Longwood College - Virginian Yearbook (Farmville, VA)

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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

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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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V O L U M E X X I I I he gave his time, his thought and his marvelous power as a teacher. He was also an excellent administrator, and progress under his guidance was steady. Dr. Cunningham was a man of deep sympathy — especially for those who were struggling to help themselves. For this reason there could he no more fitting monument to him than the Cunningham Memorial Loan Fund — a fund raised by the alumnae who were graduated during his administra- tion — to help worthy girls who are not able to finance their college life. During the period of its existence, this fund has made it possible for 10S girls to be educated at S. T. C. Under Dr. Cunningham ' s administration the enrollment grew to two hundred seventy-seven (including students in both the academic and pro- fessional courses) — with twelve members on the faculty. Upon the death of Dr. Cunningham, Dr. Robert Frazer was called to the Presidency of the Normal School. At the time he was President of the Industrial Institute and College at Columbus, Mississippi. It was said of Dr. Frazer that he brought to his new work a richly stored mind, a broad knowledge of life, and a varied and valuable experience in schools of many types. His four years ' work was characterized by the same earnestness and zeal, the same conscientious devotion to his convictions of duty that he has displayed elsewhere, and the result, as before, was growth and expansion of a steady, stable kind. In 1899, during the Presidency of Dr. Frazer, the Virginia Normal League was established. This organization still maintains, by annual mem- bership dues and by gifts, a fund which exists for the purpose of making loans to students who need assistance in obtaining an education. Dr. Frazer resigned his position in 1902 to accept that of Field Agent of the General Education Board. Along with the portraits of Dr. Curry, Dr. Ruffner and Dr. Cunningham in the President ' s Office of the College, there is another that should be of interest to all who care anything for the early history of the institution. At the time of the establishment of the Normal School, Dr. James Nelson was Pastor of the Baptist Church in Farmville and was very en- thusiastic in his interest in the new undertaking. It was largely clue to him that the school was located here, and he was almost a charter member of the Board of Trustees, since a few months after it was established he was ap- 17 1 9 3 4