Glyn Mountain

Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 07: DIRECTORS
GLYN MORRIS
GUIDE Talks, Writing, and Publications
1931-1977

GLYN MORRIS Guide Writing and Publications

TAGS: Glyn Morris, Directors, Pine Mountain Settlement School, Harlan County, Ky, administrative correspondence, personal correspondence, publications, Pine Mountain Guidance Institute for Rural Youth, talks, writing, lectures,

CHRONOLOGY: GLYN MORRIS 1931-1977 Guide to Talks, Writing, and Publications

UNDATED

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1931

This first year as Director of Pine Mountain Settlement School is captured in documents that share his exchanges with his staff, outside resources and previous contacts. Arriving at the school at the age of 27, Morris, with all the eagerness of youth, clearly shows his eager engagement. In the first year h e charts a new educational course for the School. Influenced, in part, by his recent instruction at Union Theological School in New York and instructors such as Reinhold Niebuhr, and the influence of the new educational ideas of John Dewey and others, Morris set about to re-shape the institution. His writing in this first year is revealing as he struggles to merge his ideas with the realities of place.

In the Fall NOTES of October 1931, that served as the Director’s report to the donors, the Board of Trustees and the staff and students at the School, Morris shares his perceptions

The sense of Community LIfe or unified social feeling is handicapped and almost prohibited by the very nature of the mountains. Social gatherins’ are rare and even when they do occur are accompanied by a rigidity which comes from the nature of the “personalities” present. A sociable picnic is unusual.

In the same October 1931 issue of Notes Morris remarks on a recent talk by Rev. Stapleton, husband of Dr. Ida Stapleton, at the Line Fork settlement, one of two medical and educational outposts of the PMSS School. Stapleton spoke on “War and Disarmament.” Morris says of the talk

This seems to show that here in these isolated communities the spirit of international fellowship is breaking through the old barriers of intense individualism, and nationalistic feeling, and is an excellent omen for the peace of the world.

Reflecting back on those earliest years at Pine Mountain, he wrote in his personal memoir, Less Travelled Roads , published in 1977 about his early perceptions. Again, his observations and words record the challenges he faced in his personal adaptation to the Eastern Kentucky mountain culture. In his 1977 book Morris describes his initial transition from the intensely urban environment of New York City to the isolated rural community of Pine Mountain in the Central Appalachians

The move from New York to Pine Mountain, Kentucky, took us from one extreme to another; the move meant not only a change in geography, but with respect to surroundings, customs, and methods of living, placed us back into an earlier period of history. We exchanged subways and towering modern buildings and apartment houses for log cabins, muleback and foot travel; the sophisticated environment of Morningside Heights and the pushing crowds of Times Square for the restrained, “furriner-shy” non-talkative mountaineers; Macy’s department store, Fifth Avenue shops for a small, sparsely stocked country store and the “Wish Book” (any mail-order house catalogue — mainly Sears and “Monkey Wards”). Childs’ and Chinese restaurants for cornbread, shucky beans and heavy doses of salt pork and breakfasts with thick gravy. The rush and bustle of the city for the slow pace of the time before the railroads, the place where, as James Still stated, “…men here wait as mountains long have waited.”
Morris, Glyn. Less Travelled Roads. New York: Vantage Press, 1977. Print.

1932

By 1932 it is clear that Morris felt more integrated. Writing for the NOTES of both Spring and Fall he reflects a growing comfort and enthusiasm for the job ahead of him.

1933

1934

Morris, Glyn. “Is There Any Further Need of a School Like Pine Mountain Settlement School?” [Published ?]

1935

1936

1937

By 1937 Morris had begun to doubt himself and his reasons for remaining at Pine Mountain. He wrote to his mentor Arthur J. Swift at Union Theological, “Gladys and I are thinking of leaving Pine Mountain….Now will you tell us in all frankness just what you think?” He stayed.

MORRIS, GLYN. GLYN MORRIS ? date UCEA Beyond Accreditation. (N.D., possibly c. 1937.)

