realist was John Esten Cooke. He was a native of Winchester and
a brother of Philip P. Cooke. He exemplifies the many Virginians
who--even after the Confederacy had ended, the plantation system
had been transplanted by the merchant class system and the States'
Rights theory had dissolved into a type of nationalism--still
clung to the idea of rebuilding or establishing another similar
social system in the late 1880's. Cooke used his literary talents
to glorify the plantation type of living and the heroic, military
deeds of the war itself. He is sometimes regarded as an author who
looked "backward" rather than at the present or toward the future.
By the age of twenty-four, Cooke had completed and had published a
two-volume novel, "The Virginia Comedians," a historical romance,
"Leather Stocking and Silk" and another historical, romantic novel,
"The Youth of Jefferson." He also contributed several newspaper and
periodical articles. His biography, "Life of Stonewall Jackson,"
was later increased in scope and published under the new title,
"Surry of Eagle's-Nest." He wrote novels with extreme rapidity
and, consequently, he did not take time for literary refinement
as many authors do. His other written works include "Virginia: A
History of the People," "Stories of the Old Dominion," "Mohun"
and "The Virginia Bohemians." However, he is usually considered
the outstanding historical novelist and biographer of the period
directly following the War between the States.
Moncure Daniel Conway, a native of Stafford County, may be
classified as a writer for the minority. He used forceful language
to arouse interest in reforms in which only a minority of the
Virginians believed at the time. He wrote a pamphlet in 1850
entitled "Free Schools in Virginia" in which he voiced a strong
appeal for public education. He became a minister and used the
pulpit as a place to advocate anti-slavery movements to such an
extent that he was dismissed from his position as pastor of the
Unitarian Church in Washington. He wrote many short articles in
pamphlet form about anti-slaveryism. In 1861, he published a volume
of similar information entitled, "The Rejected Stone, by a Native of
Virginia." He spent the rest of his life writing more than seventy
books and traveling in Europe where he made his home in England.
Among his best-known books are "Life of Thomas Paine," "Omitted
Chapters of History: Disclosed in the Life and Papers of Edmund
Randolph," "George Washington and Mount Vernon" and "Barons of the
Potomac and the Rappahannock."
Father Abram Joseph Ryan of Norfolk is considered the greatest
Virginia poet of the period immediately following the War between
the States. He is often referred to as the "Laureate of the South."
Using his pen name, "Moina," he specialized in war lyrics which were
soon memorized by Southerners in general. His two most popular poems
were "The Conquered Banner" and "Sword of Robert E. Lee."
Virginius Dabney, a native of Gloucester County, was an ex-lawyer
who taught and wrote. His most famous novel was "The Story of Don
Miff" which described the life of the plantation owners prior to
the War between the States. His last novel before his death was
"Gold That Did Not Glitter."
Father John Banister Tabb was a native of Amelia County who became a
personal friend of the poet, Sidney Lanier. His "Poems," "Lyrics,"
"Child Verse" and "Later Lyrics" are still popular reading for
poetry-lovers.
Christopher P. Cranch should be mentioned for his translation of
Virgil's "Aeneid" into English in 1875. Like George Sandys who
translated Ovid's "Metamorphoses," Cranch's translation promoted
better understanding of the "Aeneid" on the part of Americans.
Thomas Nelson Page, a native of Hanover County, became famous from
a literary viewpoint when he published in 1887 six stories in a
book called "In Ole Virginia." The first story is called "Marse
Chan," and is written in Negro dialect. Page, like John Cooke,
wrote pleasingly, though not entirely accurately, about conditions
in the South after the War between the States. His writings served
as a tonic to the depressed and hard-struggling Virginians who
were striving to rebuild their state to its former prosperous
status. Page also wrote "Two Little Confederates" for juvenile
reading and non-fiction articles as well as fiction ones. Some of
the non-fiction ones include "The Old Dominion: Her Making and Her
Manners," "The Old South" and "Robert E. Lee: Man and Soldier."
Mary Johnston, born at Buchanan, is sometimes classified as a
transitional writer as she wrote at the end of the Nineteenth
Century and also at the beginning of the Twentieth Century. She
is considered a writer of historical realism although originally
she began writing as a romanticist. Her writings included "To Have
and To Hold," "Prisoner of Hope," "Cease Firing," "The Long Roll,"
"The Slave Ship," "The Great Valley," "Hagar," "Silver Cross,"
"Croatan," "Michael Forth" and "The Exile." She lived near Warm
Springs when she wrote the last six books, and she utilized the
style of mysticism in these works. Her style was a great contrast to
the earlier hero-worshiping and glorification of ante-bellum days in
Virginia.
