The Virginia Spirit

For Alderman and many at UVA, the American spirit was the Virginia spirit. “The chiefest contribution of Virginia to American life has been men, great governmental ideas, and a great spirit.”¹ Alderman thought of Virginia as the mother of all that was good about America through Washington, Madison, and Jefferson. For the modern age, the country should look to the Commonwealth for leadership and example. Even General Lee provided a model, in Alderman’s telling, in that Lee took up the cause of the state and when that grim work was done, he set about the work of reconciliation with the same determination.² McConnell was seen as also bravely doing what was necessary for the future of the country. Others said that it was Virginians of this generation, perhaps including Woodrow Wilson, who would keep the country intact. More specifically, the men of the University of Virginia, from the old colonial stock that was the essence of what was truly American, as they wrote in the yearbook, would lead America through difficult times, inspiring the country like McConnell had.³