Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 02: GOVERNANCE – Advisory Board
Series 09: BIOGRAPHY – Staff
Harriet Crutchfield, Teacher, 1928-1930
& Advisory Board Member
Harriet Crutchfield Journal Guide 1929
Emily Hill (left) and Harriet Crutchfield (right). [X_100_workers_2550_mod.jpg]
TAGS: Harriet Crutchfield Journal Guide 1929, Harriet Crutchfield Orndorff, education, teachers, students, Margaret Motter, Marian Kingman, Notes from the Pine Mountain Settlement School, Burton Rogers, Advisory Board, James S. Crutchfield, Katherine Pettit, Marguerite Emerson, Ruth B. Gaines, Florence Daniels, Blanche Denton, William Browning, Louise Will Browning, Glen Argetsinger
HARRIET CRUTCHFIELD Journal Guide 1929
All letters in the Pine Mountain Settlement School Collections are from Harriet Crutchfield to her parents and span the dates from September 2, 1928, until December 16, 1929.
The following are summaries of letters written in 1929. For letters written in the previous year, go to HARRIET CRUTCHFIELD Journal Guide 1928.
This list is in chronological order and may not necessarily match the order of the image numbers.
1929
JANUARY
| DATE | TO | TOPIC | PAGES |
| January 9, 1929 | Dearest Pa and Ma | Describes her train travel; enjoyed a visit in Louisville with aunts and cousins, who enjoyed the radio. Visited the Mournings[?] at the Pendennis[?] Club and their home. | 4 pages
119-122 |
| January 14, 1929 | Dearest Mother | Thrilled at the arrival of the trunk and her new glasses. Sent mittens “For the girls’ birthdays.” Writes about needing to “keep a small extra [flash]light on had down here, and you are really in a fix if yours goes bad on you.” Tells of Miss Melville “Still weak from her flue [sic]. Miss Pettit had to stay in a couple of days last week, but she is well now and hopes to get off for her vacation in a few days. She isn’t planning to go to Washington, Pa, now, but will stay at home in Lexington.” | 2 pages
123-124 |
| January 21, 1929 | Dearest Father & Mother | She is “shocked” when realizing it was 2 weeks since she wrote. “I have been extra busy, substituting for many of the sick workers…” Mentions the changeable weather. A volunteer worker couldn’t show up, so Harriet moved to Big Log, Miss Pettit’s house, while she is away on her 2-month vacation. There, Harriet took evening study hour and was in charge Saturday evenings. “It is very nice & comfortable, tho I like my hillside house better….Mrs. Keegel, Boys House’s housemother, is going to take charge of the primary school & I may help her a little.” Asked for oranges, apples. | 2 pages
125-126 |
| January 30, 1929 | Dearest Father and Mother | She is enjoying the oranges and apples but they don’t appear to be those of Blue Goose or A.F.G., but came from Kaiser Bros. In Knoxville. Margaret, Marian, & Astrid wish to buy some. Asks who should get Louise Woolfolk’s letter. Happy that Father became a church elder. OUT OF ORDER | 3 pages
128-130 |
FEBRUARY
| DATE | TO | TOPIC | PAGES |
| February 20, 1929 | Dearest Mother | Tells of being busy: “I am helping with a couple of dramatic students and also I have just moved all my goods & chattels back to Country Cottage” after a month’s stay at Old Log. A new worker for the primary grades arrived and needed the room in Old Log. Asked about her February allowance. | 1 page
127 |
| February 27, 1929 | Dearest Mother | “Life down at Big Log was quite a bit more strenuous than here at Country Cottage and I got way behind [in my letter-writing].” Sent pictures. Asks her parents’ opinion of a possible trip to the West or Europe with her Uncle in the summer. | 2 pages
131-132 |
MARCH
| DATE | TO | TOPIC | PAGES |
| March 3, 1929 | Dearest Father and Mother | Harriet stayed with 6 Big Log girls while other students went on a walk with Marian. “Mrs. Wilkinson[?] usually keeps the Big Log girls Sunday afternoon, but she is just getting over a very severe cold….” Asks help with her decision about her future job. Talked with Billy Fern[?] at Berea about a “church job”: “I’m not temperamentally suited to being a spiritual adviser….” She writes about PMSS: “I think I know how you feel about this School, that it is doing a very good work, but that it could be a lot better….Since you feel that way about it and are sending me down here free of charge, I do not like to come back for another year without your full approval.” Talked with Miss Melville about this, who told her that the School would improve soon. Harriet states that she’s not authorized to have a minister come to the School, as suggested by her father. Melville told her that “the school is much more religious this year than it has ever been before.” She describes what she would teach next year: Caesar, Algebra II & Bible. Writes about how the students need spiritual advising: “telling the truth would lead the list, then honesty in everything, lack of revenge, etc.” She expresses her lack of confidence in teaching Bible. | 6 pages
133-138 |