John Fox, Jr. of Big Stone Gap used the Cumberland Mountain
residents for the characters of his novel, "The Trail of the
Lonesome Pine." A visitor to Bound Gap may view the countryside
described in this book and still see the spot where the evergreen
tree, reputed to be the original Lonesome Pine, stood. The
activities of the mountain folk themselves and his own mining
experiences in West Virginia mines furnished John Fox, Jr., with
most of his plot sequences. His other two most well-known novels are
"The Kentuckians" and "The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come."
Virginia Hawes Terhune, a native of Dennisville, Amelia County, and
mother of Albert Payson Terhune, used the nom-de-plume of "Marian
Harland." She wrote newspaper articles about household activities
and travel books, fiction books and a famous cookbook. Her last book
was "The Carringtons of High Hill."
William Cabell Bruce, a native of Charlotte County, was a
distinguished author who was editor of the "University of Virginia
Magazine" and who won the Pulitzer Prize for biography in 1918. His
prize-winning biography was "Benjamin Franklin, Self-Revealed."
Ellen Glasgow, a native of Richmond, was one of the most
distinguished modern American novelists. She wrote her first novel
at the age of eighteen and chose this type of work for her career.
In an era of sentimental and romantic writing, she dared to inject
severe realism. She has sometimes been characterized as a romantic
realist having no hesitation in frankly portraying weaknesses as
well as the strength of her beloved Virginia. Her novels depicted
scenes of the South and featured a broad background, rather than a
comparatively small segment of people or a few isolated places. In
her novels, Miss Glasgow presents a social history of Virginia from
about 1851 to 1945. Her writings include "The Voice of the People,"
"The Battle-Ground," "The Deliverance," "The Romance of a Plain
Man," "The Miller of Old Church," "Virginia," "Life of Gabriella,"
"Barren Ground," "The Romantic Comedians," "They Stooped to Folly,"
"The Sheltered Life," "Vein of Iron" and "In This Our Life." She
published her first two volumes anonymously: "The Descendant" and
"Phases of an Inferior Planet." Her last novel, "In This Our Life,"
won the Pulitzer Prize in 1942.
Another native of Richmond, James Branch Cabell, was the author of
thirty books classified as satirical fiction and essays. He had
a tremendous imagination which, coupled with his constant use of
symbolism and ridicule, resulted in a most unusual style of writing:
literature of disillusionment. In eighteen volumes he created
an imaginary land of Poictesme and traced the "Biography of Don
Manuel." After Cabell finished this lengthy biography, he omitted
the name, James, from his name and simply used the name, Branch
Cabell. An autobiography, "These Restless Heads," was signed in this
manner. Later he wrote autobiographical essays entitled "Quiet,
Please" and once more began to use his full name, James Branch
Cabell.
[Illustration: VIRGINIA STATE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
_White House of the Confederacy_]
Douglas Southall Freeman, a native of Lynchburg, is considered
the greatest Virginian biographer. He was editor of the Richmond
"News-Leader" from 1915 to 1949. In 1935, Dr. Freeman won the
Pulitzer Prize for his four-volume biography, "R. E. Lee." He also
wrote a supplement of three volumes, entitled "Lee's Lieutenants,"
which was exceptionally well received. He wrote "The South to
Posterity" and was in the process of completing the sixth volume of
his biography of "George Washington" at the time of his death in
1953. In this same year another Virginian, David J. Mays, won the
Pulitzer Prize for the biography, "Edmund Pendleton, 1721-1803."
[Illustration: RICHMOND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
_Virginia State Library Building_
(_Including Supreme Court of Appeals_)]
Emily Clark, a native of Richmond, founded and edited a literary,
monthly magazine entitled "Reviewer." Her most well-known work is
"Innocence Abroad," written in 1931. Craddock Edmunds, a native of
Halifax, specialized in poetry with such titles as "Ulysses and
Other Poems," "Mass," "Geese Are Swan," "Poems," "The Renaissance"
and "Five Men."
Virginius Dabney, grandson of the earlier author, Virginius Dabney,
was born at Lexington. He is known for outstanding editorial writing
for the Richmond "Times-Dispatch" and was awarded the 1948 Pulitzer
Prize for this field of literature. In addition to his editorials,
he also wrote "Liberalism in the South" and "Below the Potomac."
