The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-07-13
BY DIR. DOUGLAS S. FREEMAN.


work of classical study and have broad
ened the portals of the house of knowl-
edge will be apparent to one who will
study the courses announced by the
schools in this section of The Times
Dispatch and compare them with those
offered the boys and girls of the last
generation.
Twenty years ago the curriculum of
the college was narrow, and its courses
relatively limited; the facilities offered
for woman's education were meagre in
the extreme technical education was in
it's infancy; those who wished to study
the advanced problems of any science
knocked in vain at the doors of
Southern colleges; many subjects of
study which are now honored in our
schools were regarded as beyond the
pale of true education.
Achieving the Change.
No single answer will explain this
change or give the reason for this
tremendous expansion in our educa.
tional outlook Rather must we find
the answer in a wide diversity of
conditions, all Of which have contrib
uted to the same end.
Perhaps the most important single
I factor in enlarging the educational
facilities Of the South was the rebellion
against the overpowering and monopo-
listic competition of the Northern and
Eastern schools. While the South, in
that era of poverty which followed the
war, had been battling to restore even
the foundations Of its economic system
the North and East had been enjoying
a reign Of prosperity which was re.
{ Elected in their schools. They had the
means and the inclination to enlarge
their educational facilities, and they
did their utmost. The result was q
broad and complete system of techni
cal schools before the South was fairly
able to rebuild even its classical col
/ leges This, in turn, meant that the
boy or girl who finished his collegiate
for his technical OF for his graduate
work.
Preparing to Train Our Own.
Happily the South was soon aroused
to this condition and determined that
the North should no longer have q
monopoly upon technical and graduate
training. Our college courses were
broadened and made more practical
institutions like V. P. I. took on new
life, special schools for new professions
were established. The South prepared
in short, to train it's own from the time
they entered the kindergarten unit
they were launched into the world
masters of their craft.
4 Dignifying New Callings.
\ A second great factor in establish
ing broader training in the South was
the awakenment Of our people to the
dignity of the new callings Gradually
we came to realize that the masters OF
the classics were not the only educated
men; slowly we came to see that any
subject which added to the culture. the
happiness and the prosperity Of the
people had it's place in our educational
system. Ere long we came to see that
to train the farmer how to grow better
crops and how to improve his soil was
as much education as giving a boy the
key to the ablaut rows or explaining tc
him the binomial theorem.
The Demands of the Graduate Schools
Of equal Importance in broadening
the basis of Southern education was
the progress Of the great universities
4 which demanded of their students
j thorough equipment and high stand
&ards. This movement, our readers viii
&recall, began with the establishment OF
instruction in the Northern
|&nstitutions following the opening OF
FAkhe Johns Hopkins University in 1876