Newspaper Clippings Scrapbooks
RU 4.1.3

 M'Ledge Moffett Collection

Summary Information

Repository
McConnell Library Archives and Special Collections
Title
M'Ledge Moffett Collection: Newspaper Clippings Scrapbooks
ID
RU 4.1.3
Date
1915-1962
Extent
12.0 Linear feet
Location
Locked in compact shelving, level 1.
Language
English
Abstract
M'Ledge Moffett served Radford primarily as Dean of Students and Professor of Health Education, and was on the faculty from 1913 until her retirement in 1962. Beginning in 1915, Moffett began collecting newspaper articles related to Radford and its students, faculty, and staff, pasting them into scrapbooks in chronological order. Newspapers are not specificially identified, but the clippings appear to come from various papers from Radford, the New River Valley, and Virginia. Researchers should note that the individual newspaper clippings rarely contain information about what specific newspaper a clipping is from, and sometimes do not have specific dates for individual clippings.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Newspaper Clippings Scrapbooks, M'Ledge Moffet Collection, Radford University Archives, McConnell Library, Radford University, Radford, VA.

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Biographical Data

M'Ledge Moffett was born in 1892, the only child of William Ledgerwood Moffett and Mary Stoops Moffett. The name M'Ledge was formed from shortened versions of her parents names, Mary and Ledgerwood. M'Ledge seems to have inherited little else from her father beyond using a shortened version of his middle name as the second syllable of the name by which she was generally known. However, her mother, Mary S. Moffett, was very influential in M'Ledge's life by virtue of raising M'Ledge in a school environment. Prior to M'Ledge's birth, Mary Moffett taught at a school in Riverside, Ohio. Due to William's ill health, the Moffetts moved to Virginia in 1893 where during M'Ledge's early and adolescent years, Mary Moffett taught at the Midway School, and at the Ruffner School in Manassas, Virginia. Mary Moffett served as school principal at the Manassas Institute where her daughter was a student. She was a pioneer in home economics education and was credited for recognizing that home economics was worthy of consideration at a professional state meeting.

M'Ledge followed in her mother's path, attending the newly-opened State Normal School in Harrisonburg, Virginia (now James Madison University), graduating in 1910 with a Full Degree in Household Arts. Harrisonburg was the first school to offer such a degree in Virginia and Moffett was one of the first two graduates. From Harrisonburg, Moffett went to Columbia University's Teachers College in New York City. While working towards her Bachelor of Science degree in 1913 from Columbia, M'Ledge spent her summers as a Household Arts instructor at a Summer Normal School in Covington, Virginia.

Around this time that M'Ledge was at Harrisonburg Normal School and then at Columbia University, the Virginia Legislature established the "State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Radford" and John Preston McConnell, a professor/dean at Emory and Henry College in Emory, Virginia, was appointed as president of the new school. One of his first tasks was the appointment of a faculty. There are no records available to document how McConnell recruited instructors to staff the normal school but it seems reasonable to assume the following in Moffett's case:

McConnell, a native Virginian, like Moffett had grown up in a family that emphasized education. As a Dean at Emory and Henry and someone who was deeply interested in the education of women, McConnell was probably familiar with the work of Mary Stoops Moffett. And he was probably cognizant of the fact that M'Ledge Moffett was eminently qualified to serve as the school's sole instructor in Household Arts. One wonders if the younger Moffett applied for the job or McConnell heard of her from her mother or from Julian Burruss, president of the Harrisonburg Normal School during the time when M'Ledge was a student. Unfortunately, there is no record of the first meeting/interview between McConnell and Moffett. In any event, Moffett's name was on the list of instructors approved by the school's Board of Trustees in June, 1913.

Moffett arrived in Radford on September 11, 1913, as the youngest faculty member and the only member of the Household Arts Department, a month after the school's formal dedication in August, 1913, and only a few days before classes began. She apparently quickly proved her ability to handle herself under pressure because McConnell almost immediately put her in charge of the school's sole dormitory. In Moffett's History of the State Teachers College at Radford, Virginia, 1910-1930, McConnell wrote in the third person of Moffett that, "in the judgment of the president, she was the most suitable person for this trying position, this she filled with great satisfaction to all concerned. This was the beginning of her official duties in the college."

