Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1903-01-14
VIRGINIA INSTITUTE.

I z.ts.TEs sssfESs
MIR. ii. II. MorrIs,zsof Glade sPrins.
Defends the Management.
To the Editor of the Dispatch:
Under the caption, Its Fata Trembiss,' :
in your issue Of the 9th instant. some
statements are made which beg space TO
notice Virginia Institute. the school for
young women at Bristol. Va. and Tenn.
|5estab lished BY the Bapttsts Of Virginia,
is the subject discussed,
Through bad management and debt.the
school has been thrown into the hands
Iof the court. ]" ETC.. etc. says the article.
This. school was originally chartered
under the name of Southwest Virginia
Institute. It was organized at Glade
Springs. by Rev. J. r. Harrison. In 1884.
land had a most successful career. so far
as patronage and class work were fac
tors. It. however, constantly outgrew its
pactty TO acconlm odate the large num-
bers seeking to enter, and new buildings
were .erected from time to time, until $780,
! tHa were expended and debt Of from s1s.-
600. to S1S.C00 created. $3.50 OF which was
secured by a first mortgage ON the pro-
perty.
In 1890. proposition was made to the
Board OF Trustees by the citizens of the
city of Bristol to move the school to that
place. They proposed to give us bonds
for 10000, maturing in six, twelve; and
tWenty-four months a free site Of ten
acres, and forty building lots in the town
+ of Bristol, Tenn. the only condition inn
posed was that we should erect a build
ing to cost $4,000. The president of one
OF the banks In Bristol stated to our
board1that the bonded subscription would
not be discounted $1,000 "A committee,
s trom4o our hoard was appointed to examine
sites, verify subscription. etc. The mer
at the head Of the movement In Bristol
were among the most conservative. clear
sne;iueu anu successful business men OF
the city. At the time the move was de-
cided9 upon. the forty building lots could
nave been sod TO q land company for
$500 each.
Numerous free sites were offered. but
none SO suitable for the permanent home
of great school as one which was not
offered free. but at a greatly reduced
price. This site was bought by the
board. they paying $500. and private in
dividuals. also in the city of BRISTOL, $4,000
additional II contains ten acres and Is
beyond compare the best In or adjacent
to the city. When our architect had COM
pleted plans for a $4,000 house, It was
found that it would not accommodate
more boarding pupils than the old build
sinss at Glade Springs. Mr.. Harrison, who
Wasfthe founder and the financial agent
Of the school, advised the building COM
mite to add a fourth story to the build
ing for dormitories. which was done at
an additional cost. including pressed brick
front, OF some $4,000. The contractor who
undertook the construction, failed. and
the board was sued by sub-contractor
who recovered S4,OOO. Add to this the cost
of; Steamboat, plumbing, electric wiring
and you approximate the outlay involved
IN the meantime. changes came in the
financial world, and men who had been
wealthy. lost their money in the collapse.
The $4,000 in bonds realized about $50, COO;
the forty building lots became bsoluteiy
worthless. interests accumulated. suits
were instituted costs we're piled up, I'M
til the burden became so heavy that 1t
could not be carried. The cid buildings.
at Glade Spring, having been vacated
by the school, their value so deprecated
that public auction it barely brought
enough to pay the original mortgage Of
So. 500.
It, should be borne in mind that the
school was never designed to make money,
the lows rates for tuition and board be-
ing barely sufficient to ma intain the teach
ing staff, outside collections of voluntary
gifts being relied on to keep up repairs
and make Improvements. The board was
composed largely of the best business
men of Bristol. who have consecrated
their time and their thought to the work,
and with unstinted liberaIity their means
to the management and maintenance OIL
the school. One with adequate knowledge
Of the facts would be slow to charge mis-
management against these men, some of |
whom have almost bankrupted them
selves in their heroic efforts to avert a
calamity which the logic of events made |
During all these years, money |
WAS being constantly contributed by Bris- /
told friends. but the removal to Bristol /
had the effect of creating among former I
friends Of the school in other portions of |
the State the impression that the needs /
of the school no longer required extra (
neous help, and gifts from outside sources t
ceased Other sduea tionaI /
among the Baptists of Viz |
ginia absorbed the attention and secured |
the contributions Of our people at a time /
vital to this school which. without imme- /
date relief could NOT meet the pressing
demands made upon it. Our embarrass-
ment was fastened by the employment of t
q principal. who. coming well recommend
ed. proved utterly unsa tisfactory and I
made an assignment in the middle of the [
term, and his Immediate successor added I
to our difficulties by disbanding his school 7
before the middle OF the school was
reached These contingencies could have I
been foreseen only by those endowed +
with prescience.
ALLOW. word with reference to the +
character and work Of the school. Its
curriculum has been kept equal to the
best and far in advance of many Schools
for women in the South. More than o,oco
have been in its classes during the nine
OF its existence, while less than
forty have received its diploma of full
graduation.
Many ofsthese women now occupy post T
tons OF responsibility and lnfiu- /
ence in educational Institutions in I
this and other States. and wenld
hardly enjoy having their alma ms ter
ella sssd as an "acaderny.' The
writer was chairman OF the Board of I
Trustees from the organization OF the /
school to the time It's corporate existence
va ended by the sale OF the property pn-
der the decree OF the court and makss
these sta tenaants in the interest OF the
aetlial facts. and for the purpose OF cor
reeting the insinuatieE. no doubt unconr
sclously made. by the writer OF the arlir