MORRIS, GLYN 1937 A Program Recommended Towards Meeting Vocational Guidance Needs of Rural Youth — With Special Reference to Those in the Less Privileged Rural Areas. Prepared for the President’s Committee on Vocational Education, at the Request of Its Vocational Guidance Consultant, By the Alliance for Guidance of Rural Youth, March 1937, Alliance for Guidance of Rural Youth, Formerly Southern Women’s Educational Alliance 401-02, Grace-American Building, Richmond, Virginia.

GLYN MORRIS 1937 Change in the Mountains Affecting Opportunity – Morris presents ideas for Trustee review, concerning educational reforms at PMSS in light of the societal changes and the increasing industrialization of the region.

GLYN MORRIS TALKS 1937 ‘Tight Places‘, including a prayer. A challenge to the students and staff to review their responsibility to one another and to “doing the right thing.”

GLYN MORRIS 1937 WRITING Meeting Needs at Pine Mountain -Transcription of Chapter IV, written by Morris and published in Harold Spears’ Emerging High-School Curriculum and its Direction. [Pending copyright review]

GLYN MORRIS 1937 “Progressive Education in the Kentucky Mountains,” [draft]

Morris, Glyn. “Progressive Education in the Kentucky Mountains,” Mountain Life & Work. 06 (October 1937): 5. Copy is re-print for PMSS.

GLYN MORRIS 1937 Is There Any Further Need of a School Like Pine Mountain Settlement School?

GLYN MORRIS 1937 Philosophy of Secondary Education

1938

1939

This year was a difficult one for Morris as he weighed his deep moral obligation to join the War efforts and as his relationship with certain Board members eroded . The period is reflected in his writing where personal reflections on the growing war and his relationship to some Board members and their views of his administration and values brings him to review his role at the School.

GLYN MORRIS 1939 WRITING “Community Service in the Curriculum,” Curriculum Journal, Vol. 10, no. 4, April 1939

GLYN MORRIS TALKS Harlan Kiwanis Club – At the invitation of Board member Dr. Bailey, Morris asks for funding for PMSS Nurse Aid Group. Probably 1939. See – GRACE M. ROOD My Life at Pine Mountain Settlement School

1940

GLYN MORRIS. “General Statement of History and Philosophy of PMSS for Staff

A deep review of the Educational Program at Pine Mountain Settlement School and its ability to meet the changing world needs.

1941

GLYN MORRIS. “Religion in the Mountains.”
A reflection on the current state of religion in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky and its relationship to the educational program at Pine Mountain Settlement School.

1942

GLYN MORRIS. “A Challenge for Today.” Mountain Life & Work. (Winter 1942). Print. [An abridgment of a chapel speech that was presented in early 1942 before his departure for his WWII assignment as an Army Chaplain.] SEE: GLYN MORRIS n.d. A Challenge for Today.

Morris, Glyn. “Private Schools and Democracy.” The American Scholar. [Back Matter] 11.2 (1942): 251-252. Print.

GLYN MORRIS 1942 Harlan County Planning Council – Images and transcription of an edited draft of minutes by PMSS Director Morris, the Planning Council Secretary, recording a meeting concerning delinquent youth in Harlan County and generally.

GLYN MORRIS Study and Recommendations PMSS
A comprehensive document that reviews the educational program at Pine Mountain Settlement School and Morris’ role as Director. It served as a final report to the Board of Trustees as Morris exited his Director role and joined the growing WWII events as a Chaplain. It is a summary of his efforts to lead the institution over the course of ten years.

1951

Morris, Glyn, and Evarts (KY) High School. Guidance Methods for the Principal. Teachers College, Columbia University, 1951. Print. ( Ed.D thesis). Building on the lessons learned at Pine Mountain Settlement School, Morris completed his Doctoral degree at Columbia University and moved forward to another career in Education in New York state. Following his educational degree, Morris’s publications increase and he becomes increasingly involved in the field of educational guidance.

1952

Morris, Glyn. Practical Guidance Methods for Principals and Teachers. New York: Harper, 1952. Print.

1954

Morris, Glyn. “Rural Guidance: Its Special Problems.” The Career Development Quarterly, December 1954: 35-37. Print (Permission required).

