JERRY WORKMAN Staff

Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 09: BIOGRAPHY – Staff
Jerry Workman – Staff, 1960-1968
Jerry Parker Workman (1938-2023)
Eleanor Lambert Workman – Staff (Volunteer?), 1960-1968

Jerry Workman, Community School teacher, 1960s. [X_100_workers_2600_mod.jpg]

JERRY WORKMAN Staff
Elementary School Teacher, 1960-1968

ELEANOR LAMBERT WORKMAN
Staff (Volunteer?), 1960-1968

TAGS: Jerry Workman, PMSS teachers, Berea College, student teachers, Community School, Eleanor Lambert Workman, Kentucky Historical Society’s Oral History Project, weaving, pottery-making, crafts, Little School, Charlie Whitaker, Mildred Mahoney, Burton Rogers, dyeing, Kentucky Guild Train, Save the Children Fund, Appalachian Fireside Crafts, Appalachian Fireside Gallery, Kentucky Historical Society’s Oral History Project

The years 1960 and 1961 were transitional ones in the life of Jerry Workman. He graduated from Berea College in 1960 after student teaching for a school year at the Community School, a cooperative educational program between Pine Mountain Settlement School and the Harlan County Board of Education. The Community School, in operation from 1940 until 1972, consisted of non-boarding students from the immediate area who attended K-12 classes on the PMSS campus.

After completing his term at PMSS, Jerry married Eleanor Lambert in c. 1961. The couple returned to PMSS, where Jerry continued teaching and Eleanor assisted with various activities at the School as needed.  

JERRY WORKMAN: Before Pine Mountain

In a 2012 interview for the Kentucky Historical Society’s Oral History Project, Jerry told about how, as a boy, he learned to make rag rugs from his mother, a weaver, and sold them for pocket money. He said he was “very interested in crafts.” At Berea College, he studied pottery-making under professor Hugh Bailey, learning a skill that he would return to at Pine Mountain. 

The joy he felt in weaving rugs as a boy and forming pottery as a college student were the beginnings of his lifelong involvement in making and teaching crafts.  

JERRY WORKMAN Staff: At Pine Mountain

During his seven years as an elementary school teacher of fourth through eighth grades at the Community School, Jerry Workman, like other PMSS teachers, also participated in extracurricular activities with the students. 

Rebecca Caudill Ayars, a visiting author of children’s books, wrote a 1964 report about PMSS’s Little School that provided school readiness activities for three-and four-year-old children living in the area. She commented on Jerry’s ability to connect with students through the arts:

Certain individual qualities and contributions stand out:…. [for example,] Jerry’s genius in bringing out through various art forms latent abilities in the children….

Other documents in the PMSS Archive also point to the Little School as well as other activities that were enriched by Jerry’s dedication to broadening the horizons of the children. In the summer of 1961, Jerry and Charlie Whitaker increased the summer activity for neighborhood young people by supervising swimming classes, playground activities, softball games, 4-H Club, Boy Scouts, and folk dancing.

A 1963 report on the progress of PMSS’s Little School, written by Mildred Mahoney, a longtime PMSS worker, refers to Jerry’s assistance in organizing a program involving art and science, working alongside Charlie Whitaker (playground events), Mary Rogers (library), and Mildred Mahoney (music and general readiness). 

Three fundraising letters addressed to “Dear Friend” from Director Burton Rogers mentioned Jerry’s activities. A letter dated August 10, 1963, tells of “a truly exciting summer for all of us.” Miss Mahoney and Mr. Workman are teaching “40 little tots, age(s) four to six” who arrive by bus at the Fountain every morning at 8:30. 

In September of the same year, Rogers wrote in another “Dear Friend” letter about three special places on campus that were opened for visitors: Aunt Sal’s Cabin hosted by two of her great-great grandchildren in costume; a display in Laurel House arranged by Jerry Workman of articles handcrafted by community members during the past century; and a display of Indian artifacts discovered by William Hayes.

A later “Dear Friend” letter, dated January 31, 1964, reported that Mr. Workman was starting after-school craft classes (leather work, pottery, metal work and weaving) with Mrs. Patterson and Mrs. Campbell as volunteer helpers.

Jerry was also listed among five teachers of Little School in a 1965 report by Mahoney, as well as Jerry’s wife, Eleanor, who substituted in the library during Mary’s two-week absence. 

In the later half of the 1960s, Jerry Workman, Mary Rogers, and others were active in supporting Paul Lynn, a PMSS employee and photographer, to shape a pottery program at Pine Mountain Settlement School. Together, they built the foundation of the program which ran until the early 1970s.

