University of Virginia Library

FOREWORD

The period from 1904 to 1919 was, from some points
of view, an interval in the history of the University of
Virginia as vital in its importance as the formative and
experimental period from 1825 to 1842; for it was
during this interval that the revolutionary influences
which sprang up within the precincts after the collapse
of the old order in 1865, reached such a pitch of development
as to make certain the indefinite prolongation
of the changes which those influences had brought
about in the scope and tendencies of the institution.
We are now able to perceive and appraise with accuracy
the new foundations on which the structure of the
University not only rests at this time, but will continue
to rest for an unlimited number of years, in spite of
modifications and expansions in policy which may be
dictated by the course of events. It is the stability of
the conditions which exist today, and the assurance of
their perpetuation, in fundamentals at least, that justify
the fullness with which this period has been treated by
us. And there is still another justification in the fact
that, during this period, the University of Virginia was
a workshop in which all the educational influences
then, and still, shaping the welfare of the Southern
States were in active and successful operation. The
record of the Ninth Period is not simply the record of
a single institution of learning,—it is the record of a
whole people, for that length of time, in the most important
province of their community life. Of this

fact, we have never for a moment lost sight in our contemplation
of each aspect of our subject; and it should
not be forgotten by our readers in valuing the details
which we present, however small their significance apparently
may be, or however cumulatively or voluminously
they may seemingly be set forth.