RUTH ELLEN METCALF Student

Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 09: BIOGRAPHY – Students
Series 19: STUDENTS
Ruth Ellen Metcalf, Student 1935-1936
Ruth Ellen Metcalf Kreiling (1920-2002)

RUTH ELLEN METCALF Student

Metcalf Family, 1969. Left to right: Swannee Sue Metcalf 1929-2002 (Bruce Hacker’s mother), Mary Winifred Metcalf 1926-2008, Ruth Ellen Metcalf 1920-2002, Oceana Metcalf 1916-1980 and Edna Mae Metcalf 1910-2001. [pmss_metcalf_ellen_mod.jpg]

RUTH ELLEN METCALF Student 1935-1936

TAGS: Ruth Ellen Metcalf, Ruth Ellen Kreiling, Mrs. Charles R. Kreiling, PMSS students,  Little Laurel Graded School, student evaluation letters, Glyn Morris, appendicitis, Little Laurel KY, William Metcalf, Dora Emily Metcalf, Edna Mae Metcalf Patterson, Mary Winifred Metcalf, Charles Robert Kreiling

RUTH ELLEN METCALF Student: Pine Mountain

Ruth Ellen Metcalf, known as “Ellen,” was hopeful about the future of her education when she applied to Pine Mountain Settlement School (PMSS). She was reported to have performed well at her previous school, Little Laurel Graded School in Pine Mountain, Kentucky, which she left in January 1933. One and one-half years later, she indicated on her application to begin ninth grade at PMSS that she wished to apply for college once she had taken classes at PMSS. Her career goal was to become a teacher or a nurse.  

At the time, the School sent letters at the end of each term to parents instead of report cards, updating the parents of the students’ progress. A December 1935 letter from then-director Glyn Morris, stated:

We are glad to tell you that Ellen is working very hard and that the students and teachers both like her. Outside of one or two little difficulties she gives us no trouble, and we are all pleased with the fact that she has stayed here and is doing as well as possible. I think she needs encouragement and I hope that you will tell her that you are proud of her. Her record compared to so many is very good and we hope that she will continue to stay with us at Pine Mountain. 

However, as the year progressed, she had difficulty keeping up with others in her class and was experiencing behavioral problems. Also, she was in need of an appendectomy, which her family could not afford and without which she was not permitted to return to PMSS. In a July 1936 letter to her father, Morris wrote:

We are happy that Ellen stayed on the whole year at Pine Mountain. While the work was somewhat difficult for her, this was very much in her favor, that she stayed. As you know, too, the emphasis at Pine Mountain is not on book learning but on the things which will make our boys and girls grown into good men and women. 

We will not say anything further at the present time about her return to school next year, since this hinges entirely upon her having an appendectomy. We feel that it would be very unwise for her to return without this being done.

It is not known whether Ellen underwent the required appendectomy. In any case, she ended her schooling at PMSS after her 1936 spring term.

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Ruth Ellen Metcalf was born near Pine Mountain at Little Laurel, Kentucky, on April 27, 1920. She was the daughter of William [“Willie”] McDaniel Metcalf (1885-1977) and Dora Emily (Blevins) Metcalf (1891-1969). She had 11 brothers and sisters:  

Dillard Metcalf – half-brother (1903-1982)
Edna Mae Metcalf Patterson – PMSS student and worker (1910-2001)
George Washington Metcalf 1912-1974)
Martha Metcalf (1914-1916)
Oceana Metcalf Mead (1916-1980)
Abraham Lincoln Metcalf (1918-1972)
Ambrose Metcalf (1923-1949)
Brutus Metcalf (1924 – ?)
Mary Winifred Metcalf Turner – PMSS student (1926-2009)
Swannee Sue Metcalf Hacker (1929-2002)
Herbert Hoover Metcalf (1931-1982)

Ellen married Charles Robert Kreiling on July 14, 1937, in Putney, Kentucky. She worked as a grocery store cashier and enjoyed flower gardening, collecting old coins, and making soap. The couple had three children: Barbara Jean (1938-1999), Ruford Elden (1940-deceased), and Dorene Sue.

Ellen’s husband died on November 14, 2001, in Milam, Texas. Ruth Ellen Metcalf died on February 27, 2002, in Rockdale, Texas, her residence for the previous five years.  

