January Program

VMI Superintendent Francis H. Smith’s 1858 European Tour
Monday, January 25th, 2010
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Where: Nichols Engineering Hall Auditorium, Virginia Military Institute
Speaker: Col. Edwin L. Dooley

On Monday, January 25th, at 7:30 pm, the Rockbridge Historical Society will present its first public history program for 2010 in the Auditorium of Nichols Engineering Hall, at VMI. The event is free and open to the public. Col. Edwin L. Dooley, retired teacher and historian from VMI, will be the speaker, and will offer new insights into Gen. Smith’s personality, opinions, and beliefs as revealed in his letters written home during his European tour.

VMI’s first Superintendent (the equivalent of a civilian college president) was Francis Henney Smith.  He was born on 18 October 1812 and spent his childhood in Norfolk, Virginia.  He was graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1833, and served there as an Assistant Professor in 1834-35. 

Smith married Sarah Henderson at West Point in 1835, and they subsequently had seven children.  He resigned his commission in 1836 and became a teacher of mathematics at Hampden-Sydney College.

Smith’s connection with VMI began in early May of 1839, when, at the age of twenty-six, J.T.L. Preston offered him the position of Principal Professor and Commandant of the new college, soon to be established in Lexington at the site of a state arsenal.  He would become VMI’s Superintendent, and lead the school for fifty years, until his retirement in 1889.

During his tenure, Gen. Smith shaped and molded VMI with clearly established goals for cadets.  They would be educated as citizen-soldiers, with an academic emphasis on math, science, and engineering.  Graduates would be encouraged to pursue careers in teaching and engineering for the good of the Commonwealth, in addition to serving in the militia.

In 1858, after nearly twenty years at VMI, Gen. Smith needed some time off.  He was granted a leave of absence by the Board of Visitors to travel to Europe to visit military, scientific, and agricultural institutions in Europe, and to write a report on his findings upon his return.

Smith and several VMI cadets departed on the 9th of June and returned at the end of December 1858, having visited Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and Italy.  Each night, he wrote a letter home to his wife, Sarah, describing what he had experienced that day.  These missives, possibly his only surviving personal letters, were transcribed into three small letter-books on his return, revealing new insights into his personality, opinions, and beliefs.

Over the years the three letter-books passed down through the family, but sadly one was lost.  Now, Col. Alexander Morrison, retired professor of Economics at VMI, 1939 VMI graduate, and descendant of Gen. Smith, has made these priceless documents available, so that Col. Ed Dooley has been able to transcribe and annotate the two that survived – covering the United Kingdom and France. They are available on the VMI Archives website, which can be accessed at www.vmi.edu, click on Library, and then click on Archives.

About the Speaker

Col. Edwin L. Dooley is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Arizona. He was named a Woodrow Wilson Fellow in 1964-1965 and earned the MA degree at the University of Virginia.

He joined the VMI History Department in 1968, where he taught for four years and was Director of the VMI Museum. An avid student of VMI history, Dooley has published articles on Gen. Francis H. Smith and was the co-author of a biography of Claudius Crozet.

In 1972, he became VMI Public Information Officer, a post he held until 1977, when he resigned to become Museum Programs Coordinator in Virginia for the National Endowment for the Arts, and a year later, Director of the Virginia Historical Society, in Richmond.

In 1980, Dooley returned to the Institute as Director of Institutional Planning and Assistant to the Superintendent, in which capacity he has served five Superintendents. He served as VMI’s first Coordinator of International Programs and established exchange programs with the Ecole Polytechnique of France and the Estonian Public Service Academy. He was also an instructor in French in the Modern Language Department.

He received the Institute’s Distinguished Service Award in 1986 and the VMI Achievement Medal in 1998.

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2009 Victorian Christmas Open House
at Campbell House Well Attended

Alexander T. Sloan (Fred Bloom) and his wife Elinor (Michele Cunningham) welcome Santa (Jeff Mohler) to their parlor during the Rockbridge Historical Society Victorian Open House on Saturday, December 12 (Warren photo).

Rockbridge Historical Society held its annual salute to the season by presenting Its Victorian Christmas Open House on Saturday, December 12th.

Mrs. Cristina Mimes and her daughters Anneka and Metta play the organ and sing Christmas Carols along with Rebekah Thompson as part of the Victorian Open House (Warren photo).

Historic Campbell House was festively decorated in the spirit of the season in the fashion of bygone times by the Lexington Garden Club.

There was a Christmas Tree, live music, refreshments,and costumed interpreters. A special visit from Santa Claus highlighted the event. More than 100 visitors attended this year's event.