MARY ROGERS Drawings

Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 09: BIOGRAPHY – Staff
MARY ROGERS
Drawings

Mary Rogers’ drawing of a young girl catching falling leaves. [pmss_story029drw.jpg]

TAGS: Mary Rogers, drawings, sketches, education, Environmental Education Program, classrooms, mountains, plowing, Aunt Sal’s cabin, botanical drawings, animal drawings, Chapel window, Nativity scene, children playing, Richard Chase, music,

MARY ROGERS Drawings

Throughout Mary Rogers‘ many years at Pine Mountain, the people, events, and particularly the natural environment caught her observant eye and she rendered drawings that capture the essence of the School. Soon after arriving at Pine Mountain in 1942, Mary began to draw and she continued to draw for the remainder of her days, and during her days at Pine Mountain, which were the same.

Her whimsical, animated sketches graced the official bulletins, the Pine Mountain Notes, brochures, letterheads, personal correspondence, Christmas cards, and so much more. She reminded us of what our eyes only moved across but did not see, or enjoy — and what joy there was in trying to catch a leaf, the movement of dance, and the intimate moment of a small discovery in nature. She taught so many to open their eyes and look at the world around them, a skill that is so often lost in today’s classroom education filled with pre-formatted sticker books and other commercial eye-candy.

As the founder of the Environmental Education Program (EE) at Pine Mountain, Mary inspired all those around her to get out into nature and rub noses with a trillium, follow the trailing arbutus, and wonder about little brown jugs and while doing so, perhaps try to draw them.

RICHARD CHASE

The writer, Richard Chase, enjoyed his trips to Pine Mountain and returned many times to participate in programs and teach for intermittent times. Best known for his Grandfather Tales and Jack Tales, Richard Chase was a grand story-teller. Many of his stories were inspired by the abundant tall tales learned in the community and by the long-lived folk songs and ballads that still circulated in the isolated rural valley and surrounding hollows. His ear for the stories in music can be seen in the collaborative work he and Mary created in the late 1940s or early 1950s. The four page Christmas card offering is a very special collaboration and so special that the only copy found to date is the one reproduced here and apparently treasured by a friend of Pine Mountain who saw fit to return it to the School for safe-keeping.

The following drawings are but a fraction of the many subjects that Mary produced over her years at the School. We only wished we could have kept her with us longer. She died on Earth Day in 1983 and left a legacy that will forever be connected to her rich talents and her deep spirituality.

GALLERY

: Mary Rogers, drawing. In the classroom II. 001

: Mary Rogers, drawing. In the mountains. 002

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Holly. 003

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Aunt Sal’s Cabin 004

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Ploughing. 005

: Mary Rogers, drawing. In the classroom I. 006.

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Man and gun. 007

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Mountains and fir trees. [rogers_mary_drawing_008.jpg]

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Plant. 010

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Plant II. 011

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Plant III. 012

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Hemlock. 013

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Gum Maple. 014

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Maple. 015

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Hiking.

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Rabbit.

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Tarpin and rabbit

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Catching leaves

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Turtle.

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Chapel window.

: Mary Rogers, drawing. View of PMSS.

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Big Log. [pmss_story006drw]

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Playing the dulcimer.

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Working with broom.

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Using a litter.

: Mary Rogers drawing of coal camp and large “tipple.”. [pmss_story010drw]

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Work.

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Community Service.

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Dancing I

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Dancing. II.

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Across the bridge.

: Mary Rogers, drawing.Mountains and children.

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Manners.

: Mary Rogers, drawing. In the classroom III

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Boy Scouts

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Nativity scene.

: Mary Rogers, drawing. Playing ball.

SPECIAL PROJECT: Mary Rogers and Richard Chase

This very special project is undated but most likely was created during the late 1940s or early 1950s. It is a Christmas card that was a collaborative work by Mary Rogers with Richard Chase the author and folklorist who worked at the School for a brief time following the closure of the Boarding School.

The project: JOSEPH AND THE ANGEL “As Joseph was a-walking he heard an angel sing:”

The donation from Mrs. W.B. Rogers Beasley, a resident of Sewanee, TN was made in March of 2004. Her note reads

Dear Pine Mt

In going thru a dresser drawer I found this, It belongs in your Archives or 2004 Xmas appeal.

Is Mr. Rogers still living and if so would he enjoy hearing frn an old friend?

Yours truly,
[signature not decipherable]

The back of the item reads: Designed by Mary Rogers for Pine MOuntain Settlement School, Pine Mountain , Kentucky

Mary also notes that she secured permission from Houghton-Mifflin Co. publisher of the writings of Richard Chase..