Virginia Military Institute - Bomb Yearbook (Lexington, VA)

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f T!iH- V. M. I.-HER PRESENT STATUS • The V. M. I. of today is the culmination of ninety-four years ' continual prog- ress — the realization of plans and dreams held constantly in the minds of its builders. A brief glimpse into the Institute ' s past readily shows a struggle for existence. In spite of these odds, however, V. M. I. stands foremost in her field today. From a material standpoint, the expansion of the Institute has been accompanied by a plan of compactness. All buildings associated with cadet life are within easy reach of barracks, and they occupy a relatively small area of ground. When one enters the post by way of the West limits gate, he is immediately attracted by the broad expanse of the parade ground on the left and the West side of barracks directly in the foreground. The barracks, a massive, castellated building, is located on the East end of a natural plateau which forms the parade ground. The structure is built in the form of a quadrangle with a frontage of two hundred and forty-one feet and a depth of two hundred and seventy-five feet. Barracks, as it now stands, provides adequate accommodations for a Corps of seven hundred. As the pivotal point of cadet life, barracks is the center of the activities which occupy a cadets time. • Fronting barracks and overlooking the Memorial Garden, lies a parapet on which stand two ancient French cannon and a replica of Houdon ' s famous statue of George Washington. Memorial garden, a beautiful formal plot lying about thirty feet below the level of barracks and on the same plane with ' Ninety-Four Hall, is reached from the parapet by means of a double stairway. The garden extends across the entire front of ' Ninety-Four Hall, from Jackson Memorial Hall on one side to Scott-Shipp on the other. ' Ninety-Four Hall, a towering five-story structure, is one of the most modern gymnasiums in the south. The main hall, one hundred and ninety-five feet long and eighty-two feet wide, is the scene of all basketball, boxing, and wrestling en- counters, and, it provides ample space for all dances held during the year. The recently installed amplifying sys- tem in the hall has proved invaluable during athletic contests and dances. In addition to the main floor, the building contains an indoor rifle range, wrestling rooms, boxing rooms, shower baths and locker rooms, offices of the physical and athletic directors, cloak rooms, dormi- tories for visiting teams, a newly in- stalled fencing room, and athletic equip- ment storerooms. Adjoining ' Ninety-Four Hall and facing the parade ground is Jackson Memorial Hall. The main auditorium of this building accommodates an au- dience of nine hundred; it is equipped with an amplifyins system and talking picture facilities. Below the main hall is another gymnasium, completely equipped. Underlying this second gym- nasium are a swimming pool, locker rooms, and showers. Brigadier-General Rockenbach

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institution. He was succeeded by General Scott Shipp, then Commandant of Cadets. During the administration of General Shipp V. M. I. began to attain its present proportions. A new Mess Hall, the Maury-Brooke Building, the Library, the Power Plant, and two professors ' houses were constructed. Colonel (later Lieutenant-General ) Edward West Nichols succeeded General Shipp in 1908. Under General Nichols the barracks quadrangle was completed and the parade ground enlarged to its present size. Jackson Memorial Hall and Alumni Field were completed, and many improvements were made both in the buildings and in the courses of instruction. • In 1917 V. M. I. was again called upon to fulfill its mission as a military school. The Institute was taken over by the government, and its Superintendent was com- missioned as commanding officer: its entire tactical staff were commissioned as officers, and all Cadets were enlisted as privates to be trained at the Institute for commissions. During this time all the army officers stationed at V. M. I. were her own graduates. V. M. I. was the only institution in the country so honored. The Institute furnished about two thousand officers to the armed forces alone. Among these were five general officers and 233 field officers. After the war four units of the R. 0. T. C. were installed, and the military functions of the Institute came under the control of the Federal Government. The unit of Engineers was later discontinued. General Nichols retired in 1924. after fifty years of service, to be succeeded by General William Cocke, a graduate of the Class of 1894. General Cocke resigned in 1929 and was succeeded by the present Superintendent, Major-General John A. Lejeune, Commandant of the United States Marine Corps from 1920 to 1929. In 1931 the New Engineering Building completed the V. M. I. of today. The difficulties in the path of V. M. I. during nearly a century of growth have, at times, been almost insurmountable. But, perhaps, it is from these very difficulties that V. M. I. has drawn its virility and its unconquerable spirit. The Institute. 1843 IBOi

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|:I The Institute, 1933 Facing one another from opposite sides of the road, immediately to the east of barracks, are Scott-Shipp Hall and Maury-Brooke Hall. The former houses the headquarters of the department of arts, pure mathematics, and physics. The lower floors of this building contain physics and biology laboratories, while the attic floor contains the Institute radio station. Maury-Brooke Hall, better known as the Chemistry Building, houses all branches of the chemistry course. This building is equipped with chemical and geological laboratories. • The most recent addition to the various academic buildings is the Edward West Nichols Engineering Hall completed in 1931. This building is the center of the civil and electrical engineering courses. It rises six stories from the ground and is one of the best equipped buildings of its kind in the United States today, containing a completely equipped electrical laboratory controlled from a central switchboard, hydraulics demonstration room, a materials testing laboratory, and a newly installed thermodynamics laboratory. In addition to these, there are a machine shop and an arc welding room. All of these laboratories are equipped with the most modern devices, and they offer the cadet practical applications in all phases of his courses. Display rooms, containing model bridges, dams, and the like, adjoin their respective rooms of application. The drawing academy occupies the entire sixth floor, and it is especially designed for the comfort and convenience of the draftsman. Three limes daily, the corps forms by companies and marches down the hill to the Mess Hall. This structure, done in the same style architecture as the other Institute buildings, is a thoroughly ventilated hall, seventy-five feet in length and one hundred and fifteen feet in width. It is equipped in the rear with kitchens, bake rooms, a refrigerating plant, and storerooms. Natural gas is utilized as fuel. North of barracks and facing the parade ground is that favorite retreat, the Library. Here the cadet has thirty thousand volumes at his disposal. In addition I twWrT asqBBaeii