Ruffner, Dr. Curry, and Dr. liuehanan, was a])i)oiulcil lo fdi ' iiiulate a plan of organi- zation of the school. The committee made its I ' l ' purt -iunc 10, 1SS4, but because of the delay in getting the funds tn run the schnol, the report was not adopted until September 17, 1884. The school was then ordered to be opened October 30th, tVillowing, although, to quote Dr. Ruifner ' s words, all they had was a ]n ' inci])al, an appropriation, a rnugh scheme, and an old academy buil ling, — not a teacher, nor a book, nor a jiieee of apparatus or furnitui ' e. The first and most difficult step was to secure teachers, for teachers in a normal school should be specially trained for their work, and the normal school idea was distinctly new in Virginia, though old in some other states. Dr. Ruffner, by his long connection, as Superintendent of Public Instruction, with the public free school system, was thoroughly familiar with the needs of the teachers, and so best fitted to meet them. The I3oard wisely allowed him great latitude in the organization of his faculty, and authorized him to seek in the ISTorth and East three ]iersons familiar with the organization and methods ]i( ' culiai ' til iKirnial schools. His choice fell u])on Miss Celeste E. Bush, of Ciiunccticnl, fdi ' ice-principal ; ] Jiss Clara ,M. Brimblecom, of Boston, for vocal nuisic, and Miss Lillian A. Lee, of Connecticut, for drawing and mathe- matics. To this number were added Miss Pauline Gash, of North Carolina, teacher of English, and ilrs. Clara Bartkowska, of Richmond, to take charge of the preparatory school. So the Normal School was opened promptly at the appointed time, in spite of the very discouraging outlook six weeks before. During the first year Ir. Beverly LI. Robertson was added to the faculty as teacher of science, Latin, and algebra, and Miss Belle Johnson as teacher of piano music. The results of this first session ' s work were one hundred ten students, of whom forty-four were accommodated in the liuilding, and three graduates. To Dr. W. H. Ruffner and Dr. d. L. M. Curry undoubtedly belongs the credit of the normal school idea in Virginia, and the State was indeed fortunate in securing the services of two such alile men to guide the new undertaking. Dr. Ruffner had contributed most valuable aid to education in Virginia by his masterly work as State Superintendent of Public Instruction. He knew better than any one else at that time, perhaps, what it requires to make a real

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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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teacher, and very early in his work realized that the ecininmn sehoDls could not become the important factors in the uplift of the people that the} ' should be nutil they were supplied with specially trained teachers. Dr. Curry was already distinguished as a statesman, diplomat, educator, and author, and was especially interested in educational conditions in the South, his motto being, Education for all. As agent of the Peabody Fund, he gave material financial aid to the undertaking, adding what was of even higher value, the great strength of his mind and character in shaping and sup- jjorting the new scheme. It was he that framed the original bill introduced into the Legislature for the establishment of the institution, and he was the first president of the Board of Trustees. He was more than once heard to say that he wished for no higher eulogy than to be called Father of the State Normal School of Virginia. It is an interesting fact, though generally unknown, that Dr. Euifner and Dr. Curry did not wish the benefits of the school confined to girls, and that they were also dissatisfied and disappointed with the mere pittance set aside for its sujjjioi ' t. A paragraph from the Virginia School Reports for 1884, as well as their own wnnls to others, show their thoughts: It is due to llie |iromoters of this enterprise t(j state that the original bill, as drafted by the Iloii. .1. L. Al. Curry and presented to the Legislature for its sanction, ])ro ide(I for a normal school in the broadest sense of the term, and had no purpose of I ' estricting its benefits to the ' females ' only of the State; but after the irmhim of the Legislature had done with the bill its |irogenit(ir was hardly able to recognize it; liut we are deejily lliaukfid for ven llie little that was done, and hope, by iui]iro -ing that, t(.i make good (jur claims for more.