Morris, Glyn. “A Search for Pupil Viewpoints: How 5 Schools Made Plans Based on Pupil Needs.” The Clearing House. 29.3 (1954): 131-134. Print.

1955

Morris, Glyn. A Guidance Program for Rural Schools. Chicago: Science Research Associates, 1955. Print.

Morris, Glyn. “Rural Guidance: Its Special Problems.” Vocational Guidance Quarterly. 3.2 (1955): 35-37. Print. (See above for first printing.)

1958

Morris, Glyn. The High School Principal and Staff Study Youth. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University, 1958. Print.

1961

Morris, Glyn. Using a Timetable in Educational Guidance. Washington: Dept. of Rural Education, National Education Association, 1961. Print.

1964

Morris, Glyn, and Ernest Gosline. Mobilizing a Rural Community for Mental Health: A Report. Lyons Falls, NY: Lewis County Board of Cooperative Educational Services, 1964. Print.

Morris, Glyn. A Study of Industrial Relations in the United States of America. 20th Century Press for the United States Information Service, 1964. Print.

Strang, Ruth May, and Glyn Morris. Guidance in the Classroom. New York: Macmillan, 1964. Print.

1965

1966

Morris, Glyn A., and Judith Wheater. Born for Joy: A Unique Summer Program for Disadvantaged Children During July, 1966. Lyons Falls, NY: The Board of Cooperative Educational Services, 1967. Print.

1967

1977

Morris, Glyn. Less Travelled Roads. New York: Vantage Press, 1977. Print.
The autobiography captures the life of Glyn Morris, recognized as one of the most impactful directors of the Pine Mountain Settlement School. The book first reviewed by Richard B. Drake, formerly a faculty member of Berea College, Kentucky, the book is characterized as “…full of surprises.” Drake characterizes Morris as “… a Welch-born, liberal clergyman turned educational innovator who became an intimate of the literary critic, Edmund Wilson.” He also criticizes Morris for his writing and characterizes his “informal organization” and his “turgid style” in the book as detracting from the rich life of an engaged educator he attempts to bring to the reader. There is no index and Drake’s observation of informal organization is well-taken.

Drake and others also recognize the book as one of the best sources for information about the Pine Mountain Settlement School and the Eastern Kentucky “Coal War” decade of the 1930s in Harlan County, Kentucky. Typical of his interests, Morris takes the reader in a deep and unreserved dive into personalities, social encounters and observations. For example, Morris describes the unsettling encounter with his seminarian classmate and Communist, Arnold Johnson in Harlan County and the subsequent political interrogation by the County Sherrif. He also makes informed and sound sense when describing educational reform and theory, strengthened by his many excellent tutors at Columbia and at Seminary.

The autobiography covers the full course of Morris’ professional life and personal insights into his years at Pine Mountain (1932-1942), his twenty-year career with the Lewis County, New York school system, and his extended friendship with the well-known literary critic, writer, and journalist, Edmund Wilson, whose funeral he preached.

1993

Death of Glyn Morris.

1994

Morgan, Colin, and Glyn Morris. “The Student View of Tutorial Support: Report of a Survey of Open University Education Students.” Open Learning: the Journal of Open and Distance Learning. 9.1 (1994): 22-33. Print.

1998

Morgan, Colin, and Glyn Morris. Good Teaching and Learning: Pupils and Teachers Speak. New York: Open University Press, 1998. Print.

2000

*Morris, Glyn. Nights and Days with Edmund Wilson: An “Upstate” Friendship. Typescript draft of Glyn Morris’ memoir of his friendship with Edmund Wilson (1895-1972) from roughly 1950 to 1970. Gift of Barbara Morris to Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, in 2000. Unpublished Print.

Morgan, Colin, and Glyn Morris. Good Teaching and Learning: Pupils and Teachers Speak.New York: Open University Press, 1998. Print.

Morris, Glyn A. “A Challenge for Today.” Mountain Life & Work. (Winter 1942). Print.

Morris, Glyn, and Ernest Gosline. Mobilizing a Rural Community for Mental Health: A Report. Lyons Falls, NY: Lewis County Board of Cooperative Educational Services, 1964. Print.

