Author: lpreston@rmc.edu

The Rev. Hezekiah G. Leigh medal shown here, with Reverend Hezekiah G. Leigh on one side and the main building of Randolph-Macon College in Boydton on the reverse side, was produced in 1867 by the College and distributed by the Richmond Christian Advocate, the Methodist newspaper in Virginia, as a means to raise funds for the repair of Randolph-Macon College after the Civil War. Contributors to the fund would receive a medal of Rev. Leigh, Bishop Joshua Soule, or both, depending on the amount of their gift. During this era, memorabilia with images of respected individuals was popular appearing as prints, statues and busts, plates, medals, and other items.

Advertisements for the medals appeared in several publications. The February, 1868 issue of the Southern Planter and Farmer magazine included this one:

“Beautiful Medallion Likenesses of Bishop Soule and Rev. Hezekiah
G. Leigh, D. D.

We are indebted to the courtesy of the President of Randolph Macon College for the above named Medals. These eminent men of God, whose names adorn the annals of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and whose distinguished faithful and efficient labors in the gospel have enshrined their blessed memories as “holy relics” in the hearts of all true Methodists, are most beautifully and artistically expressed in bas-relief likenesses of admirable truthfulness on metalic disks of bright untarnished lustre. These souvenirs are offered to those who contribute to the fund being raised for the repairs of Randolph Macon College, upon the following terms:

A contribution of $2 entitles the donor to the likeness of the Bishop.
A contribution of $1 to that of Dr. Leigh, the founder of the College.
And for three dollars both will be given to the contributor.
Address Rev. S. T. Moorman, care of the Richmond Christian Advocate.”

Unfortunately, funds were still tight in post-war Virginia and very little money was raised this way, so the repairs were never made to the College’s main building in Boydton. The College had closed in 1862 for the duration of the war and although there was no military activity in Mecklenburg County, the College’s main building was occupied for four months by the Union Army at the end of the war and sustained damage, although we have no documentation of the nature and extent of that damage.  The College moved to Ashland in 1868 instead, selling the property in Boydton.

To see this item or other materials pertaining to the history of Randolph-Macon College, contact us at archives@rmc.edu.

Although freshmen are generally known as “rats” at most colleges, Freshmen at R-MC have been called “fish” since at least the 1890s. Although we do not know the exact origin or first use of “fish” to refer to freshmen, the first Yellow Jacket yearbook in 1899 refers to “big fish, little fish and a few minnows.”  One legend surrounding this says that the appearance of our freshmen on campus often coincided with major rainstorms from hurricanes and tropical storms that led to major flooding on campus, hence the name “fish.” The campus and the streets surrounding it were prone to significant flooding before major work on drainage was done, and photos in the College archives from the 1960s show students rowing down Henry Street.

The “fish cap” or freshman beanie, such as the one shown here, was required to be worn publicly by all freshmen during the Fall semester to distinguish them from returning students. Upperclassmen would make freshmen carry their books, drop and do pushups on command, and many other activities now banned as hazing. The freshmen had one hope: if the R-MC football team beat Hampden-Sydney, freshmen could remove the beanie early saving themselves from several more weeks of hazing.

To learn more about this tradition, contact us at archives@rmc.edu

One of the many notable collections in the Flavia Reed Owen Special Collections and Archives is the Methodist Collection, the historic archive of the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church. Music has always been important part of Methodist church services, and the collection includes numerous hymnals.

This rare 1820 hymnal (only 4 known copies in libraries) was owned by Gabriel Poillon Disosway, a native New Yorker who became perhaps the strongest proponent for a college to be established by the Virginia Conference, ultimately leading to Randolph-Macon College in 1830. Disosway graduated from Columbia University in 1819 and came to Petersburg, where he was a great friend of Rev. Hezekiah Leigh and it has been hypothesized that Disosway is the one who most strongly influenced Leigh into pushing for a Methodist college in Virginia. Disosway was appointed to the committee formed in 1825 that looked at founding a college, although he left Virginia to return to New York in 1828 before the college became a reality. His original signature can be seen in the upper right hand corner of this title page, while the penciled name to the left of it was added later by someone else. It is unknown whether he left the hymnal behind when he went back to New York, gave it to a friend, or passed it on later to someone in Virginia.

