participation in the musical field. Joseph Funk, a German immigrant,
came to Singer's Glen near Harrisonburg near the beginning of
the Nineteenth Century. He established a singing school where he
taught vocal music and published "Choral Music," a collection of
German songs. Aldine Kieffer, a grandson of Funk, created a monthly
musical publication, "Musical Millions," consisting of rural music
and musical hints for singing schools. Kieffer wrote the words and
B. C. Unseld the music to a song which became very popular in the
rural areas of the South: "Twilight Is Falling." In 1883, Theodore
Presser of Lynchburg founded the well-known music publication for
music teachers and pianists called "The Etude." Scholars and music
lovers in various parts of the world have enjoyed the contents of
this publication. F. Flaxington Harker was a Scotsman who came to
America and served as an outstanding choral director in Richmond.
He composed organ compositions, choruses, sacred and secular songs,
anthems and cantatas. A collection of Virginia Folklore Songs,
called "The Traditional Ballads of Virginia," has been compiled by
Arthur Kyle Davis, Jr. and C. Alphonso Smith.
Jenny Lind, "The Swedish Nightingale," afforded Richmonders a thrill
when she appeared in person at the Marshall Theater in 1850. She was
considered an outstanding singer by Virginia music lovers. In 1876,
Thomas Paine Westendorf of Bowling Green wrote the song, "I'll Take
You Home Again, Kathleen," presumably for his wife while she was
mourning the death of her son: she had traveled away from home with
her husband and had become very homesick, prompting him to write the
song as words of encouragement to her.
The composer who is professionally considered as the greatest
native Virginian contributor to the music field is John Powell
of Richmond and Charlottesville. He was an accomplished pianist
and studied in Vienna as well as in the United States. He wrote
"Sonata Virginianesque" for violin and piano (a sonata consisting
of the happy aspects of plantation life before the War between the
States), several overtures and folk-songs. He became nationally
famous for his "Rhapsodie Negre" for piano and orchestra. His
varied talents included the writing of fugues and concertos as well
as the creation of the Virginia State Choral Festival. Powell was
also an enthusiastic participant in the annual White Top Folk Music
Festival. No description of musical contributions of Virginians
would be complete without reference to Joe Sweeney, a native of
Appomattox who invented the five-stringed banjo.
Richard Bales, a native of Alexandria, is a composer-conductor
who arranged a cantata, "The Confederacy," consisting of music
and literary compositions of the Confederate States during the
War between the States. This cantata was so well received that
it inspired him to compose a second one called "The Union" which
consists of music and literary comments concerning the Union forces
during the War between the States. He also composed "The Republic"
which consists of prominent European and American musical trends of
the Eighteenth Century.
Regional festivals and a State Festival for public school bands and
choral groups are held each year. Symphony orchestras furnish superb
musical entertainment regularly in Richmond, Norfolk and Roanoke.
Numerous Virginians have been, and are, active in the music field as
singers of classical, semi-classical and popular tunes of the day.
Thus, contributions to vocal music, instrumental music and musical
forms have been made by natives and residents of Virginia.
Drama--Unlike residents of many of the thirteen original colonies,
Virginia residents delighted in the drama. An Accomack County record
states that a group of non-professionals performed in a play, "Ye
Beare and Ye Cub," as early as 1655. This record is believed to
be the earliest available evidence of an English-speaking play
presented in the American colonies.
Virginia is also proud of the fact that the very first theater
called a playhouse was constructed by William Levingston at
Williamsburg in 1716. Its purpose was to present "Comedies, Drolls,
and other kind of stage plays ... as shall be thought fitt to
be acted there." In spite of its lofty origin, it soon became a
financial loss and, in 1745, the original structure was allotted to
Williamsburg to be used as a town hall.
