MARY ROCKWELL HOOK Correspondence 1947 Box 19: 3-54

Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 09: Biography
Series 05: Board of Trustees
Series 10: Built Environment
Mary Rockwell Hook Correspondence 1947
Published 2018-06-18 hw
Updated 2021-10-18 aae

MARY ROCKWELL HOOK Correspondence 1947 Box 19: 3-54
Board Correspondence: February 28 – December 7, 1947

Mary Rockwell Hook (1877 – 1978)
School Architect and Consultant 1913 through c. 1968
Member, PMSS Board of Trustees

TAGS: Mary Rockwell Hook, correspondence, 1947, PMSS architect, board correspondence, PMSS Board of Trustees, Mrs. Inghram D. Hook, H.R.S. Benjamin, Advisory Board, forestry classes, purchasing additional land, James S. Crutchfield, Army post-war aluminum buildings, blueprints, sawmill, converting Open House into a guest house, worker awards, home economics department, Island House on Mackinac Island

MARY ROCKWELL HOOK Correspondence 1947 Box 19: 3-54

Mary Rockwell Hook served as the primary architect for Pine Mountain Settlement School and served on the School’s Board of Trustees. She also maintained a correspondence with many workers at the School, with Community members, and with other Board of Trustee members. For these reasons, her correspondence can be scattered. However, the bulk of her correspondence is filed under “Board of Trustees Correspondence” in BOXES 17-19 and is organized by year.

Note that the formal BOT correspondence does not begin until 1924. Prior years are included in the Director’s Correspondence.

Additional correspondence may be included in planning documents for the two satellite settlements, the Medical Settlement at Big Laurel and the Line Fork Settlement, as well as under files for the individual buildings she designed. See Series 10: BUILT ENVIRONMENT and GUIDE to BUILT ENVIRONMENT.

Scattered correspondence may also be found under “Series 09: Staff Workers MARY ROCKWELL HOOK” in filing cabinet in the archive annex room.

Scanning of individual documents is on-going.

CONTENTS: MARY ROCKWELL HOOK Correspondence 1947 Box 19: 3-54

[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. Mary Rockwell Hook‘s letters are handwritten and original. The following list of contents is in chronological order and not necessarily in the order of the image numbers.]

February – March

01-02 February 28, 1947, Two-page letter to Mr. (H.R.S.) Benjamin from Mary Rockwell Hook, Jamaica Plain, MA, [01] declining his invitation to visit PMSS as a member of the Advisory Board. “It is nearly twenty-five(?) years now since I have seen the School, and it would [02] be very interesting to see all the changes and improvements, as I have kept in touch with what has been going on there, even though being so far away. I shall always have the welfare of the School very much at heart, and shall still look forward to some future time when I can get down for a visit.”

03 (Enclosure) Newspaper clipping from The Montgomery (Alabama) Advertiser dated February 16, 1947. “First Building is Under Way For Auburn’s Forestry School.” Hook’s notation in margin: “I hope sometime we can reinstate our forestry class at Pine Mt. or perhaps we could get a scholarship for a boy in a forestry school….”

04-05 March 9, 1947. Two-page letter to Mr. Benjamin from Hook, Kansas City, MO, [04] who heard from Dorothy Nace about Dr. (Clark) Bailey’s heart attack. Asks if the School can acquire more tillable land to use for more buildings around the edges, such as farm buildings and sawmill. [05] Perhaps a co-op could run the sawmill; and the carpentry department should be nearby, “releasing more room for printing & science.” Suggests that donors may be interested as “farm buildings & sawmill have an appeal.”

06 March 12, 1947. To Hook from (unsigned, apparently Mr. Benjamin), explaining that land for purchase is scarce. Charles (Creech) is staying with his parents on the Creech land, controlling the land to the west of the School. Benjamin is asking about other land in the neighborhood, “but with little hope.” He looks forward to the Board meeting with the Advisory Committee members.

07-08 March 24, 1947. Two-page letter to Mr. (James S.) Crutchfield from Hook, [07] who recommends two aluminum buildings for a sawmill and seed storage by PMSS’s Agricultural Department, made by the Butler Mfg. Co. of Kansas City at $800 each. She describes the buildings, which need a location. “I am much disappointed that a year’s time has brought us no prospect of more farm land.” [08] Hook proposes a co-operative scheme with the neighbors and suggests Charles Creech as president and Bill Hayes as director; set up on land not belonging to the School. “We have not had our neighbors in sympathy with us to date and perhaps the mistake has been ours. They are naturally jealous of our accomplishment & think we think we are superior.” She encloses a blueprint and is asking the Butler Mfg. Co. for figures.

09 March 28, 1947. To Hook from Benjamin, thanking her for the plans for the farm building. He will show them to Mr. Hayes. The sawmill, which will be delivered this month, would provide the lumber. He tells of land that he has found available and its cost, although it is “not promising.” Asks Hook to think “about a building to accommodate deep-freeze and laundry units” even though there is no money or equipment for it yet.

April – June

15 April 3, 1947. Western Union telegram to Benjamin from Hook, informing him that she will attend the Board meeting; will bring Mrs. Clarence Decker, wife of the President of Kansas City University. She hopes to stay at Open House.
16 April 3, 1947. Typewritten text of the same telegram.

17 April 24, 1947. To Benjamin from Hook in Sarasota, FL, informing him of the buildings that can be obtained at the Army air fields. Hook imagines the various uses of these buildings on the PMSS campus: gym, Creech hospital, boys’ house. She offers to help place them.

