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347
FACULTY AND CLASS OF 19°7, VIRGINIA NORMAL AND INDUSTRIAL INSTITUTE
James Hugo Johnston, Ph.D., is president of the Institute. In ,go8, there were '9 teachers and 528 students. The graduates
up to 1908 numbered 740, and represented I I states. The average age of the 528 students in 1908 was nineteen years.
Virginia Norrnal and Industrial
Institute. Petersburg. Va.
Rev. J. H. Johnston, President
THE Virginia Normal and Indu trial Institute was founded
by act of the General Assembly, March 6, 1882, for the
higher education of the Negro youth of the state, with
special reference to the training of teachers.
The act appropriated $100,000 fOf the purchase of a site and
erection of suitable buildings. This sum being inadequate
for the work laid out by'the architect, was increased by the
legislature from time to time, until $157,700 had been spent
on the original design. The annuity was made $20,000, but
this, after five years, was reduced to $15,000.
The school was opened October, 1883, with three departments,
academic, normal, and preparatory, which were in successful
operation until 1902. Up to this time 50 college and
424 normal graduate$ had been sent out. The enrollment
of the school was then 316.
In 1902 a new Board of Vi itors was appointed and the
act of incorporation was amended 0 as to give special prominence
to industrial training to
the exclusion of the college
course. Cooking, sew i n g,
basketry, raffia work, c h a i I'
caning, manual training in
wood, and practical agriculture
are now taught. While these
industries were added, no provision
was made for the i I'
extension until 1908, when the
an n u i ty was raised to its
original sum and $14,000 was
given by the General Assembly
for a farm, improvements, and
d I' a ina g e. The industrial
work has been made po ible
largely becau e 0 f m 0 n e y
received from the Peabody and
Slater Educational Fun d .
The sum received from the e
sources are not guaranteed for
any number of years. and even if they were they are by no
means sufficient to run the industrial department.
All the 550 tudent are engaged in indu trial work, which
takes many more teachers than literary work.
The force of teachers is only eighteen (18) for all departments.
Every girl is able to make her own dre ses before she
leaves the school, and can preparc and serve a meal. The bo~'s
are all given practical instruction, not only by the use of textbooks,
but by actual work in the fields and dairy. They
also take mechanical drawing and learn the u e of tools by
making many useful articles in the manual training department.
While much attention is given °to this industrial work, there
has been no neglect of the development of the minds of the
students, for the faculty realize that no amount of hand training
can compensate for the lack of mind and heart training.
Mind development is the pivot on which all indu trial work
turns.
Being a tate institution it cannot give an." special denominational
training, yet every teacher is a Chri tian and enters
heartily into the work of the Sunday-school. All students
are expected to attend church services Sunday morning and
chapel exercises in the evening. In addition to these, Christian