Six years later, however, a second theater was constructed behind
the Capitol at Williamsburg. The opening play was "Richard III" and
its performers subsequently enacted this play also at Petersburg and
at Fredericksburg. It was at the Williamsburg Playhouse that the
famous Hallams (London Company, later known as the American Company)
first performed in America. The Hallam family--father, mother and
two children--and their supporting cast landed at Yorktown where
they were welcomed by Governor Dinwiddie and a group of his personal
friends. They later traveled to Williamsburg where the playhouse had
received appropriate improvements and alterations in keeping with
the occasion. Their performance was a success as evidenced by the
fact that their play, "The Merchant of Venice," played for eleven
months in Williamsburg.
[Illustration: VIRGINIA STATE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
_Virginia Museum of Fine Arts_]
Other plays including tragedies and comedies, famous and not so
famous, were acted at the Williamsburg Playhouse. Most of the plays
during this period were European plays or American imitation of
European plays. The playhouses themselves were usually wooden
structures with crude benches for the average customers and a few
"less uncomfortable" boxes for the aristocrats. In the winter, the
heat was usually furnished by one stove in the center of the end of
the barn-like structure where the spectators congregated between
the acts. Often, spectators carried their individual footwarmers
with them to assure themselves of comfort during the play. Candles
at first were the sole means of illumination. A custom which was
practiced for many years consisted of the Negro servants arriving
at the playhouse hours before the six o'clock curtain time and
reserving seats for their masters by sitting in the most desirable
areas until the arrival of the masters.
The early drama companies were often organized and managed as a
regular stock company with the importance of the dramatic role
determining the number of shares received by an actor. Another
common method of paying outstanding actors was the holding of a
"benefit" night near the end of the season whereby the receipts of
that night would be given to the individual actor.
The playhouse provided one of the most popular types of amusement
and it soon became a colorful place for gay, social gatherings.
Since Williamsburg was the capital of the colony of Virginia,
during legislative sessions the playhouse was particularly crowded
with important personages of the government and their friends.
George Washington enjoyed dramatic presentations very much and
on numerous occasions visited the Williamsburg Playhouse. Just
before the American Revolution, however, as political, economic and
social relationships between the Americans and the British were
being severely strained, most forms of entertainment including the
playhouse were prohibited. Consequently, the Virginia playhouses
eventually closed and most of the actors and actresses traveled to
foreign shores.
After Governor Thomas Jefferson and numerous other Virginians
believed that Williamsburg was no longer a safe or central location,
the capital of Virginia was moved to the Town of Richmond in 1779.
Seven years later, a new theater in Richmond was opened on Shockoe
Hill. For twenty-five years, this theater was a social gathering
place and a stage background for numerous plays during this period.
On December 26, 1811, tragedy struck this theater when it was
crowded with holiday festive guests at a benefit performance for
the actor, Placide, and his daughter. The entertainment in the
theater usually consisted of a prologue, a feature play, a short
afterpiece and, sometimes, singing or dancing. On this fateful date,
the feature had been completed and the afterpiece was being enacted.
Suddenly, a lamp which was used for creating overhead light was
mistakenly jerked by a pulley, causing it to swing fully lit into
the oil-painted scenery back-drop. Soon the entire theater was a
flaming mass. Seventy-three persons were killed in this tragedy
including Governor George William Smith. This incident caused many
theater-goers to refrain from attending theater performances for
several years because of fear for their personal safety.
Drama in Virginia, consequently, received a serious setback
from this tragedy, but in 1818, a new theater was built through
subscription at Seventh and Broad Streets in Richmond. It was called
the Marshall Theater and was named in honor of Chief Justice John
Marshall who was one of the theater's greatest patrons. Although
this new structure was larger, more conveniently situated and more
safely constructed, fear still kept the large crowds of the earlier
theater from attending. The theater for a time had to depend upon a
famous performer to assure patronage by large numbers. In July 1821,
one of these celebrated performers was Junius Brutus Booth--father
of the American actor, Edwin Booth--who made his American debut at
the Marshall Theater in "Richard III."
By the middle of the Nineteenth Century, Virginia began to
experience the "Golden Age" of its theater. Richmond still was the
center of the drama in Virginia and one of the outstanding dramatic
centers in the United States. The opinion and reaction of Richmond
audiences and critics became respected and noticed throughout
the country. Such well-known actors as Edwin Forrest, William C.
