FARM 1938 COMMUNITY Fair Day

Pine Mountain Settlement School
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FARM 1938 Community Fair Day

1938 Fair Day. Program Cover. [1938_fair_day_018]

FARM 1938 COMMUNITY Fair Day
October 15, 1938

TAGS: 1938 Community Fair Day, fairs, Fair Day announcement, advertisements for local businesses, choral singing by students, ballads, one-act mountain play, country dancing, fiddlers, hoe-downs, set running, Fair Day committee, purpose of Fair Day, Glyn A. Morris, Singing Willie Nolan

INTRODUCTION

The Community Fair Day is one of many annual events that has a long history at Pine Mountain Settlement School. It started in 1917 as an extension of the Harlan County Fair and the School’s “Farmer’s Day.”

While the fundamental program of the Fair has remained remarkably consistent, the scale and scope of the Fair have varied from year to year as interest in fairs waxed and waned in the School, the community, and the nation. Community Fair Day continues today as an annual event at the School.

Glyn A. Morris, then-Director of PMSS, explains the purpose of the 1938 Fair Day in a letter dated September 20, 1938, to community leaders [See image 001, Gallery II below]:

…[T]he program for the day is based on the idea that we have in rural mountain life many features which are worth preserving and enjoying. It is believed that we should take definite steps to preserve these things and put aside a time when they may be emphasized and enjoyed in a special way, as well as making possible opportunity for appreciation of a sort of pleasure which, valuable though it is, may soon be pushed out by the rush of modern life.

Furthermore, the songs, folklore, and arts of the mountains form one good basis for drawing all our County people together each year in a wholesome and satisfying way.

This letter is being sent you because of your position of leadership in the community and with the hope that you will take an active part in making this day a pleasant one.

CONTENTS: 1938 COMMUNITY Fair Day Program

[Note: Transcriptions are slightly edited for clarity.]

[018 – Cover]

Announcement Copy of the PINE MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY DAY. The Annual Community Event of the Pine Mountain Settlement School. Saturday, October 15, 1938. Pine Mountain, Kentucky. In Case of Rain, Fair Will be Held October 22. Come and Have a Good Time.

[019] Advertisements: Modern Bakery, Bell Grocery Co. (“Ballards, Insurance, Feeds”), and Main Street Service Stations.

[020] MORNING PROGRAM: Choral Singing in Front of School House, Special Ballads by Schools, One Act Mountain Play (“Thet Fust Class Mule”), Lunch. Advertisements: The Quality Shop (Harlan) and S.T. Turner (food store, Harlan).

[021] Advertisements: McComb Supply Company (Harlan, “Philco, Radios, Mine and Mill Supplies”), “Trade in Harlan or Trade in Cumberland but trade with ALEX,” and The Bank of Harlan.

[022] AFTERNOON PROGRAM: Ballad Singing, exhibition of Country Dancing, Choral Singing, Fiddlers, Hoe-Downs, Set Running. Committee in Charge: H.H. Fuson, Mrs. Roxie Perkins, James A Cawood, John H. Young, C.V. Cole, Glyn A. Morris. Advertisements: Hugh Jones Cafe (Harlan) and The Harlan National Bank.

[023] Advertisements: Black Motor Company (Harlan) and Kentucky Utilities Co. (W.E. Arnold, Manager).

[024] Advertisements: Cumberland Valley Music Company (Harlan), Green Motor Company (Harlan and Cumberland), and Harlan Hardware Company (“Maytag Washing Machines, Funeral Directors”).

[025] Advertisements: Democratic Candidates (L.C. Wall, Clinton C. Ball, Clarence Poer, Gilbert Blanton) and Harlan Automobile Company.

[026] Advertisement: “The H.T. Hackney Co., Distributors of White Lily Flower, Prattlow Canned Goods and Goodwin’s Jellies and Preserves, Harlan, Kentucky.”

[027] Advertisements: Cumberland Hardware Co. (“Funeral Directors and Embalmers”), “A Friend,” and Harlan Drug Company (Chas. H. Tye, Prop.).

[028] Advertisements: Pope-Cawood Lumber and Supply Co. (Harlan), The Home Fruit and Produce Co. (Harlan), and Inter-Mountain Coal and Lumber Company (Putney).

029] Advertisements: The New Lewallen Hotel (Harlan; image) and Standard Oil Company (O.M.Howard, Agent).

GALLERY I: 1938 COMMUNITY Fair Day Program

: 1938 Fair Day. Program Cover. [1938_fair_day_018]

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CONTENTS: 1938 COMMUNITY Fair Day Correspondence and Announcement

[Note: Letters from PMSS staff in the PMSS Collections are carbon copies, typewritten, unsigned, and meant for the Office files. The original signed copies were sent to the correspondents. The following unsigned copies apparently are from Glyn A. Morris, then-Director of PMSS. Letters from others are typewritten originals unless specified otherwise. The following list of contents is in chronological order and not necessarily in the order of the image numbers. Transcriptions are slightly edited for clarity.]

