Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 05: GOVERNANCE – BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Mary Rogers
1977 Philosophy of PMSS

MARY ROGERS 1977 Philosophy of PMSS

Mary Rogers:
Housemother 1942 – 1945
Teacher, Artist, Naturalist, Volunteer Librarian
Wife of Director Burton Rogers
EE Supervisor, Community Outreach 1947 – 1993

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TAGS: Mary Rogers, 1977 philosophy of PMSS, education, mountain environment and culture, institutional flexibility, non-yardstick values, PMSS staff, community, the settlement approach, life not livelihood, Christian but not denominational

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In 1977 members of the Board of Trustees and senior staff members were asked by the board president, Willis Weatherford, to submit a statement on the philosophy and objectives of the School as they understood it. As a long-time staff member and wife of Burton Rogers, then-director of the Pine Mountain Settlement School, Mary Rogers provided the following statement.

TRANSCRIPTION: MARY ROGERS 1977 Philosophy of PMSS

[Note: This transcription is from a two-page handwritten draft containing edits by Mary Rogers. The transcription below is lightly edited for clarity. The italicized quotes are from founder William Creech’s writings.]

Page 1.

Pine Mountain Settlement is an institution to benefit the immediate neighborhood, “the state and nation & folks across the seas if they can get any benefit out of it.”

As a “settlement” it is dedicated to uphold all that is worthwhile in the mountain environment and culture. It looks back to all that is good in that environment & culture in the past, and forward to how these values may be carried into the future in the best interests of local, regional, national, & world society, i.e., it should try to interpret the mountains to those from outside and help develop with those within the area an appreciation of what is theirs (forest, water, soil & air, plants, stones, personal values, & skills in craft & folklore). It will try to cooperate in developing services within the area for which there is a need, in health & special branches of service which do not duplicate the services of existing institutions or organizations. (e.g., for now, 1977: clinic, emotionally disturbed education, Head Start, etc. etc.) as occasion and opportunity arises. It must remain flexible as it has been in the past to changing social conditions, and the needs that spring from them.

As a “school” it is dedicated to “education,” but throughout its career, & I hope into the future, never to conventional education. It uses work, play, life, interests, & skills, as well as classes, and one trusts that the life of those working at the institution may far transcend in educational value the spoken word of the classroom. This is a “non-yardstick” value, and its measurement impossible, and also is one in which personal shortcomings of available staff are most deeply felt. Still it is a goal of Pine Mountain to employ people whose presence in the community may be a benefit, who are sensitive to the benefits they themselves receive from living in this community.

Page 2.

With this, which may be called the settlement approach, in mind, Pine Mountain’s role as an educational institution will probably always include instruction, not as a tool with which to prise a hunk of dollar earnings out of society but as a part of the search for truth — life not livelihood.

“Christian but not denominational” — “I want all young’uns taught to serve the livin’ God,” — Thus, without laying down set rules as to what Pine Mountain as an institution should do or should not do in the future, rules or directions which might bind it to a pre-designated course when some other service might be more needed or offer more scope, we have this rule that whatever course is taken today or in the future should be compatible with the will of God as clearly as we are able to discern it.

GALLERY

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See Also:
MARY ROGERS Staff – Biography

Return To:
GOVERNANCE 1977-78 Philosophy of Pine Mountain Settlement School

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