Education Commons^™

William Henry Ruffner, Ellen Irby Hardy

Master's Theses

Virginia was most fortunate in having as her first Superintendent of Public Instruction, and later, as President of her first Teacher-Training institution, a man who under­ stood the .American ideals of democracy and whose faith in education and its ennobling effect on humanity never wavered.

It has been said that "he lit the torch of educa- tion in Virginia", and "gave local habitation and a name to the great plans of Jefferson." He has been called also, "the founder and father of Virginia's public school system", "the Horace Mann of Virginia", "the interpreter and fulfiller of Jefferson's dream", and "the …