Macready and James W. Wallack played here. On January 2, 1862, the
Marshall Theater burned, but its owner immediately had a new one
called the Richmond Playhouse built on the same site. Its opening
premiere was "As You Like It" starring Ida Vernon and D'Orsay Ogden.
Even though the War between the States was being fought, contrary
to the Revolutionary War period, the theater furnished amusement
and relaxation. Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, and
many of his cabinet members attended this theater and viewed many of
its tragedies which strangely enough seemed to be the type of play
preferred over comedies at this time. One of the favorite actresses
of the soldier audiences was Sally Partington.
As the years passed, additional theaters were built in Virginia
including the Theater of Varieties in Richmond where vaudeville was
first introduced. By the end of the Nineteenth Century, two native
Virginians had become dramatic character actors of national fame:
Wilton Lackaye of Loudoun County and George Fawcett of Fairfax
County. At the turn of the century, Bill Robinson, a native of
Richmond, began his ascent to national and international fame for
his superb dance style and routines, not only in vaudeville but also
in New York plays and, later, in moving pictures.
Early in the Twentieth Century, Francis Xavier Bushman of Norfolk
was one of the early moving picture lead actors. As the movies
improved and increased in their scope, Virginians such as Jack
Hall of Winchester, James H. Bell of Suffolk, Margaret Sullavan
of Norfolk, Randolph Scott of Orange County, Richard Arlen of
Charlottesville, Lynn Bari of Roanoke, Joseph Cotten of Petersburg,
Henry King of Christiansburg, John Payne of Roanoke, Charles Gilpin
of Richmond and Freeman F. Gosden of Richmond became nationally
known for their acting.
Although strong competition of vaudeville, moving pictures, radio
and television undoubtedly has affected the legitimate theater, the
strong desire for legitimate acting still remains and has resulted
in the formation of summer stock companies and numerous Little
Theater groups throughout Virginia. Such groups have become very
active and are found in many cities including Alexandria, Danville,
Lynchburg, Norfolk, Petersburg, Richmond and Staunton. Virginia
colleges and universities also keep the theater alive by sponsoring
dramatics classes, workshops and plays.
Two recent developments of the theater in Virginia are the formation
of the Barter Theater Group and the presentation of historical
plays. The Barter Theater is part of the Barter Colony located at
Abingdon, and this colony consists of the theater, a workshop,
an inn and a dormitory. The colony was established by Robert and
Helen F. Porterfield in 1932 as an attempt to create renewed
interest in legitimate play-acting. An original, unique feature of
the theater and the activity which was directly responsible for
its name was the original ticket purchase price which could be
obtained in exchange for produce or edible commodities--similar to
the old-fashioned barter system of exchange; at present, however,
theater patrons pay money rather than produce for their tickets.
During the winter months, the cast travels in other nearby states as
well as in Virginia. An annual Barter Theater award was established
by Robert Porterfield in 1939 for the "finest performance by an
actor or actress on the current Broadway stage." Such well-known
individuals as Laurette Taylor, Dorothy Stickney, Mildred Natwick,
Ethel Barrymore, Tallulah Bankhead, Louis Calhern, Helen Hayes,
Henry Fonda, Frederic March, Shirley Booth, Cornelia Otis Skinner,
David Wayne, Rosalind Russell, Mary Martin, Ethel Merman and Ralph
Bellamy have received this award. The Barter Theater Award consists
of an acre of land located near Abingdon, a world-famed Virginia ham
and a silver octagonal platter "to eat it off." In addition, the
recipient is given the opportunity to nominate two young dramatic
actors at New York City auditions for acting positions at the Barter
Theater. The Barter Theater, now recognized as the State Theater of
Virginia, is believed to be the only professional theater in the
United States which receives financial aid from a state budget.
Since 1947, an outstanding play, "The Common Glory," written by
Pulitzer Prize Winner Paul Green, has been presented in the summer
at the Lake Matoaka Amphitheater in Williamsburg. The theme of "The
Common Glory" is based upon important historical events from 1774
through 1783 with the famous comments of such American statesmen as
Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston and Patrick
Henry. The realistic performance of this theme in the historical
outdoor, natural setting in Williamsburg near historical Jamestown
and Yorktown is an experience the audience long remembers. Paul
Green also wrote "The Founders," another historical drama in honor
of the three hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of
Jamestown.
