The collection is open for research.
The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials. Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], William H. Ruffner Letters, Ms1977-003, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The William H. Ruffner Letters were donated to Special Collections in March 1977.
The processing, arrangement, and description of the William H. Ruffner Letters was completed in 1977. Additional description was completed in March 2011.
William H. Ruffner (1824-1908) was born in Lexington, Virginia. After attending college and seminary, he retired from the ministry in 1852 and returned to Virginia to farm. Following the Civil War, he became an advocate for public education, serving as the first superintendent for public instruction in Virginia from 1870 until 1882. Ruffner was a trustee for Washington College and Washington and Lee University from mid-1860s to the mid-1870s, and on the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College Board of Visitors from 1872 until about 1880. He went on to the presidency of the Farmville Normal School (now Longwood College) from 1884 to 1887, then moved to surveying, geology, and theological scholarship. He died in North Carolina in 1908.
The collection includes photocopies of eleven letters from William H. Ruffner to his wife and children and to him from his daughter Anne.
The guide to the William H. Ruffner Letters by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/).