From the publisher: Born in the mountain town of Boone, NC, in 1870, Blanford Barnard Dougherty remained there for a lifetime working for the public schools and teach training in his state. His greatest impact was probably felt in the northwestern counties of NC. Beginning his career as a teacher in a little one-room school, he later served as president for over half a century int he school he and his brother, Dauphin Disco, founded in 1899–today Appalachian State University. Numbers of teachers in public schools of NC have been trained in this institution. The story of Dougherty could not be told without including a history of Appalachian State Teachers College. The author traces the growth of the school from its beginnings as a small academy to a training school, a normal school, and finally a teachers college.