Julian R. Meade, a native of Danville, became a literary figure
through publication of his book entitled, "I Live in Virginia."
Since his style was characterized by romanticism combined with
realism, this book caused much controversy among its local readers.
Having horticulture as an avocation, Meade wrote a witty yet
sarcastic book on gardening called "Adam's Profession and Its
Conquest by Eve" and a novel on gardening called "Bouquets and
Bitters."
Clifford Dowdey, a native of Richmond, started his literary career
as an editorial writer in New York City. One of his first best
sellers was "Bugles Blow No More" which resulted in his being
awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. As he traveled throughout the
United States, he wrote "Gamble's Hundred," "Sing for a Penny,"
"Tidewater," "Where My Love Sleeps," "Experiment in Rebellion" and
"Weep for My Brother." He also wrote a book, "The Land They Fought
For: The Story of the South as the Confederacy, 1831-1865."
It is difficult to select the outstanding writers of a contemporary
period because of the effect of the passage of time, the varied
reaction of the reading public, and the detailed factors included in
a keen analysis of types of literature. Numerous current Virginians
have been accepted by the reading public with some of the best
known being Dr. Thomas Jefferson Wertenbaker, Dr. Robert Douthat
Meade, Agnes Rothery, Arthur Kyle Davis, Jr., John Wayland, Thomas
T. Waterman, Mary Thurman Pyle, Murrell Edmunds, John H. Gwathmey,
Leigh Hanes, M. Clifford Harrison, Helen Jones Campbell, Robert
Selph Henry, Colonel William A. Couper and Dr. Charles Turner.
The "Commonwealth" Magazine, published monthly by the Virginia
State Chamber of Commerce, the "Virginia and the Virginia County"
Magazine, published monthly by the League of Virginia Counties
and the "Virginia Cavalcade" Magazine, published quarterly by the
Virginia State Library furnish excellent articles on domestic
problems and progress in the Commonwealth.
The Virginia State Library located in Richmond was founded for
the free use of the residents of Virginia as a general library
with primary emphasis upon reference service. The library houses
an extensive collection of books, maps, public documents, private
papers and manuscripts in a variety of subject matter areas. The
State Library also provides an interlibrary loan plan and includes
Administration, Publication, General Library, Archives, Extension
and Historical Divisions. The present library structure was
dedicated in 1941 and cost one and one-half million dollars. It
includes a photographic laboratory, a work facility for restoring
rare books and worn manuscripts, a facility for cleaning and
fumigating reading materials, individual study nooks and rooms, an
attractive entrance hall with a mural and several display cases as
well as the typical reading rooms, offices, and book stacks. The
Virginia State Library is well-equipped staff-wise and facility-wise
for rendering unusual cultural services for the Commonwealth.
_Art and Sculpture_
Art--The early colonists found little time for engaging in the
arts. Nevertheless, a beginning in art was made. For example, John
White (sometimes referred to as Johannes Wyth), the grandfather of
Virginia Dare, made water color sketches portraying the life of the
native Indians in the area.
Various handicrafts were pursued from time to time. When Sir
Christopher Newport came to Virginia, he included in his group
some Polish and Dutch glassmakers. When the terrible winter of
1610 caused the death of a majority of the colonists at Jamestown,
glassmaking came temporarily to an end. Another early attempt was
the making of glass beads as a bartering item for the Indians,
but the massacre of 1622 ended these ventures. Other handicrafts
generally introduced in the colony included weaving, potterymaking,
wigmaking, tanning, pewter making and cobbling. Williamsburg
eventually became the center of such handicrafts.
In the Eighteenth Century, numerous European artists visited
America. As they toured from one colony to another, they often
made prolonged visits in communities where their artistic talents
were appreciated. Not only did they sometimes sell their personal
paintings, but they were often hired to paint important personages
in such communities and members of individual families. In 1734,
Charles Bridges, an English artist, arrived in Williamsburg: his
reputation for portrait painting spread rapidly after he had
painted portraits of the children of William Byrd II. He also
painted a picture of Reverend James Blair, the first President of
the College of William and Mary.
John Wollaston, Jr., another British artist, came to Williamsburg
and earned the title, "The Almond-Eyed Artist," because he painted
the eyes of his subjects with a peculiar slant toward the nose.
