Longwood College - Virginian Yearbook (Farmville, VA)

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T H E V I E Q I N I A N pointed to fill the place of a member who resigned. He served on this Board with unusual faithfulness until it was abolished in 1914 when the institution went under the Virginia Normal School Board which had charge of the four teacher-training institutions of the State. Dr. Nelson ' s portrait was presented to the College in 1927 by Mr. William Nelson (a son of Dr. Nelson) and his wife. The painting is the work of Duncan Smith of New York City, who married a daughter of the donors. In the College Reading Room may be seen the portraits of three other members of this Board of Trustees, General William B. Taliaferro, Judge Francis Nathaniel Watkins, and Col. J. P. Fitzgerald ; the two last, citizens of Farmville. The fourth President of State Teachers College, Dr. Joseph Leonard Jarman, has served much longer than all of the others combined. When he entered upon his duties in 1902, he found a small school with a faculty of thirteen members, offering three years of academic (or high school) work and one year of professional work. Under his wise leadership, the institution has grown, expanded, and developed until today it is recognized as one of the outstanding Teachers Colleges of the United States. During the administrations of the former Presidents, the very small building that had been donated for the beginnings of the normal school was added to several times. The present Middle West Wing was erected, also a small dining hall in the rear; the Science Hall was built, and the Training School, once housed in a small frame structure was then moved into a brick building (a private residence ) recently purchased by the school. During Dr. Jarman ' s administration, many buildings have been erected : the East and West Wings, the Middle Fast Wing, the Training School, the Infirmary, the Dining Hall, the two dormitories, Cunningham Hall and the Annex, the Laundry, and the Power Plant. But the two greatest achievements of all are Longwood, the recrea- tional center for the girls, and the Student Building, which occupies the east end of the campus. In this building are housed the student activities : here we find handsome rooms, beautifully equipped for the Student Government Association, the Y. W. C. A., Student Publications, Sororities, etc. Across the entire front is the splendid Lounge with its open fire and old-fashioned 18

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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

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V id L U M IE XXX I I I mirror over the mantel. At Longwood are held the Set-up Conferences for the Y. W. C. A., the Music Festivals, the May Day exeixises, and the manv formal banquets given by the various organizations and sororities. The two most recent acquisitions are the log cabin and the out-of-door fireplace. Both of these are in the woods just beyond the amphitheater at Long-wood. The campus has been extended from time to time during Dr. Jarman ' s administration till now it covers five squares ( approximately twelve acres ) in the heart of the town. This does not include the President ' s home, several dwelling houses, and Longwood with its ninety acres of land. Among the many changes that have taken place during Dr. Jarman ' s administration, we mav note that the name of the institution has been changed twice. The old State Female Normal School existed as such from 1884 to 1914 when the Virginia Legislature changed it to State Normal School for Women. In 1918 the privilege of conferring degrees was granted, and in 1924 it became the present State Teachers College. Today, the State Teachers College at Farmville is not only a member of the American Association of Teachers Colleges, but it has membership also in the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. Thus from this modest beginning has risen the splendid college of today with its beautiful buildings, its standard college courses leading to a B. S. degree in education, its up-to-date Campus Training School and three Rural Training Schools, its able faculty and its thousands of loyal alumnae scattered over the nation. 1 9 3 4