Richmond Professional Institute

SA-116

A group of community leaders founded the Richmond School of Social Economy, later known as the Richmond School of Social Work and Public Health, in 1917. Initial instruction was in the fields of social work and nursing, but the curriculum soon expanded. In 1925 the school became the Richmond Division of the College of William and Mary and moved to its permanent home here at 827 West Franklin Street. It adopted the name Richmond Professional Institute (RPI) in 1939. RPI separated from William and Mary in 1962 and operated as an independent state institution before merging with the Medical College of Virginia in 1968 to form Virginia Commonwealth University.

Department of Historic Resources, 2017

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

Henry H. Hibbs, “The South to Have a Training School of Social Work and Public Health Nursing,” Social Service Review (1917). Henry H. Hibbs, A History of the Richmond Professional Institute (Richmond: Whittet and Shepperson, 1973). Virginius Dabney, Virginia Commonwealth University: A Sesquicentennial History (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1987). Ray Bonis, Jodi Koste, and Curtis Lyons, Virginia Commonwealth University (Arcadia, 2006). Richmond Times-Dispatch, 8 May, 12 July, 8 Aug. 1917. VCU School of Social Work History (https://www.socialwork.vcu.edu/about/history.html) History of Richmond Professional Institute (http://guides.library.vcu.edu/c.php?g=47717&p=298451)