Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series P6 [110]: Photographs
MARGARET MOTTER  Photograph Album pt 1
Part 1 (50 photographs 3495 – 3545)

XVIII MARGARET MOTTER  Photograph Album pt 1 1928-1940s

Margaret Motter came to Pine Mountain in 1928, early in the history of the institution, and she remained at the School for approximately ten years. She returned many times to both work and visit, including a long stay in the 1940s. She served as principal and teacher and publicist at the institution. The photographic material in this album was assembled by Hilda Conn, who served as Secretary at Pine Mountain in the early years and who became a fast friend of Margaret Motter and who gifted her the album. The album covers Hilda’s and Margaret’s early years roughly 1928 -1932. Also included are scenes related to Margaret’s activities at the School in the 1940s when she served as a field representative for publicity for the institution. Margaret Motter describes her photograph album:

This photograph album was a gift from Hilda Conn who followed Astrid Anderson as office secretary. The blue and white cover, in ‘Summer and Winter’ weave, was woven by a neighbor. The pictures are a record of my first four years at Pine Mountain 1928-1932. The first two years I lived at Boy’s House; the next 2 I lived at Big Log in Miss [Katherine] Pettit‘s room. I also stayed at Zande House when Miss [Angela] Melville left for short publicity trips. I did not live in the first Laurel House which is shown in several pictures. [pages 1-3, images 001, 001a, 001b]

In the Berea College record for this collection of photographs from Motter, the series is listed as “…consisting of 63 images chosen from among 222 dating mainly from the 1930s. They depict the campus, students and staff, student theatrical productions, individuals and family groups.” The photographs displayed here are selected from among the 222 images. More images from this large album will be selectively added as they are processed. Not all will be included as they often duplicate images found in other photographic collections.

In a letter from Miss Motter to Alvin Boggs, dated July 12, [1982?], she wrote:

I certainly appreciate your lovely letter in which you expressed thanks for my photograph album. It definitely belongs to Pine Mountain, and I think it is of interest since it tells of the transition period after Mrs. Zande‘s death. We added higher grades in the School until we had high school. The end of the album shows the first graduating class in 1932. Those first four years at Pine Mountain were an important part of my life and are full of memories that I treasure!

Reproduction of any photograph in the collection for commercial purposes requires permission of Pine Mountain Settlement School.

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Click HERE for a BIOGRAPHY OF MARGARET MOTTER

Return To MARGARET MOTTER COLLECTION Guide

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GALLERY I: MARGARET MOTTER Woven Cover Photograph Album pt 1 (originals)

GALLERY II: MARGARET MOTTER PHOTOGRAPH ALBUM pt 1 (enhanced)

MARGARET MOTTER PHOTOGRAPH ALBUM 1928-1940s “M, M, H” [Margaret Motter, Marian Kingman, & Hilda Conn?] [kingman_092c] [A Bernie Sanders moment]
Title	Margaret Motter Photograph Album
Identifier	Permalink: https://pinemountainsettlement.net/?page_id=2555
Creator	Margaret Motter
Alt. Creator	Pine Mountain Settlement School
Subject Keyword	Margaret Motter ; Pine Mountain Settlement School ; publicity ; Creech family ;
Subject LCSH	Motter, Margaret R., — 1893 – 1984. Pine Mountain Settlement School — History. Rural schools — Kentucky — History. Rural schools — Appalachian Region, Southern. Schools — Appalachian Region.
Date digital	2007-06-26 ; 2013-11-23 ;
Publisher	Pine Mountain Settlement School, Harlan County, KY
Contributor	Hilda Conn
Type	Collection ; text ; image ;
Format	Photograph album ;
Source	Series P6 [110]: Photographs
Language	English
Relation	Is related to the Berea College Guide to the Pine Mountain Settlement School Records, Part B, Series XVII, which contains 63 images chosen from the 222 images in the album, dating from the 1930s ;
Coverage Temporal	1928 – 1940s
Coverage Spatial	Harlan County, KY
Rights	Any display, publication, or public use must credit Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY. Copyright retained by the creators of certain items in the collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Donor	Margaret Motter
Description	Selected photographs from the approximately 222 in the album. Photographs were taken by staff at Pine Mountain Settlement School and gathered into an album by Hilda Conn and donated to Margaret Motter. Motter was responsible for many of the publications of the School during the early years of the institution and again in the 1940s. Some of the photographs in the album were used in published material for the School. She was also a close friend of the Creech family and they are well-represented in the album. Motter describes the album in her own words: “This photograph album was a gift from Hilda Conn who followed Astrid Anderson as office secretary. The cover, in ‘Summer and Winter’ weave was woven by a neighbor. The pictures are a record of my first four years at Pine Mountain 1928-1932. The first two years I lived at Boy’s House ; the next 2 I lived at Big Log in Miss Pettit’s room. I also stayed at Zande House when Miss [Angela] Melville left for short publicity trips. I did not live in the first Laurel House which is shown in several pictures.”
Acquisition	n.d.
Citation	Pine Mountain Settlement School Institutional Papers, Pine Mountain, KY.
Processed by	Helen Hayes Wykle ; Ann Angel Eberhardt ;
Last updated	2007-09-09 ; 2013-11-23 hw ; 2014-08-26 aae ; 2016-05-04 aae ; 2022-09-10 hhw;
Historical Context
Biography	See MARGARET MOTTER
Bibliography	Blevins, Danny K. Van Lear. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Pub, 2008. Print. Directors’ Files: Alvin Boggs. Series 7: Directors. Pine Mountain Settlement School Institutional Papers. Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY. Archival material. Margaret Motter Photograph Collection, KYSX295-A, ca. 1930, Pine Mountain Settlement School. Part B, Series XVII, Hutchins Library Special Collections, Berea College, Berea, KY. This series consists of 63 images chosen from among 222 dating mainly from the 1930s. They depict the campus, students and staff, student theatrical productions, individuals and family groups. Archival material. Motter, Margaret, “Time Marches on in the Hinterlands.” Mountain Life & Work. 24 (Fall 1948): 12-15. Print. Motter, Margaret. [Untitled article about returning to Pine Mountain after 14 years.] Notes from Pine Mountain Settlement School. XX (November 1946): 1-3. Print. Motter, Margaret R. “Outside Reading Inside the Program.” The English Journal. 36 (September 1947): 79-80. Print. Ranck, James B, Dorothy S. Ranck, Margaret R. Motter, and Katharine E. Dutrow. A History of the Evangelical Reformed Church, Frederick, Maryland: “unto Us ….” Frederick, MD: s.n., 1964. Print. Smith, Ralph L. American Dulcimer Traditions. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1997. Print. Transcript of interview with Margaret Motter. (Interviewer unknown.) “Motter, Margaret” folder, Series 9: Staff/Personnel. PMSS Archives, Pine Mountain Settlement School, KY, c. early 1940s. Archival material. “United States Census, 1910.” Index and images, FamilySearch.  https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M2FP-97Y (accessed 08 Jan 2014). Isaac M Motter, Election District 2, Frederick, Maryland, United States; citing sheet , family 8, NARA microfilm publication T624, FHL microfilm 1374577. Internet resource.

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