18 May 26, 1947. To Hook from Benjamin, who lists the four girls chosen for the worker awards; Grace Tyree, Betty Jane (Zane?) Logan; Delores Scott, and Jolene Lucas. The award will be the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook; Benjamin asks Hook if she would “like to take care of this or part of it again this year? I know your interest in stimulating the students to an appreciation of the values of the work program.”

19-22 June 1, 1947. Four-page letter to Benjamin from Hook in Kansas City, MO, [19] who encloses a $12.50 check for the saw and cookbook awards. She hopes to discuss the home economics department with Benjamin. “We have never yet had the strong department that I am ambitious to make of it.” [20] Suggests combining “teaching of cooking with the actual work of feeding the whole family.” Hook hopes to show Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin a place that could be a pattern for PMSS. Mr. Crutchfield and Hook are trying to persuade Marian Kingman, who is head of the Berea College home economics department, to return to PMSS for a year. She is also a musician who could fill in for (Arthur) Dodd in his absence. [21] Hook offers to create an outline of how to manage home economics at PMSS. Asks where the sawmill has been located and whether an ex-Army building can be used for wood storage. [22] Hook is currently erecting seven of the huts in Kansas City and four in Florida, combining them into houses. She will be planning an addition to Open House.

23-24 June 5, 1947. Two-page letter to Hook from (unsigned, apparently Benjamin), who responds to her June 1 letter, showing interest in all that she suggests. [23] He agrees that home economics and kitchen of Laurel House need improvement. Now that Miss (Helen) Kingsbury of the home economics department is leaving, he can make personnel changes. Miss Kingman has been approached several times to return to PMSS to no avail. “The sawmill is located in the old spot, up the Hollow, but a bit higher.” Asks if the ex-Army buildings might be expensive. [24] Describes the building that the Woodwork Shop needs, which could be less expensive if built locally. Asks her to visit PMSS to discuss a hospital enlargement using the huts and to meet Mr. (Frank W.) Cheney, the new Shop supervisor; also to study Open House needs.

25-26 June 21, 1947. Two-page letter to Benjamin from Hook, [25] asking his advice concerning Mrs. (Mary Cook) Rogers’ abilities so that Mrs. Clarence Decker can find the right place for her in Kansas City. [26] Suggests Mrs. Rogers’ artistic talent could be applied to “Hall-Mark” greeting cards. Hook knows Mr. Hall personally. Mrs. Decker accepted an invitation to join the Advisory Board.

27-28 June 26, 1947. To Hook from Benjamin, [027] who responds to Hook’s “confidential inquiry concerning Mrs. Mary Rogers. …[S]he is the only person on our Staff of Workers who is prepared to handle Laurel House as dietitian and house manager. If you provide a way…for her to leave us, we will be in a very serious situation.” He then gives his thoughts on her qualifications. [028] He is willing to change to another employee if Hook or someone else finds someone else who can handle the job.

July

29 N.D. A partial typewritten letter from Joseph Van Vleck, Jr., concerning additional dormitories and hospital space, with a notation in Hook’s handwriting stating: “Any news about this?”

30-33 July 12, 1947. Four-page letter to Benjamin from Hook, [30] who wants Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin to see Island House on Mackinac Island (Michigan), where volunteer workers efficiently feed 600 people by changing cooks and all helpers every three days. She suggests their methods for PMSS. [32 – numbering is out of order] Describes Island House as “a training school for world understanding conducted by the Moral Rearmament group” run by Frank Buchman. [31] Offers to pay for their travels and hotel. Hook describes Island House and the island. She will be in Florida soon; is using four army buildings there. [33] Hook wants to build the wing for guests onto Open House before winter. She is not giving Open House to the School until it becomes a guest house. She is subscribing to “New World News” for Benjamin.

34 July 15, 1947. To Hook from (unsigned, apparently Benjamin), who declines a trip to Mackinac Island because he can’t leave PMSS. July 21, 1947. (He resumes his letter after a delay.) Roof repairs on West Wind and Boys’ Industrial were held up due to daily heavy rains, which is also affecting farming.

November – December

35 November 22, 1947. To Hook from James S. Crutchfield, Pittsburgh, PA, (with a copy to Miss [Evelyn K.] Wells), who regrets she missed the board meeting. He trusts Hook is keeping in touch with Mr. Benjamin about maintenance and planning for additional buildings. He asks about the cost to build an additional dormitory for boys and hospital facilities. He hopes Hook can convince Mrs. (Dorothy Olcott) Elsmith to return to the PMSS Board.

10-14 December 7, (no year). Five-page letter to Benjamin from Hook, [10] answering his letter about converting Open House into a heated guest house with which she agrees. “It would have to be kept rather rustic but it could house your ‘rougher’ guests, glee clubs, teams, etc….” [11-12] She provides a sketch (12 single rooms and 4 baths) and explains how it could be done. [13] “I will gladly give Open House to the School, The land will revert to the School at my death. I believe that Mrs. (Fanny) Gratz & Mrs. Bullock will relinquish their claims, if you ask them.” Hook offers to make a plan to enlarge Open House and start a fund by contributing $1,000 when the conversion begins. [14] Hook thinks that Mrs. Gratz and Mrs. Bullock “have no legal claim to the house & not at all to the land.”

36 N.D. (Later notation: “c.1947”) Second page of a letter about creating an “inspired city” in Mackinac incorporating “a new pattern of democracy….” and including training, volunteer manpower, and preparation of the buildings.

See Also:
MARY ROCKWELL HOOK Album I – Full Pages
MARY ROCKWELL HOOK PHOTO ALBUM II Part I – Individual Photos

MARY ROCKWELL HOOK AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1970 This and That
MARY ROCKWELL HOOK Biography

Return To:
MARY ROCKWELL HOOK Correspondence Guide