Longwood College - Virginian Yearbook (Farmville, VA)

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V O L U Ml E XXX I I I Our Alma Mater | ' HF first teacher-training institution in Virginia was established by the IL Legislature in [884 and located in Farmville, a small town in Southside Virginia, six miles from the old College of Hampden-Sydney. That Farm- ville secured the school was due to the fact that the town offered to donate to the State the building and grounds of what was then known as Farmville College, a small plant occupying less than half a square of ground. It was not, however, until 1886 that the institution was incorporated by the Legislature under the name of the State Female Normal School. As the bill was signed on March 7. this date is observed in the College as Founders ' Day. The signing of this hill was an important step in the edu- cational life of Virginia, for it was the beginning of a real schedule of growth for the public schools. In fact, it was the first indication that the State was realizing the great importance of giving to her children proper opportunities for an education. Among the men who were closely associated with this beginning of teacher-training, we may mention two, especially, who threw themselves heart and soul into the work: Dr. J. L. M. Curry and Dr. W. H. Ruffner. To them is conceded the credit for the normal school idea in Virginia. Ami truly they were the guiding spirits of the new undertaking! Dr. Curry drafted the bill for the establishment of the school, and from that day until his death in 1903, his interest was unflagging. He was the first President of the Board of Trustees and was one of a committee to re- port a plan for organization. As a statesman and leader in educational matters, Dr. Curry stood preeminent in the South. Among man)- prominent positions held by him was that of agent for the Peabody Fund for a period of twenty-two years; lie was also agent for the Slater Fund ( for negro education ) for twelve years. Through the administering of these funds, he had more to do with the organization of the public schools of Virginia and the South than any other man. In a sketch of Dr. Curry the writer says: He was a wonder- fully versatile man — soldier, preacher, member of Congress, State Legislator, administrator of two funds, professor, college president, author, representative at a foreign court — and with it all, a knightly gentleman and a lovable man. 1,-) 1 an 3 4

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T H E V I E a INIA N Childhood and Youth A Vision Behold the vision of Childhood and Youth reaching out eager, restless hands to an unknown world. Behind the hands are youthful faces, alert ears, eager, questioning eyes, some filled with the joy of happy childhood, some filled with wonder, some, perhaps, with the fear of the unknown — Childhood and Youth facing a world in which they are to live, and of which they are to become a part ! The speechless hands, the open ears, the questioning eyes — all embody the mute appeal of childhood and youth for train- ing, direction, and guidance — training for the little hands that they may become strong, skillful hands. The open ears, the questioning eyes, need direction and guidance that they may begin to understand and interpret the world which from year to year is to become a more real world to them. Thus the heritage of sublime thought in great literature may be opened up to them that their youthful faces may come to reflect the spirit of the One in whose image they were created. This vision of the inarticulate appeal of the childhood and youth of Virginia bore so heavily upon the minds and hearts of the educational leaders of fifty years ago, that to meet this need, in 1884 the State Normal School, Farmville, lrginia, came into existence. In the educational ideals for the development of the three- fold nature of the child, in this first institution in Virginia for the training of teachers, was reflected the spirit of scholarship, of progress, of unselfish service. I low well this first Normal School of Virginia, now the State Teachers College, barmville, Virginia, has fulfilled the mission intrusted to it, is attested by the faithful, efficient service of the alumnae who have gone out from its walls. What has been accomplished belongs to the past, touches the present, reaches out into the future. And in this future — The Eternal Vision of Childhood and Youth! I gfSlfpi u

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T H E V I E IE I N I A N The first President of the State Female Normal School at Farmville, one of the first teacher-training institutions to be established in the South, was Dr. William Henry Ruffner, a man peculiarly well fitted for the work of organizing the school. He was the first Superintendent of Public Instruc- ts m in Virginia, taking charge of the public school system when it was founded in 1S70, and remaining in this position until lie came to Farmville in 1884 From his experience as Superintendent Dr. Ruffner brought to the new institution a thorough understanding of the needs of the public schools. In fact, he had founded them, studied them, and worked for them as had no other person in the State. He not only knew the needs of the teacher, but he knew also how to meet them. He came to his work an educational ex- pert, fully equipped. His father, a distinguished Presbyterian minister, was for many years President of what is now Washington and Lee University, from which in- stitution Dr. Ruffner was graduated with the master ' s degree in 1845. Pike his father, he also entered the ministry and was at one time Chaplain of the University of Virginia. The broad culture and wide experience of the President were reflected in the school, as attested by the smoothness and efficiency of the organization from the beginning. It has been said of Dr. Ruffner that he did for Virginia what Horace Mann, thirty-three years before, had done for Massachusetts. Farmville ' S second President came into office in 1887, Dr. John Atkin- son Cunningham, a man worth) ' in every way to become the successor of Dr. Ruffner and to carry on most efficiently the work begun three years previously. Dr. Cunningham ' s mother was Mary Johnston, a granddaughter of Peter Johnston of Longwood. Longwood is now a recreational center for the students of S. T. C. ; it is located on the outskirts of the town, about a fifteen-minute walk from the campus. Dr. Cunningham, a student at the University of Virginia and a grad- uate of the University of Nashville, was a man of sound scholarship and varied experience in teaching. He had served as professor in a college and in a military school, and as principal of Madison School in Richmond, Vir- ginia. From this latter position he came to Farmville — fresh from the prob- lems and needs of the public school. Dr. Cunningham served Farmville and the State for ten years, and died in service. The school was his life: to it Hi 4