Portraits of Betty Washington Lewis, sister of George Washington,
and her husband, Colonel Fielding Lewis, and of Lawrence Washington,
half-brother of George Washington were drawn by Wollaston.
In 1785, Jean Antoine Houdon, a distinguished French sculptor,
arrived at Mount Vernon to fulfill a commission of the Virginia
State Legislature to make a statue of George Washington. After a
year of personal observation of Washington at Mount Vernon and an
analysis of Washington's facial characteristics, he created a life
mask of Washington's face and made specific measurements of his
body. Washington was 53 years old at this time and was six feet, two
inches in height. Houdon then returned to France and proceeded to
carve a Carrara marble statue of his subject. In 1796, the "Figure
of George Washington" was placed beneath the dome of the rotunda
of the State Capitol. This statue portrays Washington dressed in
military uniform with small battle weapons and a plowshare located
at his feet and with his left arm on a fasces (a bundle of rods
enclosing an ax to symbolize power or authority). This particular
pose is believed to have been selected by Houdon after he had
observed Washington in a bargaining bout for a yoke of oxen. When
Washington heard what he considered an outrageous price requested
for the oxen, he exclaimed loudly his opinion of this proposal
with his arm outstretched on a fence post. Houdon is said to have
witnessed this incident and to have tried immediately to capture
this pose of Washington's facial characteristics for his statue. A
statue of LaFayette sculptured by Houdon is also included in one of
the niches in the encircling wall of the rotunda section and a bust
of Washington by Houdon is also located at Mount Vernon.
After Washington had become a member of the Masonic Lodge in
Alexandria, the lodge members asked William Williams, a New Yorker,
to paint Washington "as he is." The pastel portrait which he
painted caused much controversy: some individuals considered it
cruel and unartistic, others considered it realistic and the only
true likeness of Washington. Williams had even included the scars
on Washington's face which were remnants of a scarlet fever siege
which Washington had endured. This portrait is in the Masonic Museum
in the Masonic Temple Lodge in Alexandria. Williams also made a
portrait of "Light Horse Harry" Lee, but this one did not cause
controversy as did the one of Washington.
After the Revolutionary War had ended in America, the artists of
Virginia and the other ex-colonies of England were influenced by
classicism in art in Europe. Many of America's foremost artists of
this time traveled to Europe to study this new art movement and
were taught by Benjamin West who had set up a school in London. One
of his best known students was Charles Willson Peale, who painted
a full-length portrait of William Pitt. Peale came to Virginia and
soon became well known for his individual and group portraits,
silhouettes and miniatures of outstanding Virginians. His portraits
of William Henry Harrison and of Lafayette are considered artistic
gems. Peale's most famous portrait is his painting of George
Washington, clothed in the military garb of a colonel.
Gilbert Stuart is usually considered the finest American painter of
the post-Colonial period. Important Virginians whom he painted were
George Washington, Colonel John Tayloe, John Randolph of Roanoke
and James and Dolly Madison. Most of his paintings were done at
Washington soon after it became the national capital city.
In 1807, a Frenchman, Julien F. de Saint-Memin, visited Richmond for
approximately one year. He used a machine called a physionotrace
which enabled him to make profile drawing in white chalk and
in crayon. He acquired the technique of getting these drawings
etched on copper plates which allowed him to make fine miniature
engravings. One of his most famous art works is an etched view of
the waterfront at Richmond.
Benjamin West Clinedinst, a native of Woodstock, is particularly
remembered by Virginians for his great panorama painting of the
Battle of New Market. Since he had received his education at the
Virginia Military Institute, he had a very strong esprit de corps
for this battle in which 257 cadets from V. M. I, helped General
John Breckinridge at the cost of ten students killed and forty-seven
wounded. Over the rostrum of the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hall
at the Virginia Military Institute is a huge canvas painting
by Clinedinst portraying a panorama of the charge of the cadet
corps at this historic Battle of New Market. In addition to his
portrait painting, Clinedinst furnished numerous book and magazine
illustrations.
Sculpture--Sculpture did not really develop fully in Virginia until
the Nineteenth Century. Alexander Galt of Norfolk was one of the
earliest sculptors in this region. Although he died before his
artistic ability had been fully developed, his memorable life-size
white marble figure of Thomas Jefferson is located inside the
Rotunda at the University of Virginia.
In 1865, Edward Virginius Valentine, a native of Richmond who had
traveled and studied throughout Europe, came back to his home town.
