Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

Researchers are restricted to use of research copy.

Preferred Citation

McGuffey School Scrapbook, MS 76, Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society, Charlottesville, Virginia

Acquisition Information

Gift of Mrs. Margaret Sims, Charlottesville, Virginia

Historical Information

The McGuffey School in Charlottesville, Virginia opened in 1916 as an elementary school and was named for Dr. William Holmes McGuffey, former professor at the University of Virginia and best known for the McGuffey Eclectic Readers. The building also served as the Superintendent's Office from 1916 to 1945. It was also the first school in the area to employ a female principal, Caroline "Carrie" Cornelia Burnley (1864-1954). The school closed in 1973. It currently houses the McGuffey Art Center.

Carrie C. Burnley (1864-1954) was born in Albemarle County, Virginia near Free Union. Burnley began her teaching career at age 19 in a one-room school house near Mechum River. After teaching in Harrisonburg, Virginia, she returned to Charlottesville to teach in private schools. She joined the faculty and taught seventh grade in 1894 at the new Midway School in downtown Charlottesville. She later became the assistant principal of the grammar division of Midway School and moved to the high school division in 1911. She became the first principal, and first female principal of a Charlottesville school, at the new McGuffey School. She held that position until her retirement in 1944.

Scope and Content

The McGuffey School Scrapbook contains newspaper clippings, photographs, school programs and activities, and letters relating to the McGuffey School in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Index Terms

Persons:

• Burnley, Caroline Cornelia, 1864-1954.

Subjects:

• McGuffey School (Charlottesville, Va.)
• Public Schools--Virginia--Charlottesville

Geographical Names:

• Charlottesville, Virginia

Administrative Information