| March 24, 1929 | Dearest Mother | Sent folders about tennis rackets and bed spreads. Sent check to pay her “debt” and for oranges. Asked for any copies that can be found of “Silas Marner” for the students; her birthday book; tan shoe polish; lisle stockings; material for the children’s dresses; etc. Ordered a dress from Mrs. Matthews at Berea and suggests that her mother order for the children. “We had a bad flood here, the worst to occur since the School has been going — all due to a hard rain….The bridge near the School House is in terrible shape. It was about washed away….” She continues to describe the damage. She directed the production of “The Courtship of Miles Standish. | 5 pages
140-144 |
APRIL
| DATE | TO | TOPIC | PAGES |
| April 4, 1929 | Dearest Father and Mother | She “can’t seem to find time” to write; needs to write many letters, including to her Madiera classmates. Also, she was involved in the “Miles Standish” play, acted in some Mother Goose ru[?] put on by the workers; did substitute teaching while Margaret and Marian attended the Mountain Workers Conference. Writes about the items her mother sent and items she still needs. “Miss Gaines came up for tea….” Urges the family to visit her. Undecided about next year. She prefers PMSS, having enjoyed “…the charm and freshness of the mountains and countrified life…” Asks about family members and suggests travel ideas. | 4 pages
145-148 |
| April 29, 1929 | My dearest Mother | She finished paying up her debt to her mother; still owed father. Miss Betty thanked Harriet instead of her mother for the valentine gift of a broom. Asked her mother to send “Land of the Saddle Bag” to Margaret in Frederick, MD. Suggested sending a Carolina blanket to Louise Black for her baby. Thanked her mother for the Easter present of a tea set. Asked for date of the sailing with her uncle. | 4 pages
149-152 |
MAY
| DATE | TO | TOPIC | PAGES |
| May 4, 1929 | Dear Mother | Mentions work on coverlids by Florence, Mrs. Jackson and Delphia, and asks mother about preferred sizes. Kitty arrived. “I am writing this in the Laden store.” Miss Betty and K. Russel will be visiting. | 2 pages
153-154 |
| May 22, 1929 | My Precious Mother | Apologizes for not writing more frequently. Refers to her mother at a convention. Harriet describes her time with Miss Betty and “the two Kitties.” Tonight was the performance of Robin Hood, “the commencement play and big event of the ending exercises.” She worked on it with M. Motter. Gives an itinerary of her train travel home via La Grange and Pittsburgh. Harriet and her uncle’s sailing date has been arranged for June 15. | 4 pages
155-158 |
AUGUST
| DATE | TO | TOPIC | PAGES |
| August 23, 1929 | Dearest Mother | She is “getting to bed much earlier” and her cold is “wearing itself out.” The Dixie Terminal, L&N’s Cincinnati office, was closed before her train arrived, so she couldn’t get her pass. Asked about her family members. “It is great fun having Kitty Russel here….She is going to take the tutoring work for the children below the seventh grade.” There are 50 old students this year and 50 new. Harriet will teach Algebra II, Geography VII and 2 sections of Old Testament. SUBSEQUENT PAGE(S) ARE MISSING. | 3 pages
159-161 |
SEPTEMBER
| DATE | TO | TOPIC | PAGES |
| September 1, 1929 | Dearest Mother | “The first days of every class are simply terrifying to me for some reason, but I hope I will be calmed down more this week.” She provided her teaching schedule for Algebra II, Latin I, Geography VII and Bible I & II, plus study periods.Harriet describes her subjects, classes and students. Tells about the drought they are having. She tells about the problems of dealing with this, including those with the reservoir. Kitty lives in the Infirmary now. She will write Mr. V. Snowden about the apples. | 4 pages
162-165 |
| September 8, 1929 | Dearest Mother | It has finally rained. She tells of its effects of the rain as well as the drought. Mentions her vaccination by Miss Purbrick. Harriet will have a typhoid shot later. Mentions Mrs. Bartlett from New England, who shares Country Cottage with Harriet. Kitty is enjoying being at the School. Harriet describes the remodeled Country Cottage, including Miss Emerson’s & Marjorie Wilkinson’s rooms. Delphia Turner has gone home to finish the coverlids. Harriet suggests their distribution at home. | 4 pages
166-169 |
| September 17, 1929 | Dearest Mother | Harriet describes several events to explain why she was too busy to write: Visited with Florence Burnam, an old Madiera & Vasser classmate of Margaret’s who lives in Richmond, KY. ; A fight at Boys House “between an old boy, Johnnie Presley — the bully type, and a girl strained her knee so badly that Miss Purbrick thought it was broken….”; and one of the housemothers was lost for a while. Writes about bills. Apples and melons arrived from the farm. | 4 pages
170- 173 |
OCTOBER
| DATE | TO | TOPIC | PAGES |
| October 1, 1929 | Dearest Mother | Exchanged Margaret’s letters with her mother. Read that Mrs. Clarke died. “What a different place Sewickley will seem without her!” Sent home her tennis shoes to be repaired and asked for her riding pants to join a riding trip to Hindman that is being planned. Asked for Moffatt’s Modern Translation of the whole Bible. “My classes want to hear what the Bible sounds like in every day talk.” Sent check to Mr. Murdock. Harriet told of her persistent sore throat after strenuous times with the governor’s visit and later the fair. | 3 pages
