Student Life, 1935-1937: Thank You

The Beacon. Ferrum Training School, 1937.

The picture above was taken from James Elder Toler's 1937 yearbook, which was donated to The Stanley Library by Sasha Saari during the 2016-2017 academic year. 1937 was the first year The Beacon was published.

This display was made possible by a generous gift from Glenda C. Booth and her brother William H. Booth, Jr. The gift of 14 textbooks and 9 pictures owned by Mildred Simmons Booth provides a unique snapshot of Ferrum Training School in 1936, the year she graduated. Her brother, Joseph E. Simmons, pictured at left, graduated in 1937. Mildred Simmons married William Henry Booth in 1940 and lived in Roanoke and Vinton, Virginia. – Eric Rector, Director of the Stanley Library, August 2022.

Ferrum provided my mother and her brother, Joseph E. Simmons, with a high school education at a time when there was no public high school available to them in Franklin County where their family lived. The education they received there set them on a path to a fruitful, productive life. They were very proud of their Ferrum degrees and attended alumni events up into their 70s.

– Glenda C. Booth