Public schools were initially supported by a Literary Fund and by one-half the capitation tax. Gradually, all the capitation or poll tax money was transferred to the Literary Fund. After the middle of the Nineteenth Century, some cities and counties in Virginia began to adopt a system of free schools for the general public. For the first time, a favorable attitude toward public education on the part of a majority of the Virginians became apparent. The long-assumed idea that public schools were charity schools tinged with a social stigma faded into the background and public education for all the children began to be widely encouraged. Before much actual progress along this line was achieved, however, the War between the States took place. As a result, most of the academies were forced to close and education for a time became a comparatively minor issue. After the War between the States, the Underwood Constitution included a provision requiring public education through the establishment of a uniform system of free public schools in all counties of the state. The deadline date for organizing and establishing such a system was 1876. A State Superintendent of Public Instruction was elected by the General Assembly, a State Board of Education was formed, and public education itself was financed by interest on the Literary Fund, capitation tax revenue, revenue from state and local property taxes and a state tax on each male twenty-one years old or over. Reverend William H. Ruffner of Lexington was the first State Superintendent of Public Instruction in Virginia. Racial segregation in the public schools of Virginia was constitutionally established in the Underwood Constitution of 1902. Section 149 stated that white and colored children were not to be taught in the same schools. This idea had been in existence in statute law since 1869-1870, and the Constitution of 1902 also specifically stated that public funds were to be restricted, with a few exceptions, to public school use. Gradually, teacher training courses were offered and improved and teacher scholarships were created in the attempt to organize a large number of new schools with qualified teacher personnel. Eventually, specialized courses were offered in the elementary and secondary schools: vocational courses including agricultural and industrial arts courses and household arts courses, Bible Study, Music, Drawing, Art and commercial subjects such as bookkeeping, shorthand and typing were introduced. These courses coupled with the original fundamental courses provided a rich curriculum for the public school children of Virginia. By 1920, health examinations, health instructions and physical training were required of each student. Early State Superintendents of Instruction faced tremendous problems in their attempts to organize and develop a whole new school system.