VIRGINIA 



6092 



VIRGINIA 



More than half of the inhabitants of the 

 state are members of tin- Baptist Church; 

 about one-fourth are Methodists, and the re- 

 maining fourth are chiefly of the Presbyterian, 

 Roman Catholic and Episcopal faiths. 



Education. Although there were state funds 

 for the education of the children of the poor 

 whites, there were no regular free schools in 

 Virginia before the War of Secession. In 1870 

 a public school system was established for the 

 education of both white and colored children. 

 The system was under the direction of a board 

 of education consisting of the governor, attor- 

 ney-general and superintendent of public in- 

 struction. In 1902 three experienced educators 



Among the institutions of higher education 

 supported by the state are William and Mary 

 College, founded at Williamsburg in 1693, and 

 with the exception of Harvard the oldest insti- 

 tution of learning in the United States; the 

 state university at Charlottesville, established 

 in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson; the Virginia 

 Polytechnic Institute at Blacksburg; the Vir- 

 ginia Military Institute at Lexington, called the 

 "West Point of the South;" a normal school 

 for white teachers at Farmville and one for 

 negroes at Petersburg, and industrial schools for 

 women at Harrisonburg and Fredericksburg. 

 The Medical College of Virginia at Richmond 

 is partially under state control, and the Hamp- 



PENNSYLVAN IA 



c,.I,,, E N N> ^ iTo R T ^ "C ~~"5^["T~ 



OUTTJXE MAP OP VIRGINIA 



Showing boundaries, navigable rivers, chief cities, mining locations, and the highest point of land 

 in the state. 



ton Normal and Agricultural Institute, an in- 

 dustrial school for negroes and Indians, is aided 

 by the state. 



Among the many private colleges are Wash- 

 ington and Lee University at Lexington, Ran- 

 dolph-Macon Woman's College at Lynchburg, 

 Roanoke College at Salem, Hampden-Sidney 

 College near Farmville, Emory and Henry Col- 

 lege at Emory, Bridgewater College at Bridge- 

 water, Fredericksburg College at Fredericks- 

 burg, Virginia Christian College at Lynchburg, 

 and a Baptist college for negroes at Richmond. 

 There are also academies and seminaries for 

 both boys and girls. 



Institutions of Charity and Correction. All 

 county, municipal and private as well as state 

 institutions of charity and correction are under 

 the control of a state board. State institutions 

 include hospitals for the insane at Williams- 



elected by the senate and one city superintend- 

 ent and one county superintendent were added 

 to the board, and since that date the state 

 superintendent has been elected by the people 

 instead of by the legislature. There is a com- 

 pulsory-education law, and in 1910 fifty-six per 

 cent of the total school population was en- 

 rolled in schools. In this same year 15.2 per 

 cent of the total population was unable to read 

 and write, but this is a lower percentage than 

 the average for the South Atlantic states. 



Departments of agriculture, domestic science 

 and manual training have been established in 

 the high schools. Virginia has led the states 

 in the formation of school and civic leagues in 

 rural school districts. Cooperative educational 

 associations are organized by the citizens to 

 work with the state department of education in 

 the improvement of school buildings. 