174- 176 |
| NO IMAGE | 177 | ||
| October 7, 1929 | Dearest Mother | Harriet asked her mother to send 48 post cards, printed by the Herald office, to her Medeira classmates. “I am class representative for Madeira 1922 and have to collect news twice a year….Whatever news I collect must be sent to Washington by November first….” She asked for additional items and appreciated those she had already received. Asked about family and friends. Requested information about the A.F.G. dividends. Kitty Russel tended to her when she was sick with a cold. Received fruit from Mr. Clore. | 6 pages
178- 183 |
| October 14, 1929 | Dearest Mother | Thanks her mother for helping with the Madeira mailings. Lists the other things she received from home. Thanks her for the MIlton[?] pictures which Miss Woder, English teacher, will use in her teaching of Pilgrim’s Progress. Wrote about sending coverlid to Bob at Princeton. Margaret felt that it may get ruined there. Asks for check written to Delphia Turner. “…[F]our of us workers are going to give a dramatization of the Mad Tea Party from “Alice in Wonderland.” Kitty is to be Alice and I the Hatter.” | 5 pages
184-188 |
| October 28, 1929 | My darling Mother | “There are some things in this world that I never can be thankful enough for, and the list is headed by you and Father. When I think about all the people I know I just wonder why I was singled out to get the very best parents in the world….Each year you seem to get more and more precious, and I don’t do half that I should to show my love and appreciation.” Describes her and Kitty’s horseback ride to Hindman. Sent baskets from Hindman to her mother. | 3 pages
189-191 |
NOVEMBER
| DATE | TO | TOPIC | PAGES |
| November 4, 1929 | Dearest Mother | Harriet is glad that her mother met with Kitty in New York. The check for the chairs goes to Fireside Industries Dept.
Writes about other receipts and bills. “Four of us gave the Mad Tea Party from “Alice in Wonderland.” Kitty was Alice and I the Hatter.” Describes the Halloween party, which was moved to another night “owing to a case of infantile paralysis which developed down Greasy.” Danced Virginia reels and ate cocoa and doughnuts. Harriet was chairman of parties. “I hate the job, but couldn’t shake it.” |
2 pages
192-193 |
| November 26, 1929 | Dear Father | Enclosing the L&N pass to be extended. Writes about the “minister problem” and tries to explain to her father the situation. “I feel fairly sure that MIss Melville and the trustees would not want to turn this school over to a mission board or church, tho I can’t speak for Miss Pettit.” LIsts her father’s qualifications for finding the proper minister for the school. | 3 pages
194-196 |
DECEMBER
| December 1, 1929 | [no salutation] | Continuation of November 26, 1929, letter. Harriet adds to her explanation of where the school stands concerning mission board authority. “I do not believe that the school would object to the right kind of evangelism, but they most certainly do not want a theological or denominational approach. Miss P[ettit] told me that the thing she cared about was making the people better and anybody who could do hat was welcome.” Received Rio Grande grapefruit and grapes from Chicago. She is making a gift to present at the altar during the Nativity Play. | 4 pages
197-200 |
| December 10, 1929 | Dearest Father | Her father is getting the pass from Laden to Cincinnati, and still needs to do so for Cincinnati to Pittsburgh. Kitty Russel was unexpectedly called home immediately, due to her sick aunt, Mrs. Hutchins. Suggests which fruit to send for the 125 children at Christmas on the supply train. Writes about candidates for a PMSS minister: Not much room here for William McKinley Justice; Dr. Alfred Lee Wilson, who may have been a PMSS trustee, used to pay a Methodist minister from Harlan to visit once a year. Suggests that her father meet with him in Chicago. Yes, she had met Mr. Wilbert Smith at Vassar. | 6 pages
201-206 |
| December 16, 1929 | Dearest Mother | She will mail the sample of yarn later. Asked her mother to sign her up for the church subscription. “It is so warm here we cannot believe it. Good night, dearest lady, Harriet.” | 1 page
207 |
Previous:
HARRIET CRUTCHFIELD Journal Guide 1928 for summaries of her 1928 correspondence.
See Also:
HARRIET CRUTCHFIELD Staff for her full biography.
HARRIET CRUTCHFIELD Correspondence After PMSS 1931-1956
HARRIET CRUTCHFIELD PMSS Application 1928
For IMAGES of her correspondence while at PMSS, see:
HARRIET CRUTCHFIELD Journal Part 1 (001-046) Sept 1928
HARRIET CRUTCHFIELD Journal Part 2 (047-100) Sept-Nov 1928
HARRIET CRUTCHFIELD Journal Part 3 (101-152) Nov 1928-Apr 1929
HARRIET CRUTCHFIELD Journal Part 4 (153-207) May-Dec 1929
For TRANSCRIPTIONS of her correspondence while at PMSS, see:
HARRIET CRUTCHFIELD Journal Transcribed Part 1
HARRIET CRUTCHFIELD Journal Transcribed Part 2
HARRIET CRUTCHFIELD Journal Transcribed Part 3
HARRIET CRUTCHFIELD Journal Transcribed Part 4