[001] September 20, 1938. Unsigned memo on PMSS stationery, Glyn Morris, Director, referring to the preliminary announcement of the 1938 Fair Day. [See images 015-017].

I should like to add a word or two about the enclosed preliminary Announcement of the Pine Mountain Community Day. As you see by the “Purpose,” the program for the day is based on the idea that we have in rural mountain life many features which are worth preserving and enjoying. It is believed that we should take definite steps to preserve these things and put aside a time when they may be emphasized and enjoyed in a special way, as well as making possible opportunity for appreciation of a sort of pleasure which, valuable though it is, may soon be pushed out by the rush of modern life.

Furthermore, the songs, folklore, and arts of the mountains form one good basis for drawing all our County people together each year in a wholesome and satisfying way.

This letter is being sent you because of your position of leadership in the community and with the hope that you will take an active part in making this day a pleasant one.

Sincerely yours,
[unsigned, apparently Glyn Morris]

[003] September 21, 1938. To Mr. D.B. Cook, Lewallan, KY, from Glyn Morris, who is sending preliminary announcements of the Community Day for his review. He invites Cumberland students to “take part in the singing.” [This is an original signed letter with the addition of a typed response from Cook, who explains why he must decline the invitation.]

[006] September 21, 1938. To Miss Anne B. Orbison, Cranks, KY, from [unsigned], sending her a copy of the Community Day program for her review. He suggests she “encourage a group from your neighborhood to come over for that day.”

[007] September 21, 1948. To Rev. B.C. Stuart, Cawood, KY, from [unsigned]. [Similar to 006 letter].

[008] September 21, 1938. To Talmadge Huff, Cumberland, KY, from [unsigned]. Similar to 003 letter, asking him to send Cumberland students to sing at the Fair.

[009] September 21, 1938. To Mr. H.W. Smith, Supt, Lynch Schools, Lynch, KY, from [unsigned. Similar to 003 letter, asking him to send Lynch students to sing at the Fair.

[002] September 22, 1938. To Mr. L.F. Manis, Evarts, KY, from [unsigned]. Similar to 003 letter, asking him to send Evarts students to sing at the Fair.

[010] September 22, 1938. To Kyle Whitehead, Harlan Daily Enterprise, from [unsigned], enclosing information about Pine Mountain Community Day. “Will you give it a good write-up?”

[004] September 26, 1938. To Wm. Nolan, Mary Dell, KY, from [unsigned] inviting him to sing ballads at the PMSS Fair Day; PMSS will pay for his transportation.

[005] September 26, 1938. To Rev. Mark Andrews, apparently Morris], who is sending preliminary announcements of the Community Day for his review.

[011] September 26, 1938. Mr. H.W. Smith, Supt., Lynch Schools, Lynch, KY, from [unsigned]. A followup to his September 21 letter, asking if any students will be coming to Fair Day to sing.

The Committee…hopes that the program for this year may be the basis for an annual affair which will have some value for all the people of the County. In view of this fact it seems important that as many schools as possible participate in the chorus singing.

[012] September 26, 1938. To Mr. L.P. Manis, Everts, KY, from [unsigned. Similar to 011 letter.

[013] September 26. 1938. To Mr. Henderson, Principal, Harlan High School. Similar to 003 letter, asking him to send Harlan students to sing at the Fair.

[014] October 1, 1938. To Glyn Morris from L.C. Henderson, Supt, Harlan City Schools, who distributed the Pine Mountain Community Day letter and information to “people that we thought would be most likely to attend.” He explains that his faculty members will be otherwise engaged at the time.

[015] “Preliminary Announcement. PINE MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY DAY. Saturday, October 15, 1938, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. PURPOSE: To draw the people of our community and County together on the basis of their common cultural heritage; and for better understanding and enjoying the features of rural mountain life which are worth working for and preserving.”
[016] PROGRAM: choral singing, ballad singing, country fiddlers, and other instrumental music, one-act mountain play, exhibition of dances. EXHIBITS: Mountain Handcraft, Antiques, Mountain Art. REFRESHMENTS for sale.
[017] COMMITTEE: H.H. Fuson (Chair), Mrs. Roxie Perkins, James A. Cawood, C.V. Cole. John H. Young, Glyn A. Morris. NOTE: A list of plans for the events, such as choral singing, mountain ballad singing, recruiting singers and instrumentalists, exhibits of antiques and handcrafts, rain date, and the one-act play (“a good mountain drama originally produced at Brasstown, North Carolina. It involves a romance and a horse-swapping.”)