He created not only great sculptures but many unusual sculptures:
the bronze figure of General Hugh Mercer in Fredericksburg, a
bronze bust of Commodore Matthew Fontaine Maury located in the
Virginia State Library at Richmond, a bust of John Jasper, a Negro
preacher, located in the Sixth Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Richmond,
a marble statue of Thomas Jefferson in the lobby of a Richmond
hotel, an ornate bronze statue of Jefferson Davis in a speaking
position on Monument Avenue in Richmond and a bronze statue of
"Stonewall" Jackson at the grave of "Stonewall" Jackson in the
Lexington Presbyterian Cemetery. At Washington and Lee University
located in Lexington is the Lee Memorial Chapel. Behind the altar
in this chapel is an internationally famous white marble, recumbent
"Figure of Lee" which Valentine created. Because of its recumbent
position, symbolic of General Lee resting on a battlefield cot,
this statue is considered most unique. For thirty years, Valentine
used the original carriage house of the Mann S. Valentine House in
Richmond as an art studio. When the Valentine House was acquired
by the City of Richmond and was finally opened to the public for
visitation, many of Valentine's original sculptures were grouped in
the collection, including the plaster cast of his famous recumbent
statue of Robert E. Lee.
Sir Moses Ezekiel, a sculptor and a soldier, was a native Virginian,
but he studied and maintained his residence abroad for most of his
life. However, there are many examples of his fine artistic talent
in his native state. In the center of the Rotunda at the University
of Virginia is a bronze figure of Thomas Jefferson placed upon
a pedestal which is in the shape of the Liberty Bell; thus, the
work of Sir Ezekiel is called the Liberty Bell Statue of Thomas
Jefferson. Ezekiel has another bronze statue on the same campus
known as the Statue of Homer which portrays a boy with a lyre
sitting against the knee of Homer. Major John Warwick Daniel was
a United States Senator from Virginia who was noted for his great
oratorical ability. After he was severely wounded in the Battle of
the Wilderness, he became a cripple and was nicknamed "The Lame Lion
of Lynchburg." Ezekiel designed a statue located at Lynchburg in
honor of Major Daniel which shows him seated and holding a crutch.
Ezekiel, like Clinedinst, was a cadet at the Virginia Military
Institute during the War between the States and was present at the
Battle of New Market in which the V. M. I. Cadets participated.
In front of the Nichols Engineering Hall at the Virginia Military
Institute is a bronze seated figure of "Virginia Mourning Her Dead,"
known also as the "New Market Monument." Ezekiel is buried in
Arlington National Cemetery, not far from the "Confederate Memorial"
monument of bronze which he created.
William Ludwell Sheppard, a sculptor, created numerous well-known
statues, including a bronze one of Governor William Smith located on
the north side of Capitol Square in Richmond, "The Color-Bearer,"
a bronze haut-relief, the "Soldiers' and Sailors'" Monument and the
Statue of General A. P. Hill--all located in Richmond.
Augustus Lukeman, a Richmonder who later moved to New York City,
made the portrait bust of Jefferson Davis in the United States
Capitol. A Norfolk native, William Couper, molded a bronze statue of
Captain John Smith at Jamestown and a bronze statue of Dr. Hunter H.
McGuire, a brilliant Winchester doctor, on the north side of Capitol
Square in Richmond. He also designed a Norfolk Confederate Soldier
Monument.
Many sculptors who were born outside of Virginia have used events
and personalities of Virginia as their subjects. Charles Keck
executed a bronze group of statues of Meriwether Lewis and William
Clark, the two explorers of the Northwest, which may be seen at
Charlottesville. Lewis and Clark are shown gazing at the horizon,
with their famous woman guide, Sacajawea, not far behind them. At
Monument Terrace in Lynchburg is another bronze statue designed by
Keck, "Statue of a Doughboy," representing the forty-seven soldiers
from Lynchburg killed in World War I. Keck also created the statue
of John Tyler located in the Capitol Rotunda at Richmond.
There is a George Rogers Clark Memorial in Charlottesville designed
by Robert Aitken. It consists of a bronze equestrian statue of
George Rogers Clark surrounded by a group of Indians and scouts.
Six statues depicting the Virginia-born Presidents of the United
States found in the Capitol Rotunda are "William Henry Harrison"
carved by Charles Beach, "Woodrow Wilson" by Harriet Frishmuth,
"James Monroe" and "Thomas Jefferson" by Attilio Piccirilli and
"James Madison" and "Zachary Taylor" by F. William Sievers.