Another rare hymnal in the collection, also with only 4 known copies in libraries, is this 1825 volume collected by Rev. Lewis Skidmore, of “…the latest social and camp-meeting hymns….” Camp meetings were evangelical religious gatherings held outdoors that were of particular importance in the spread of Methodism in the nineteenth century, and music played a big role at these revival meetings.

To learn more about the Virginia Methodism Collection, please visit https://library.rmc.edu/library/specialcollections or email archives [at] rmc.edu.

Since its earliest days in Boydton, the College has published a catalog outlining the course of study, listing the faculty, and including a wide range of information that has changed over the years.  The oldest original in the College Archives is from October 1839, although we have a photocopy of the 1836 catalog held at an archive elsewhere. The catalogs provide us an excellent overview of the changes in the curriculum over time, as well as a glimpse into student life.

The 1839 catalog is only 14 pages, compared to contemporary R-MC catalogs of over 200 pages. Included is a full list of the College’s trustees, faculty, alumni, and enrolled students. The student listing even indicates the dormitory room in which they lived! There is also a listing of the students in the College’s Preparatory Department, the course of study for the Preparatory Department and for each term of college level study, information on the school calendar, expenses, and other general information, such as a statement on the final page that the “College discipline is mild and parental, but it will not tolerate indolence or vice” and that “no idle, disorderly, or immoral student can be permitted to remain….”

The catalog page displayed above shows the rigor of the curriculum and the emphasis on a classical education. Freshman read Virgil, Cicero, and Livy, and studied mathematics and geography. The right hand column indicates the author or editor of the text used, so in addition to knowing the content of the course, we know the textbooks students used and we even have several student textbooks from this era in our collection!  Upperclassmen studied subjects including   astronomy, chemistry, calculus, logic, political economy, mineralogy, and more classical studies.

In addition to the President, Landon C. Garland who taught Pure and Mixed Mathematics, there were seven other faculty members, although the position of Professor of Moral and Mental Philosophy, which translates today into Religious Studies, was vacant. There were professors for Ancient Languages, English Literature, and Experimental Sciences as well as “tutors” in Mathematics and languages. The tutors were instructors rather than the modern definition of tutors. The final faculty member was the principal of the preparatory school.

Tuition was $35 for the entire year, and board was set at $8 per month. Other student expenses included firewood, lights, bedding and laundry, and a category labeled “incidental expenses” at $15 which included textbooks and purchasing furniture for their dorm rooms, as the College did not provide furniture. The catalog also cautions parents against providing too much pocket money, deeming it potentially hurtful!

Learn more about the history of Randolph-Macon College.

Three important items that give a snapshot of the physical layout of the College during the Depression are the 1932, 1938, and 1941 fire insurance surveys. As many local historians know, fire and property insurance records often provide details and information about communities and structures that are not easily located in other resources, and this is true of the R-MC insurance documents.

In addition to the value of each structure, the descriptions and details on the buildings include information that varies with each structure: the type of construction and materials used; the function of the building and in some cases, changes since the last insurance assessment; building layout and room use; the physical condition of the building; the building’s location; and who occupied the structure.

While the 1932 insurance inventory is brief and primarily lists buildings, values, and points out safety problems that should be resolved (don’t store cleaning supplies under wooden staircases!), the 1938 and 1941 inventories include much more information as well as photographs, which in some cases are the only visual representations we have of some structures such as storage buildings, garages, and yes, the corn crib, stables, and chicken houses!

The 1938 inventory indicates that the building designated as Cottage #7 “…was formerly a dormitory and lunch room but is now not used except one room on first floor which is occupied by one of the students who sells ice cream to other students on the campus.”   Also, one of the garages since the 1932 inventory “…has been enlarged to accommodate a school bus….”  The Gymnasium Building (Crenshaw) was used “solely as a Gymnasium, except for occasional school dances.”  Washington-Franklin Hall, now home to the History Department, was the Administrative Building. The Washington Room and the Franklin Room on the first floor were used by the College’s two literary societies while the second floor housed all of the administrative offices, the college book store, and the Y.M.C.A. rooms. The Y.M.C.A., the Young Men’s Christian Association, was one of the largest student organizations.

One of the fun things to notice in the insurance photos is the cars parked right by the buildings. During that time period, students and faculty just drove up to the buildings and parked,  whether there were drives and parking areas or not. There were so few cars on campus that parking was very convenient!

These inventories provide a great overview of the campus and add to our understanding of how it has evolved over time.