Music and drama--from both the creative sense and the participation
sense--still remain an active phase of culture in Virginia.
_Education_
In colonial days in Virginia, education was considered a personal
family matter. A public school, as the term is understood now,
was non-existent. Since England had no national public system of
education until 1833, the Virginia colonists, of whom a majority
were of English descent, did not have any heritage for schools for
the general public. Later, the geographical distances between the
plantations and the gradual development of social classes tended to
discourage public education. The typical child who received formal
education was taught by the family members, privately tutored,
apprenticed for farming, attended a "Pay School" or "Old Field
School" (a community school taught by a teacher paid either by
the individual parents or by a particular patron and located on
relatively poor agricultural land), enrolled in a Latin Grammar
School or attended a fashionable school in London. Only the boys
received the formal education and the girls learned the proper
techniques of performing household tasks and of being a gracious
hostess. Many poor children had no formal education of any kind.
In 1634, the Syms Free School in Elizabeth City County was organized
as a local, free school as a direct result of provisions of a will
whereby two hundred acres of land were provided and free milk and
income from eight cows were included for the support of the school.
Twenty-five years later, Dr. Thomas Eaton of the same county also
endowed a free school and left a five hundred acre estate with
buildings and livestock as the endowment. The endowment also
provided for the maintenance of an "able schoolmaster to educate and
teach the children born within the County of Elizabeth." Later, the
two schools were combined and, by the beginning of the Twentieth
Century, they had been incorporated into the public school system as
the Syms-Eaton Academy.
A few church schools were organized, but they reached a very small
number of children with their enrollment. Orphans and poor children
often received the benefits of apprenticeship training in trade
or industrial schools and eventually had an opportunity to learn
to read and write. By 1775, there were nine free schools endowed
by private philanthropists for the poor and needy. Public schools
at this time in Virginia were considered as schools for paupers,
orphans and needy financial cases rather than schools for the
benefit of the general public. Community tax-supported schools for
the children of the general public were practically unknown.
Until the beginning of the Nineteenth Century, the slaves--both
Negro and Indian--were usually taught religious training and
some primary learning, the amount and type of training depending
upon the individual master. After certain sensational articles
tended to cause discontent and confusion in the minds of some
of these individuals which resulted in sporadic raids and open
dissatisfaction with living conditions, the legislature of Virginia
passed a law making it illegal to teach any slave how to read, write
or do arithmetic.
By the middle of the Nineteenth Century, private academies and
seminaries (for girls) began to replace the early Latin-Grammar
schools. The subjects of English, Latin, science, mathematics,
public speaking, spelling and penmanship were taught. The fine arts
subjects such as painting and music were stressed in the seminaries.
Some of the early academies included Prince Edward Academy (later
became Hampden-Sydney Academy and, eventually, Hampden-Sydney
College), Liberty Hall Academy (later, Washington College and,
eventually, Washington and Lee University), Fredericksburg Academy
(later, Fredericksburg College), Alexandria Academy, Shepherdstown
Academy (later, Shepherdstown College and, eventually, State Normal
School in West Virginia), Central Academy (later, Central College
and, eventually, the University of Virginia), Richmond Seminary
(later, Richmond College), Salem Academy (later, Roanoke College),
Monongahela Academy (later, West Virginia University) and Marshall
Academy (later, Marshall College and, eventually, a State Normal
School in Huntington, West Virginia). These academies are considered
forerunners of public high schools in Virginia because, even as late
as the period immediately prior to the War between the States, there
were very few public schools of any type in Virginia.