GALLERY: RUTH ELLEN METCALF

(Photographs courtesy of Cora Richardson, great-granddaughter of William M. Metcalf.)

Title  Ruth Ellen Metcalf
Alt. Title  Ellen Metcalf ; Ruth Ellen Metcalf Kreiling ; Ellen Kreiling ; Mrs. Charles R. Kreiling
Identifier https://pinemountainsettlement.net/?page_id=107410
Creator Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY.
Alt. Creator Ann Angel Eberhardt ; Helen Hayes Wykle ;
Subject Keyword Ruth Ellen Metcalf, Ruth Ellen Kreiling, Mrs. Charles R. Kreiling, PMSS students,  Little Laurel Graded School, student evaluation letters, Glyn Morris, appendicitis, Little Laurel KY, William Metcalf, Dora Emily Metcalf, Edna Mae Metcalf Patterson, Mary Winifred Metcalf, Charles Robert Kreiling
Subject LCSH Metcalf, Ruth Ellen,  — 1920 – 2002.
Pine Mountain Settlement School (Pine Mountain, Ky.) — History.
Harlan County (Ky.) — History.
Education — Kentucky — Harlan County.
Rural schools — Kentucky — History.
Schools — Appalachian Region, Southern.
Date 2022-10-08 aae 
Publisher Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY.
Contributor Cora Richardson, great-granddaughter of William M. Metcalf.
Type Collections ; text ; image ;
Format Original and copies of documents and correspondence in file folders in filing cabinet.
Source Series 09: BIOGRAPHY – Students
Series 19: STUDENTS
Language English
Relation Is related to: Pine Mountain Settlement School Collections, Series 09: BIOGRAPHY and Series 19: STUDENTS.
Coverage Temporal 1885 – 2002
Coverage Spatial Pine Mountain, KY ; Harlan County, KY ;  Little Laurel, KY ; Harlan, KY ; Rockdale, TX ;
Rights Any display, publication, or public use must credit the Pine Mountain Settlement School. Copyright retained by the creators of certain items in the collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Donor n/a
Description Core documents, correspondence, writings, and administrative papers of Ruth Ellen Metcalf ; clippings, photographs, books by or about Ruth Ellen Metcalf ;
Acquisition n/d
Citation “[Identification of Item],” [Collection Name] [Series Number, if applicable]. Pine Mountain Settlement School Institutional Papers. Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY.
Processed By Helen Hayes Wykle ; Ann Angel Eberhardt ;
Last Updated  
Sources Family Tree on Familysearch – https://www.familysearch.org/tree/pedigree/landscape/GDLX-JVK Accessed 08-October-2022. Internet resource.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/153041969/william-metcalf: accessed 08 October 2022), memorial page for William Metcalf (2 Jul 1885–19 Jun 1977), Find a Grave Memorial ID 153041969, citing Metcalf Cemetery, Laden, Harlan County, Kentucky, USA; Maintained by Cora L Richardson. Internet resource.

“Ruth Ellen Metcalf Kreiling” obituary from the Rockdale (TX) Reporter, March 7, 2002, on findagrave.com. Accessed 08-October-2022. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/153145157/ruth-ellen-kreiling  Internet resource.

“Ruth Ellen Metcalf Student Records,” Series 09: BIOGRAPHY and Series 19: STUDENTS. Pine Mountain Settlement School Institutional Papers. Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY. Internet resource.

“United States Census, 1930,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XM6Y-HVW : accessed 9 October 2022), Willie Metcalf, District 4, Harlan, Kentucky, United States: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002.. Internet resource.

Return To:
BIOGRAPHY – A-Z

Biographies:
ANN METCALF
EDNA MAE (METCALF) PATTERSON
WILLIAM METCALF
JOHN D. SHELL (granddaughter, Allene Nolan, married Dillard Metcalf)
ELHANNON MURPHY NOLAN
LIZZIE (NOLAN) METCALF SCEARCE

See Also:
RUTH ELLEN METCALF Student Records (RESTRICTED)
METCALF FAMILY
NOLAN FAMILY
SCEARSE (SCEARCE) FAMILY