ELIZABETH C. HENCH Guide Joy Stock Company Limited Letters 1927-1933

Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 05: Administration – Board of Trustees

Cow Letter, Sept 1927, p.1. [hench_0001.jpg]
Cow Letter, Sept 1927, p.2. [hench_0002.jpg]

Elizabeth C. Hench, a member of the Board of Trustees from the School’s beginning years to the 1930s, was instrumental in establishing the dairy herd at Pine Mountain Settlement School. She initiated a campaign to purchase new cows, feed existing ones, and to build a strong stream of support for the dairy herd, a critical component of Pine Mountains farm.

The “Cow Letters” were written in the style of “Dear Friend Letters,” addressed to prospective donors requesting donations for the upkeep of the Ayrshire herd at Pine Mountain and were written from 1927 and on into the years of the Great Depression. Her lively, humorous and clever appeals were instrumental in keeping the herd at the School and for providing a critical food source for the School students and staff. She was a masterful marketer, well ahead of her time.