—October 1917 Bulletin1
The Great War brought significant changes to several areas of study at FSNS. The war brought up issues like patriotism and food conservation, as well as the importance of the French language and being attuned to world events.
Patriotism
One major area of focus was on “Patriotism through Local History.” The school hoped that by teaching students about local heroes and heroines, the students would be inspired to contribute as much as they could and in any way possible to the war effort: “The world has moved, and to those who stay at home is given an opportunity . . . to awaken through the heroes and heroines of a locality the spirit of American democracy.”2
Aileen Turner, the FSNS English Department head, proposed to modernize literature and inspire patriotism in students by studying texts with themes and ideals relevant to the war. These “American Ideals for Young Americans” for students to study in literature courses included: freedom and democracy, the preamble of the Declaration of Independence, love of country, pioneer spirit, home and village life, dignity of work, intolerance against race antagonism, and peace and war.3
As part of the “modernization” of literature, Mrs. Turner also proposed placing a strong emphasis on teaching students to love poetry. She believed that “the poetry that [had] come out of the trenches” of the war was unique, and that the war strengthened the spirit of international friendship in poetry. The poetic works for students to study contained many important themes: spirit of freedom, hatred of tyranny, human behavior under stress of heroism, unconquerable confidence, courage, unfaltering faith and effort, war poetry and epic poems, nationalism, idealism, and the greatness of individual worth.4
American Hero Stories
After the end of World War I, some FSNS classes continued to emphasize patriotic and heroic action. For the 1920-1921 school year, the History Department offered two courses in hero studies: American Hero Stories and Greek and Roman Hero Stories. Both courses taught students about the most important characters in each culture’s history, highlighting their spectacular, heroic deeds and how their actions contributed to the making of their countries.5 For the 1921-1922 school year, the History Department offered a citizenship course that studied contemporary events in history, addressing topics like nationalism and suffrage and especially issues arising from the recent world war.6
The administration of FSNS capitalized on the high tide of patriotic emotion created by the war, calling upon teachers’ patriotism to bring them back into the field. The January 1919 bulletin made such an appeal: “Teachers, the war is over. . . . Virginia needs you. From the school-houses of our Commonwealth, the children are calling as never before for your patriotic service.”7
Food
The importance of conserving food was another issue that FSNS stressed to its faculty and students. Many people believed that food would ultimately be the weapon that won the war, especially because the Allied Powers so desperately needed it: “The interests of these valiant and sacrificial nations must be our interests and their needs ours, for they are fighting our battles.”8 Thus the FSNS administration introduced a course that would teach students the basics of producing and conserving food:
Food Production and Conservation: This is a special course, planned to meet the immediate needs of the student in preparing her to be of service to her community and thereby giving aid to the nation in this war crisis. It includes: 1st. The Principles of Vegetable gardening. 2nd. Practical work in Canning, Drying, Preserving, etc.9
At Work in the School Garden
In addition to this special course, students in the Junior Nature Study course participated in creating and maintaining war gardens, which were part of the larger United States School Garden Army. As part of the US School Garden Army, students were split into companies and received an insignia, service flag, and record book. Prizes for garden products included items like War Savings Stamps. When the women were not working in their gardens, they went out into the community and helped farmers take care of their crops. The school war gardens and surrounding farmwork helped conserve food for the war effort by making FSNS and Fredericksburg more self-sufficient in obtaining food.10
Contemporary Events and Post-War Classes
One department greatly impacted by the events of the war was the French Department. Beginning in the 1918 FSNS course catalogue, the school stressed the importance of French to any American student: the war had brought America and France into a very close relationship, and many war headlines in America were in French because of France’s central place in the fighting. The catalogue stated that it was actually a misfortune to not have any working knowledge of French!11 Academic catalogues for the next several years until 1927 continued to contain the same paragraph that emphasized the importance of knowing French.
French Language
The events of the Great War brought a much greater awareness to the importance of understanding subjects from an international point of view. The post-war history courses included the Great War in their scopes of study, as well as other issues and events arising out of the war. The Geography Department placed a new emphasis on their international scope: “Recognizing the fundamental importance of social and economic forces in this environment, especially in the view of the upheavals due to the recent war, the course seeks to view Geography under the perspective of a world whole.”12
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Notes
1. Bulletin of the State Normal School, Fredericksburg, VA, October 1917, 4, Special Collections and University Archives, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington, http://archive.org/details/bulletinofstaten33univ (accessed March 19, 2014)
2. Ibid.
3. Bulletin of the State Normal School, Fredericksburg, VA, October 1918, 20-22, Special Collections and University Archives, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington, http://archive.org/details/bulletinofstaten43univ (accessed March 19, 2014).
4. Ibid., 27-30.
5. Bulletin of the State Normal School for Women, Fredericksburg, VA: Ninth Annual Catalogue, June 1920, 85, Special Collections and University Archives, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington.
6. Bulletin of the State Normal School for Women, Fredericksburg, VA: Tenth Annual Catalogue, June 1921, 78, Special Collections and University Archives, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington, http://archive.org/details/bulletinofstaten72univ (accessed March 19, 2014).
7. Bulletin of the State Normal School, Fredericksburg, VA, January 1919, 14, Special Collections and University Archives, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington, http://archive.org/details/bulletinofstaten44univ (accessed March 19, 2014).
8. Bulletin of the State Normal School, Fredericksburg, VA, October 1917, 11, Special Collections and University Archives, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington, http://archive.org/details/bulletinofstaten33univ (accessed March 19, 2014).
9. Bulletin of the State Normal School, Fredericksburg, VA, April 1918, 21, Special Collections and University Archives, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington, http://archive.org/details/bulletinofstaten41univ (accessed March 19, 2014).
10. Bulletin of the State Normal School, Fredericksburg, VA, January 1919, 3-6, Special Collections and University Archives, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington, http://archive.org/details/bulletinofstaten44univ (accessed March 19, 2014).
11. Bulletin of the State Normal School, Fredericksburg, VA: Seventh Annual Catalogue, June 1918, 93, Special Collections and University Archives, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington.
12. Bulletin of the State Normal School for Women, Fredericksburg, VA: Tenth Annual Catalogue, June 1921, 79, Special Collections and University Archives, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington, http://archive.org/details/bulletinofstaten72univ (accessed March 19, 2014).
Image Citations
1. “American Hero Stories,” Bulletin of the State Normal School for Women, Fredericksburg, VA: Ninth Annual Catalogue, June 1920, 85, Special Collections and University Archives, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington.
2. “At Work in the School Garden,” Viewbook, 1918, [37], Special Collections and University Archives, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington.
3. “French Language,” Bulletin of the State Normal School, Fredericksburg, VA: Seventh Annual Catalogue, June 1918, 93, Special Collections and University Archives, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington.
Voices of the Great War Citation
1. Emmett to Mrs. E.M. Heflin, Postcard, April 22, 1918, 2003-002-002, Central Rappahannock Heritage Center, Fredericksburg, Virginia.