President McConnell assigned Miss Moffett several other duties. Since she had had previous experience as a charter member of the Lee Literary Society at Harrisonburg Normal School, Moffett and two others were appointed to a committee to establish the college's first two campus organizations--the Ingles and Pocahontas Literary Societies. In addition to literary pursuits, the two societies emphasized dramatic performances, social gatherings, and debates. Moffett served as faculty adviser to the Ingles Literary Society which was named in honor of Mary Draper Ingles, famous for escaping from Indian captivity in the late 18th century. While interest in the literary societies had waned by the 1930s, the Ingles and Pocahontas names are on two of Radford University's residence halls.

Moffett also participated in the formation of the Student Government Association (1914) and the Grapurchat student newspaper (1921). The Student Government Association and the Tartan (the Grapurchat's successor) remain integral parts of campus life.

For the first several years after the college opened, Moffett taught all of the Household Arts courses (Elementary Sewing, Elementary Cooking and Household Management) which met five times a week. In 1918, the Department doubled in size with the hiring of Myrtle Burnette. Moffett was one of six founding members of the Virginia Home Economics Association and president of the organization during the years 1915-1916 and 1925-1926. During the summers of 1916 through 1920, Moffett took courses at Columbia University’s Teachers College and received a Masters degree in 1921. She received her doctorate from Columbia in 1929, writing her dissertation on "The social background and activities of teachers college students". The dissertation, later published as a book, was the first of many publications.

In 1920, the Radford Normal School was reorganized and McConnell appointed Moffett as the new Dean of Women, a year before she received her Master of Arts degree. She was the first person to hold that post at any of the Virginia institutions of higher education. She held the Dean's post until her retirement in 1962.

In the preface to Moffett's history of the school, McConnell praised Moffett for having, "an inquisitive mind, great energy, and a keen sense of the worth of historical facts." McConnell went on to say that her duties, "have so expanded in the last two decades that she [has] an intimate personal knowledge and contact with every phase of the institutional life and its development. Her association with the president and the administrative officers has given her a knowledge of the personality of the President, members of the faculty, and other officials of the institution that is absolutely unique."

McConnell's statement would hold true for at least 30 years through the administrations of Presidents Peters and Martin and several thousand students.

Moffett retired from Radford in 1962 but never relinquished her love of the institution. She died in 1969. In her will, Moffett left much of her estate in a scholarship fund originally established by her mother. Moffett wrote "I now pass the inheritance of the fruit of her labor, as manifest through me to other women that they may catch a part of the vision she had."

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Arrangement Note

Contains the original scrapbooks and clippings, along with photocopies of the scrapbook pages. The six boxes identified in this collection are photocopies of the originals.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

McConnell Library Archives and Special Collections

McConnell Library
PO Box 6881
Radford, Virginia
540-831-5692
archives@radford.edu

Restrictions to Access

An appointment for research is required. The collection is open for research. No interlibrary loan.

Accruals Note

No additional accruals are expected.

Processing Note

Processed by Amanda Altice with additional finding aid information by Gene Hyde, Spring 2011.

