Commencement Programs Collection

In 1839, the Legislature of Virginia incorporated the Farmville Female Seminary; the school existed as a private institution under several other names including Farmville Female College and Farmville College until 1884. In 1884, the State of Virginia passed legislation to open the state's first Normal School; the citizens of Farmville offered the Female College buildings for this new institution. This partnership led to the opening of the first state run institution of higher learning for women in Virginia named, State Female Normal School. The school underwent several names changes including State Normal School for Women in Farmville, State Teachers College at Farmville, Longwood College and then finally in 2002, the school was formally renamed Longwood University. The early years for the school featured Victorian era education for women with classes in languages and arts popular. After becoming the State Female Normal School the institution specifically focused on training students to become teachers in the state's new public school system. Then in 1914, under the new name State Normal School for Women the college could officially issue full degrees for the first time. By the time the name was changed in 1949 to Longwood College, the emphasis was still on teacher training, but more liberal arts options were available to students. Finally, in April 2002, the school was officially designated Longwood University. Graduation or commencement has been an important part of student traditions since the institutions founding, and this collection includes programs, invitations and other related commencement materials.