Morris, Glyn, and Evarts (KY) High School. Guidance Methods for the Principal. Teachers College, Columbia University, 1951. Print. ( Ed.D thesis).

Morris, Glyn. A Guidance Program for Rural Schools. Chicago: Science Research Associates, 1955. Print.

Morris, Glyn. The High School Principal and Staff Study Youth. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University, 1958. Print.

Morris, Glyn A., and Judith Wheater.Born for Joy: A Unique Summer Program for Disadvantaged Children During July, 1966. Lyons Falls, NY: The Board of Cooperative Educational Services, 1967. Print.

Morris, Glyn. Less Travelled Roads. New York: Vantage Press, 1977. Print. AUTOBIOGRAPHY

*Morris, Glyn. Nights and Days with Edmund Wilson: An “Upstate” Friendship. Typescript draft of Glyn Morris’ memoir of his friendship with Edmund Wilson (1895-1972) from roughly 1950 to 1970. Gift of Barbara Morris to Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, in 2000. Unpublished Print.

Morris, Glyn. Practical Guidance Methods for Principals and Teachers. New York: Harper, 1952. Print.

Morris, Glyn. “Private Schools and Democracy.” The American Scholar. 11.2 (1942): 251-252. Print.

Morris, Glyn. “Progressive Education in the Kentucky Mountains,” Mountain Life & Work. 06 (October 1937): 5. Copy is re-print for PMSS.

Morris, Glyn. “Rural Guidance: Its Special Problems.” Vocational Guidance Quarterly. 3.2 (1955): 35-37. Print.

Morris, Glyn. “A Search for Pupil Viewpoints: How 5 Schools Made Plans Based on Pupil Needs.” The Clearing House. 29.3 (1954): 131-134. Print.

Morris, Glyn. A Study of Industrial Relations in the United States of America. 20th Century Press for the United States Information Service, 1964. Print.

Morris, Glyn.Using a Timetable in Educational Guidance. Washington: Dept. of Rural Education, National Education Association, 1961. Print.

Strang, Ruth May, and Glyn Morris. Guidance in the Classroom. New York: Macmillan, 1964. Print.

See Also: GLYN MORRIS Director –
Biography and list of links to GLYN MORRIS Correspondence,
his reports to the PMSS Board of Trustees, and more.

GLYN MORRIS 1931-1977 Guide to Talks, Writing, and Publications

Talks, Writings, Publications – Pine Mountain and Beyond

INTRODUCTION

The GLYN MORRIS 1931-1977 GUIDE TO TALKS, WRITING, AND PUBLICATIONS is an index that provides a chronological list of the Director’s Office papers, correspondence, publications, talks, and miscellaneous papers of Glyn Morris, which span a little over a decade from 1931 until 1942. (His publications and writing related to the establishment of the Rural Youth Guidance Institute is not fully covered in this index.)

The index captures the currently processed documents of Morris’s years at Pine Mountain Settlement School as well as the period of his enlistment as a Chaplain during WWII and his return to Evarts, Kentucky, as Assistant to Harlan County Superintendent of Schools, James A. Cawood. The documents are scattered across the formal collection of “Director’s Office Files” found in the organized and boxed Berea College microfilmed records; in the Pine Mountain Settlement School’s general Director’s files; in the Rural Youth Guidance Institute files (partial); and within the correspondence of other Pine Mountain Settlement School staff, students and associates. The documents associated with Glyn Morris’s are voluminous and often necessarily are duplicated across various collections.

When Morris reflected on his time at Pine Mountain in 1977, he was 72. He was retired and living in Pennsylvania where he was writing his autobiography. in his notes, he mused

I sometimes ponder, with wonder, as to how the concept of time has changed in my lifetime. From knowing men who fought in the Civil War — my experience covered nearly a century — and who could tell of their experiences, to the space age! How fast can we go and survive?

Morris did not live to know the web and its rapid technology and media development and dissemination. He would have heard us asking the same question: How fast can we go and survive? What will AI bring to our understanding of one another?