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Collection Inventory

Box 1: Clippings 1915-1936 

Folder 1: Volume 1 - 1915-1924 

Folder 2: Volume 1 - 1925 

Folder 3: Volume 1 - 1926 

Folder 4: Volume 1-2 - 1927 

Folder 5: Volume 2 - 1928 

Folder 6: Volume 2 - 1929 

Folder 7: Volume 2 - 1930 

Folder 8A: Volume 2 - 1931 

Folder 8B: Volume 2 - 1932 

Folder 9: Volume 3 - 1933 

Folder 10: Volume 3 - 1934 

Folder 11: Volume 3 - Jan - May 1935 

Folder 12: Volume 3 - May - Dec 1935 

Folder 13: Volume 4 - Jan - May 1936 

Folder 14: Volume 4 - May - Dec 1936 

Box 2: Clippings 1937 - Feb 1941 

Folder 1: Volume 4 - Jan - May 1937 

Folder 2: Volume 5 - May - Sept 1937 

Folder 3: Volume 5 - Oct - Dec 1937 

Folder 4: Volume 5 - Jan - May 1938 

Folder 5: Volume 5 - Jun - July 1938 

Folder 6: Volume 6 - July - Dec 1938 

Folder 7: Volume 6 - Jan - Mar 1939 

Folder 8: Volume 6 - Apr - July 1939 

Folder 9: Volume 7 - July - Dec 1939 

Folder 10: Volume 7 - Jan - Apr 1940 

Folder 11: Volume 7 - May - Sept 1940 

Folder 12: Volume 7 - Oct 1940 - Feb 1941 

Box 3: Clippings Feb 1941 - Nov 1945 

Folder 1: Volume 8 - Feb - Apr 1941 

Folder 2: Volume 8 - May - Sept 1941 

Folder 3: Volume 8 - Oct - Dec 1941 

Folder 4: Volume 8 - Jan - Jun 1942 

Folder 5: Volume 9 - Jun - Dec 1942 

Folder 6: Volume 9 - Jan - May 1943 

Folder 7: Volume 9 - Jun - Sept 1943 

Folder 8: Volume 9 - Oct 1943 - Mar 1944 

Folder 9: Volume 10 - Mar - Jun 1944 

Folder 10: Volume 10 - July - Dec 1944 

Folder 11: Volume 10 - Jan - May 1945 

Folder 12: Volume 10 - Jun - Nov 1945 

Box 4: Clippings Nov 1945 - Mar 1951 

Folder 1: Volume 11 - Nov 1945 - May 1946 

Folder 2: Volume 11 - Jun - Dec 1946 

Folder 3: Volume 11 - Jan - July 1947 

Folder 4: Volume 12 - July - Sept 1947 

Folder 5: Volume 12 - Oct 1947 - Feb 1948 

Folder 6: Volume 12 - Mar - July 1948 

Folder 7: Volume 13 - July - Dec 1948 

Folder 8: Volume 13 - Jan - Jun 1949 

Folder 9: Volume 13 - July - Dec 1949 

Folder 10: Volume 14 - Jan - Apr 1940 

Folder 11: Volume 14 - May - Sept 1950 

Folder 12: Volume 12 - Oct 1950 - Mar 1951 

Box 5: Clippings Mar 1951 - Jan 1957 

Folder 1: Volume 15 - Mar - July 1951 

Folder 2: Volume 15 - Aug 1951 - Feb 1952 

Folder 3: Volume 16 - Feb - Sept 1952 

Folder 4: Volume 16 - Oct 1952 - Feb 1953 

Folder 5: Volume 16 - Mar - Jun 1953 

Folder 6: Volume 16 - July - Nov 1953 

Folder 7: Volume 17 - Sept - Dec 1953 

Folder 8: Volume 17 - Jan - Apr 1954 

Folder 9: Volume 17 - May - Jun 1954 

Folder 10: Volume 17 - July - Nov 1954 

Folder 11: Volume 18 - Nov 1954 - May 1955 

Folder 12: Volume 18 - Jun - Dec 1955 

Folder 13: Volume 18 - Jan - Feb 1956 

Folder 14: Volume 19 - Feb - Aug 1956 

Folder 15: Volume 19 - Sept 1956 - Jan 1957 

Box 6: Clippings Feb 1957 - May 1962 

Folder 1: Volume 19 - Feb - May 1957 

Folder 2: Volume 20 - May - Sept 1957 

Folder 3: Volume 20 - Oct 1957 - Mar 1958 

Folder 4: Volume 20 - Apr - Jun 1958 

Folder 5: Volume 21 - Jun - Nov 1958 

Folder 6: Volume 21 - Dec 1958 - Apr 1959 

Folder 7: Volume 21 - May - Sept 1959 

Folder 8: Volume 22 - Sept - Dec 1959 

Folder 9: Volume 22 - Jan - Jun 1960 

Folder 10: Volume 22 - Jun - Dec 1960 

Folder 11: Volume 23 - Jan - Apr 1961 

Folder 12: Volume 23 - May - Aug 1961 

Folder 13: Volume 23 - Sept - Dec 1961 

Folder 14: Volume 24 - Jan - May 1962