Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia snapshot photos, 1860/1920

Containers:

Box 1, Folder 26

Scope and content:

The photos in this folder are as follows:

A circa 1860 snapshot east side view of the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) barracks, Lexington, Virginia, showing small bushes and trees on the hillside in front of the building.

A circa 1860 snapshot south side view of a section of the barracks with a dress parade in front of the building on the parade ground.

A circa 1860 print view of two faculty buildings with a dress parade on the parade ground.

A circa 1883 snapshot photo of an equestrian statue in an open two story room in a Virginia Military Institute (VMI) building.

A circa 1920 snapshot of cadets lined up in front of the barracks on the east side.

A circa 1920 snapshot of the monument "Virgnia Mourning Her Dead," before the Nicholas Engineering building was built.

On a back of a scrapbook page in this folder are the photos as follows:

A circa 1883 snapshot photo of the Robert E. Lee Recumbent statue in the Lee Chapel at Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia.

A circa 1883 snapshot photo of the Furr's mill dam, Lexington, Virginia.

Biographical / historical:

The Virginia Mourning Her Dead monument has stood in two specific locations on the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) campus since its dedication. The original location was The Cadet Cemetery. When Moses Ezekiel dedicated the monument on June 23, 1903, it was initially placed near the northwest corner of the VMI Parade Ground. This area served as the campus cadet cemetery, where the remains of five New Market cadets had been reinterred in 1878. In 1912, the statue was moved across the campus to its present location facing the VMI Parade Ground in front of the Nichols Engineering Building. The remains of the six fallen cadets were moved from the old cemetery and placed directly into a copper box inside the foundation of the monument, making it an official grave site. Moses Jacob Ezekiel, a prominent sculptor and the first Jewish cadet to graduate from the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), dedicated the iconic Virginia Mourning Her Dead bronze monument on June 23, 1903 on the grounds. Ezekiel was a Corporal in the VMI Color Guard and fought in the Battle of New Market on May 15, 1864. Cast in Rome, the monument features Lady Virginia slumped over a cannon, holding a shield customized with the state coat of arms.

ThE Furr's Mill site, historically known as Leyburn's Mill, on the Maury River in Lexington, Virginia, were in operational existence from 1830 until 1962. The first mill on the site was constructed by Dr. Alfred Leyburn, a founder of VMI and rector of Washington and Lee. The initial dam structure diverted water from the Maury River, then known as the North River, to power the millrace. From 1925–1931, historical geological and state survey records note that the Furr's Mill Dam was still actively used to gauge water levels and map the river. The mill officially ceased operations in 1962, leaving the mill building and remnants of the river infrastructure abandoned. The catastrophic Election Day Flood of 1985 heavily damaged the remaining structures in the Furr's Mill area. What was left of the historic mill complex was completely demolished around 2007.

Access and use