During his time at Pine Mountain, Jerry became interested in dying wool with natural plants and sought out members of the community who were knowledgeable of the process. He eventually became a master dyer, giving demonstrations of his technique throughout the rest of his life. His expertise in working with natural dyes and the sharing of his knowledge lead to his memberships with the Kentucky Guild of Artists and Craftsmen and the Southern Highlands Handicraft Guild.

JERRY WORKMAN: After Pine Mountain

In his last year at Pine Mountain, Jerry attended the Kentucky Guild’s first craft fair in Berea as a PMSS representative. There, he learned of an opening with the Kentucky Guild Train. 

He applied and was accepted as director of the train, and consequently moved his family to Berea. The Kentucky Guild Train consisted of two cars, one for demonstrations in making crafts, such as pottery and leatherwork, and the other for an exhibit of those crafts. Sponsored by local communities and funded by the State, the highly popular train traveled from town to town as a free educational program for children and adults, often drawing in local craftspeople as well to demonstrate their skills. Jerry worked in this position for one year, which he stated was a “bridge” to his work with Save the Children Federation.

The rest of Jerry’s working years, from c. 1968 until retirement in 2000, were spent with the Save The Children Fund, a nonprofit international organization that works to improve the lives of children in the areas of health, education, protection, and disaster relief.

A highlight in his career was starting the Appalachian Fireside Crafts, a cooperative of quilters, woodworkers, carvers and other artisans producing traditional crafts from native materials. Jerry later opened the Appalachian Fireside Gallery in Berea, Kentucky, which continues to be in operation.

After retirement, Jerry continued his interest in the arts, which included learning to play the dulcimer and creating cards using pressed flowers. According to his obituary,  

Jerry  was a brilliant hard-working man who enjoyed helping and teaching others. The lives he touched and made better are so many and impossible to count. He will be truly missed and remembered for generations of people he encountered.

**********

Jerry Parker Workman was born in Pulaski County, Kentucky, on March 13, 1938, to Herchel Workman, a carpenter, and Della E. (Goff) Workman. He joined two teenage siblings, Glenn E. and Mable L. Workman.  

He married Eleanor (“Ellie”) Lambert in c. 1961, and the couple had two children, Mark and Andy (Chris) Workman.

Jerry Workman died at the age of 84 on February 20, 2023, in Berea, Kentucky. 

*To see and hear Jerry Workman in an interview with Greg Willihnganz for the Kentucky Historical Society’s Oral History Project, go to:

https://kyoralhistory.com/ohms-viewer-master/viewer.php?cachefile=2012OH02_13_.xml&fbclid=IwAR0IZqsK8yA8qdNE5P7iO5EZu34MR4UJGkt16-9_w7r_JBs5I0YYsNe6wMs

Gallery: JERRY WORKMAN Staff

Title  Jerry Workman
Eleanor Lambert Workman
Alt. Title  Jerry Parker Workman ;  Jerry P. Workman ;
Ellie Workman ; Eleanor Lambert ; Eleanor Workman ;
Identifier https://pinemountainsettlement.net/?page_id=109416
Creator Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY.
Alt. Creator Ann Angel Eberhardt ; Helen Hayes Wykle ;
Subject Keyword Jerry Workman, PMSS teachers, Berea College, student teachers, Community School, Eleanor Lambert Workman, Kentucky Historical Society’s Oral History Project, weaving, pottery-making, crafts, Little School, Charlie Whitaker, Mildred Mahoney, Burton Rogers, dyeing, Kentucky Guild Train, Save the Children Fund, Appalachian Fireside Crafts, Appalachian Fireside Gallery, Kentucky Historical Society’s Oral History Project
Subject LCSH Workman, Jerry Parker,  — 1938 – 2023.
Workman, Eleanor Lambert.
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 2023-03-21 aae
Publisher Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY.
Contributor n/a
Type Collections ; text ; image ;
Format Original and copies of documents and correspondence in file folders in filing cabinet.
Source Series 09: BIOGRAPHY 
Language English
Relation Is related to: Pine Mountain Settlement School Collections, Series 09: BIOGRAPHY.
Coverage Temporal 1938 – 2023
Coverage Spatial Pine Mountain, KY ; Harlan County, KY ; Pulaski County, KY ; Berea, KY ; 
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 Jerry Workman ; clippings, photographs, books by or about Jerry Workman ;
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 “Jerry Workman,” Series 09: BIOGRAPHY. Pine Mountain Settlement School Institutional Papers. Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY. Internet resource.

“Jerry Parker Workman,” Obituary, Lakes Funeral Home, Berea, KY, February 21, 2023. Accessed 26 February 2022. Internet resource. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/jerry-workman-obituary?id=47836482

“Kentucky, Vital Record Indexes, 1911-1999,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKHP-6XMV : accessed 26 February 2022), Jerry P Workman, 1938; citing Birth, Pulaski, Kentucky, United States, Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort. Internet resource.

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