Joseph Dupuy Eggleston

Education

Eggleston attended Prince Edward Academy in Prince Edward County, Virginia and then Hampden-Sydney College in Hampden-Sydney, Virginia where he received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1886; he later received a Master's Degree.

Personal life

Eggleston married Julia Johnson in Farmville, Virginia on December 18, 1895. The couple had two children: Elizabeth Carrington Eggleston and Joseph DuPuy Eggleston, III.

Dr. Eggleston became an enthusiast of Prince Edward County, Virginia history and family genealogy. His sizeable collection of notes and research on many Southside (Virginia) families can be viewed at the library of the Virginia Historical Society (VHS). Eggleston was the president of the Society from 1938-1943.

Public school career

From 1886 until 1889, Eggleston served as a public school teacher in Virginia, Georgia, and North Carolina. In 1891 Eggleston began teaching high school in Asheville, North Carolina; Eggleston continued teaching highschool until 1893 when he became superintendent of the public schools in Asheville. Eggleston continued in this position until 1900. Two years later Eggleston was appointed as the editor and secretary of the Bureau of Information and Publicity of the Southern Education Board at the University of Tennessee. In this position, Eggleston was "charged with studying education conditions with the goal of improving social, economic, and cultural circumstances in the South by improving the quality of education throughout the region." In 1903 Eggleston returned to Prince Edward County, Virginia to serve as the superintendent of schools. In 1905 Eggleston became the first elected State Superintendent of Virginia public schools, a position he held from 1906 until 1012. Eggleston then briefly served as chief of the Division of Rural Education in the U.S. Bureau of Education from January to July 1913 before accepting the presidency of Virginia Polytechnic Institute.

The Work of the Rural School

In 1913, the year Eggleston was transitioning from the U.S. Bureau of Education to his office in Blacksburg, Virginia, The Work of the Rural School, a book written by Eggleston, was published. The book is an in-depth study (with images) of rural schools in the United States. Eggleston, throughout the book, discusses what rural schools were like at the time, as well as proposed changes needed. Eggleston used many of his own experiences as a guide in writing the book; for example, Chapter XIV is entitled, "The State Superintendent of Public Instruction," and is an in depth study into the position and how it operates (pulling from his own experiences as state superintendent of Virginia).

President of Virginia Polytechnic Institute

Eggleston served as president of Virginia Tech from 1913 until his resignation in 1919. Eggleston served as president during World War I when a Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) unit was established at the school; the school "became a national training center for war." Eggleston in an attempt to help the war effort, "offered the services of the university's extension service to the Federal Food Commission, to promote food production and conservation." In 1919 Eggleston resigned after being offered the position of president at his alma mater, Hampden-Sydney College.

President of Hampden-Sydney College

Eggleston served as president of Hampden-Sydney College from 1919 until 1939. With his 20-year term as president of the college, Eggleston brought various innovations to the administration of the school. For example, Eggleston hired a full-time business manager, instituted an annual budget, and had a dean deal with student issues. Under Eggleston's leadership the school saw a new "building entirely for the sciences Bagby Hall) . . . . [Eggleston also] persuaded a descendant of one of the founding Trustees to give a building {Morton Hall} in memory of his ancestor - the most generous gift the College ever received." While Eggleston was president of Hampden-Sydney, Virginia Tech invited Eggleston to be the commencement speaker in 1939. Eggleston retired as president in 1939.

Death

After retirement, Dr. Eggleston continued to live on campus at Hampden-Sydney College; he died March 13, 1953 and is interred at Union Theological Seminary Cemetery.

Legacy

Eggleston dedicated his entire life to education. In fact, volume 24, issue seven of American Education, which hosts a picture of Eggleston along with his name and position as president of Hampden-Sydney on its cover, notes that, "[e]ducation as a life work strongly appealed to Dr. Eggleston even in his youth." Only two years into Eggleston's presidency at Hampden-Sydney College, it was noted that he was, "widely and favorably known as an expert in school affairs, and his services [were] constantly in demand in educational gatherings." While Eggleston was state superintendent of public education in Virginia, he revolutionized the state education system, making it an organized system. In fact, Eggleston left the public school system in Virginia "thoroughly co-ordinated, with better school buildings, longer terms, more efficient teachers, increased salaries, more school libraries, with abundant high schools in every section . . . . [T]he result he left [was] a thoroughly developed school system." This theme of innovation in education continued through his term as president of Virginia Tech and then of Hampden-Sydney. Eggleston's life was one devoted to education and the improvement of its instruction.

Honors

In 1952 Eggleston Hall, a residence hall with three wings constructed between 1935 and 1940, was named for Eggleston.