Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 09: Biography
Series 19: Students
ZEOLA COMBS, Student 1922-1923
TAGS: Zeola Combs, Zeola Combs Breeding, students, Katherine Pettit
Zeola Combs was a student at the Pine Mountain Settlement School during the 1922-1923 school year, according to the student file #66 in Box 30 of the School’s archives. Listed with her were her brother, Gardner Combs, and Corliss (whose relationship with Zeola is unknown, possibly brother).
ZEOLA COMBS: Her PMSS Memories
In January 2001, Debra Callahan, the School’s secretary at the time, received several email messages from Pamala Gilbert who described conversations she had with
Hello, my name is Pamala Gilbert and for 5 months now I have taken care of a lady named Zeola. She is 91 years old. She always talks about the Pine Mountain Settlement School and how it was the best school. She loved Katherine Pettit and always referred to her as the lovely and beautiful Miss Pettit. Miss Pettit would always let her sit with her in the dining room. Zeola was 9 back then. … She remembers Miss Gilbert and that she was going to spank her for something and Miss Pettit told Zeola, “No, she won’t” and sent a note so she would not get a spanking.
She always says how wonderful the food was. Just today I found your website and showed her. She was so happy and said, “Well, I guess they have bathrooms inside the school now.” … I love hearing her stories and watching her smile. She also talks about Miss Gilbert taking all the girls walking and told them to pick berries on the way. So they
Zeola told me that was her name [Combs] before she got married. Her name now is Zeola Breeding. The name “Combs” is her parents’ name. She always tells me that Miss Pettit called her “the little Combs girl.”
Zeola said she was in the hospital for awhile because of itching and Miss Pettit would always say, “How is my little Combs girl doing today?” … She also told me that a girl about 14 years always hit her, so one day Zeola poured a picture of water on her. The house mother saw her and she got in trouble, not the other girl. …
Today Zeola told me she had 3 brothers with her in the school: Carl [Corliss?], Larry [Lawery?], and I forgot the last one. It started with a “G” [Gardner]. She said one brother got caught with
Katherine Pettit always asked Zeola’s mother to sit with them at suppertime. I told Zeola I will try to come down [to the School] and she said she hopes I get to eat some
ZEOLA COMBS: Her Family
The U.S. Census of 1910 provides the following information about Zeola and her family. Zeola was born c. May 1909. Her family was living in Lower Carr, Knott County, Kentucky, and consisted of her parents, Liza (Eliza) Combs (age 21) and John H. Combs, (26), and two brothers, Gardner (4) and Lawery (3). All were born in Kentucky and the father worked as a farmer.
By the 1930 Census, the family was living on Mason’s Creek in Perry County, Kentucky. Along with their daughter Zeola, now age 19, her parents had two sons at home: Lary (23) and Carles (18). Lary and his father were working in the coal mines.
See Also COMBS FAMILY
| Title | Zeola Combs |
| Alt. Title | Zeola Combs Breeding |
| Identifier | https://pinemountainsettlement.net/?page_id=65204 |
| Creator | Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY |
| Alt. Creator | Helen Hayes Wykle ; Ann Angel Eberhardt |
| Subject Keyword | Zeola Combs ; Zeola Combs Breeding, ; students ; Katherine Pettit ; |
| Subject LCSH | Combs, Zeola, — 1909 – ?. Pine Mountain Settlement School (Pine Mountain, Ky.) — History. Harlan County (Ky.) — History. Education — Kentucky — Harlan County. Rural schools — Kentucky — History. Schools — Appalachian Region, Southern. |
| Date | 2019-03-05 aae |
| Publisher | Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY |
| Contributor | submitted in 2001 by Pamala Gilbert, caretaker. |
| Type | Collections ; text ; image ; |
| Format | Original and copies of documents and correspondence in folders in filing cabinet. |
| Source | Series 09: Biography and Series 19: Students |
| Language | English |
| Relation | Is related Collections, Series 09: Biography and Series 19: Students. |
| Coverage Temporal | 1922 – 2001 |
| Coverage Spatial | Pine Mountain, KY ; Harlan County, KY ; Lower Carr, Knott County, KY ; Perry County, KY ; |
| Rights | Any display, publication or public use must credit the Pine Mountain Settlement School. Copyright retained by the creators of certain items in the collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law. |
| Donor | n/a |
| Description | Core documents, correspondence, writings and administrative papers created by or addressed to Zeola Combs; clippings, photographs, publications, illustrations by or about Zeola Combs. |
| Acquisition | n/d |
| Citation | “[Identification of Item],” [Collection Name] [Series Number, if applicable]. Pine Mountain Settlement School Institutional Papers. Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY. |
| Processed By | Helen Hayes Wykle ; Ann Angel Eberhardt ; |
| Last Updated | 2019-03-08 aae ; |
| Bibliography | |
| Source(s) | “Zeola Combs.” Series 09: Biography and Series 19: Students. Pine Mountain Settlement School Institutional Papers. Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY. |
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