Henrico University was the first attempt in Virginia at an
institution for higher learning. The Indian Massacre of 1622 ruined
these conscientious efforts. The first two colleges actually
founded in Virginia were William and Mary College at Williamsburg
founded in 1693--the second oldest college in the thirteen original
colonies--and Washington and Lee University at Lexington founded
in 1749. William and Mary College was founded for the purpose of
providing an opportunity for higher education within the colony
itself; Washington and Lee University--originally known as Augusta
Academy, then Liberty Hall, and, eventually, Washington College
before being renamed Washington and Lee University--was founded to
educate young men in Virginia in a similar fashion to the academies
in England at that time. In 1819, the General Assembly passed a law
allotting $15,000 annually from the Literary Fund to be used for
a state university, the University of Virginia, to be located in
Charlottesville.
As in most states, the early private colleges were usually founded
by religious groups. By the end of the Nineteenth Century,
colleges had been established in Virginia by Presbyterians,
Episcopalians, Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans and
the Brethren Sect. The following institutions were in existence
at this time: the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in
Alexandria, the University of Richmond (Baptist), Hampden-Sydney
College at Hampden-Sydney (Presbyterian), St. Vincent's Seminary
and College at Richmond (Catholic), Emory and Henry College at
Emory (Methodist), Roanoke College at Salem (Lutheran), St. John's
Catholic Academy and Seminary at Norfolk, Mary Baldwin College
at Staunton (for women--Presbyterian), Randolph-Macon College at
Ashland (for men--Methodist), Bridgewater College at Bridgewater
(Brethren), St. Paul's Polytechnic Institute at Lawrenceville
(Episcopalian), the Virginia Theological Seminary and College
at Lynchburg (for Negroes), Randolph-Macon College at Lynchburg
(for women--Methodist), Union Theological Seminary in Virginia at
Richmond (Interdenominational) and Virginia Union University at
Richmond (for Negroes--Baptist).
Other colleges founded in the Nineteenth Century include the Hampton
Institute at Hampton (private--Negro), Medical College of Virginia
at Richmond (state), Hollins College at Hollins (private), Longwood
College at Farmville (state--women), Virginia Military Institute
at Lexington (state), Virginia Polytechnic Institute at Blacksburg
(private) and Virginia State College at Petersburg (Negro). Madison
College was founded in 1908 at Harrisonburg as a private institution
of higher learning and, nine years later, Eastern Mennonite College
was also chartered in Harrisonburg.
The increase of women in colleges became apparent by the Twentieth
Century with the organization of Sweet Briar College at Sweet Briar
(private), Mary Washington College at Fredericksburg (women's
division of the University of Virginia--state), Randolph-Macon
Woman's College at Lynchburg, Lynchburg College at Lynchburg
(coed--Disciples of Christ) and Radford College at Radford (women's
division of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute--state). In
addition, there are seven junior colleges: Stratford at Danville,
Averett at Danville, Southern Seminary and Junior College at Buena
Vista, Sullins at Bristol, Marion at Marion, Virginia Intermont
at Bristol--all colleges for women only. These additional junior
colleges--Shenandoah at Dayton, Bluefield at Bluefield and Ferrum at
Ferrum--are coed institutions.
Public schools were initially supported by a Literary Fund and by
one-half the capitation tax. Gradually, all the capitation or poll
tax money was transferred to the Literary Fund. After the middle of
the Nineteenth Century, some cities and counties in Virginia began
to adopt a system of free schools for the general public. For the
first time, a favorable attitude toward public education on the part
of a majority of the Virginians became apparent. The long-assumed
idea that public schools were charity schools tinged with a social
stigma faded into the background and public education for all the
children began to be widely encouraged. Before much actual progress
along this line was achieved, however, the War between the States
took place. As a result, most of the academies were forced to close
and education for a time became a comparatively minor issue.
After the War between the States, the Underwood Constitution
included a provision requiring public education through the
establishment of a uniform system of free public schools in all
counties of the state. The deadline date for organizing and
establishing such a system was 1876. A State Superintendent of
Public Instruction was elected by the General Assembly, a State
Board of Education was formed, and public education itself was
financed by interest on the Literary Fund, capitation tax revenue,
revenue from state and local property taxes and a state tax on each
male twenty-one years old or over. Reverend William H. Ruffner of
Lexington was the first State Superintendent of Public Instruction
in Virginia.