In the early 1930s, a military academy for boys in South Roanoke attracted students from across the United States.
Written by Nelson Harris / Photo Above: Cadets line up for formation on the front walk of the Harris Military Institute. ©Courtesy of Nelson Harris
The stock market crash of 1929 took a toll on Roanoke. The Viscose plant in Southeast reduced its workforce by three-fourths; the Norfolk and Western Railway’s freight business plummeted; and some small retail establishments in downtown were shuttered. In South Roanoke, Virginia College closed.
Virginia College had been a large presence in the South Roanoke neighborhood since 1893 when it opened as an all-female “finishing school.” The high-society families the college catered to were the hardest hit by the 1929 crash. Fathers withdrew their daughters over Christmas break, penning notes to the administration that family fortunes and incomes had evaporated, making the spring semester no longer affordable. The stately brick home of Virginia College, adorned with cupolas and expansive verandas on a sprawling campus, was mothballed. Nearby residents in South Roanoke could only wonder as to the future of the grand structure. The answer came within a few months.
Colonel Otey Crawford Hulvey announced his intent to purchase the property from the Virginia College Corporation and convert it to a boys’ military academy. His vision for the school would accommodate 250 young men and be known as Harris Military Institute in honor of Virginia College’s founder, Dr. William A. Harris.
Born in Staunton, Virginia, Hulvey had a long history with military academies in Virginia and throughout the South. He had been educated at Staunton Military Academy, Augusta Military Academy, and the University of Virginia. He was a former commandant of the cadets at Kentucky Military Academy, president of Hay Long College in Tennessee, founder of the Tennessee Military Institute in Sweetwater, and president of the Columbia Tennessee Military Academy from 1915 until 1919. He had also served in advisory capacities with military academies in Florida and Illinois.
Courtesy of the Virginia Room, Roanoke Public Libraries / Courtesy of Nelson Harris
Hulvey launched an aggressive marketing campaign to attract enrollment for the 1930–31 academic session. The academy’s curriculum encompassed all grades from the seventh through high school with future plans to add two years of junior college work. Faculty members were to be graduates from Virginia colleges and universities, and the U. S. War Department was asked to provide a commandant for the cadets. Hulvey’s national advertising included the Saturday Evening Post, Literary Digest, Cosmopolitan, American Magazine, and Redbook, as well as newspapers throughout Virginia.
Hulvey’s plan was greeted with enthusiasm by local business leaders. The Chamber of Commerce helped to promote the military institute locating in Roanoke, and Gertrude Boatwright, the last surviving member of the Harris family, also expressed her public support.
Harris Military Institute opened in the fall of 1930 for its first full academic year. The Order of the Day began at 6:30 a.m. with Reveille and physical exercises, followed by breakfast and chapel. Morning and afternoon recitations were punctuated by lunch and drilling. After dinner came the evening study hour supervised by faculty, a 9:30 p.m. tattoo, and at 10:30, Taps. Roll calls occurred 10 times daily to “insure promptness and efficiency in all phases of the cadet’s life,” according to the student handbook.
Virginia College’s E-shaped building had been converted into sections conducive to cadet training. West Barracks contained rooms designed to house two students each, equipped with single beds, large closets and a sink with cold and hot water. Baths were shared by halls. The academy made use of what was in existence at Virginia College—library, reception area, post office, kitchen, dining rooms, and offices. Classrooms and the gym were on the first floor and laboratories in the basement. The former college by all measures was perfectly suited to the needs of Hulvey’s academy.
Courtesy of the Virginia Room, Roanoke Public Libraries / Courtesy of Nelson Harris
The institute housed 200 residential cadets and accommodated 100 day students. Cadets ranged in age from nine to 20. For admission, each applicant had to supply three references, be of good moral character and good health, and have a willingness to conform to military life. To graduate from the academy’s high school, cadets were required to take Latin, English, Algebra, Ancient History, Geometry, and one modern language (German, French, or Spanish). Accredited by the Virginia Board of Education, graduates from Harris Military Institute were guaranteed admission to any public college or university in the Commonwealth without needing to take an entrance exam.
For all of the publicity and Hulvey’s vast experience with successful military academies, Harris Military Institute remained open for only three academic sessions (1930–33), largely another victim of the Depression. In August 1933, its permanent closure was publicly announced. During those three years, many efforts had been made to create a successful boys’ school on the South Roanoke campus. In 1932, the institute had discarded its military component in a futile attempt to boost its enrollment. Hulvey had stepped down as president and relinquished the leadership to J.M. Lockman. The academy had failed to attract a sufficient number of local boys to its campus and economic times created a scarcity of boarding students. Fortunately, the school was debt-free, but a projected enrollment of only 40 students for the fall 1933 semester was too low to justify continuing.
In 1934, the campus was leased by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration for the purpose of a “re-educational school for unemployed women.” Hundreds of women applied with sixty admissions. The school lasted one year and closed. This marked the end of the former Virginia College serving as an educational facility. In September 1936, Frank Graves purchased the property with the intent of converting the college into apartments. His plans were scuttled by the Roanoke City Board of Zoning Appeals, which denied his request for a conversion permit.
In July 1937, some 2,000 volumes, representing the remainder of Virginia College’s former library, were purchased by the Town of Salem for its public library located in Younger Park. By January 1939, the college was razed, and its campus subdivided into residential lots. As for Colonel Hulvey, he opened the Prince William Military Academy in 1937, but did not live long enough to see its success, as he died two years later.
The story above first appeared in our July/August 2026 issue.
