Pine Mountain Settlement School
George Robert Leach, Trustee
Series 05: Governance – Board of Trustees ; Alumni Advisory Board
Series 09: Biography – Trustees
Series 20: Alumni & Alumni Relations – Advisory Board
GEORGE ROBERT LEACH Trustee
TAGS: George Robert Leach, Robert Leach, Creech Family, PMSS Board of Trustees, PMSS Alumni Advisory Board, Little School, Mildred Mahoney, William M. Leach
George Robert Leach, the great-grandson of William and Sally Creech, grew up in the Pine Mountain Valley. He was a PMSS trustee in 2007 and served as a member of the PMSS Alumni Advisory Board as its chair and alumni representative to the PMSS Board of Trustees from c. 2008 through 2012. (or 2006-2010?)
Robert’s brother, William (“Bill”) M. Leach, was also a PMSS trustee, serving from 1973 through 2002.
Bill and Robert had a special familial relationship with the School. Their mother, Elsie (Creech) Leach, was a grandchild of William Creech and Sally Dixon Creech, donors of land on which the Pine Mountain Settlement School was built. Elsie was the oldest of Henry C. and Delia Creech’s eight children. She was among the 1926 PMSS graduates and continued her education at Berea (KY) College.
Robert was born c. 1948 in Kentucky to Malcolm Leach (1902-1974), a minister, and Elsie (Creech) Leach (1908-1988). He had three brothers and one sister: James M. Leach, Paul Leach, William Matthew Leach and Rachael H. Leach.
Robert Leach went on to become a teacher and taught for many years in the public schools.
In July 2018, Robert wrote the following letter to Director Geoff Marietta, describing life with his Creech family.
Dr. Marietta:
You don’t know how happy it made me to learn about the reopening of Little School. The first summer that it opened Miss [MIldred] Mahoney came to the house, Grandpap and Granny’s, to tell about this idea she had. Milly described what was planned and what the ideas were for the design of Little School. My brother Bill [Dr. William Matthew Leach] knew of the plans and the importance to the community, he had a theorist knowledge of what was happening. But, he didn’t have the day to day knowledge of what was happening.
For most of his life Grandpap, Henry C. Creech, had not only been William Creech‘s neighbor but also his mouthpiece. When Great Grandpap, William Creech — Uncle William or Uncle Billy (as Bill liked to say) — needed something done and didn’t have the time, he had two willing and able sons. J. Columbus lived with him, Henry C. was his closest neighbor. Now Uncle Columbus was very good on the political side — a quiet, in the background, worker. Grandpap, Henry, was the man with a mission. He had as much to lose in the fight, eleven children, as did “Uncle William”. If there was some need in the community, Uncle William asked, Henry went and Delia — my Granny made sure he went. Electricity, water, telephone, better roads, jobs — you name it — Henry was there. He knew everyone — he grew up with most of them, if he didn’t, there was always Uncle Columbus who knew the rest. When [Katherine] Pettit didn’t show up as fast as William Creech wanted — Henry and Columbus investigated.
Delia Blanton Creech, my granny, was the youngest of William and China Nolen Blanton. She lived through a lot of growing up the youngest, caring for her aging parents. Her family had coal and lumber interests, owning lots of property around Wallins Creek. One of her older brothers was part of the family business, and his heirs eventually established Blanton Forrest. But Delia was eager to get out [the] sticks. She went to school as far as she could in Wallins, then went to boarding school in a little place called Berea. She attended Normal, upon graduating she persuaded her brother, Calvin, to help her get a job teaching, which he did.
That is a brief story of my family. When Milly Mahoney came to the house describing Little School, she not only had [an] open mind, open hands. I’m not aware of the push from our side of the venture, but I am sure there was a great deal of push. Children attended because of the backing from Isaacs Creek. And there was a willing Volunteer, — me! I had no ties to the school, but I worked all four summers at Little School. I was twelve in 1960. I have some insights….
George Robert Leach
See Also:
CREECH FAMILY
HENRY C. CREECH
ROBERT LEACH PHOTO ALBUM
SALLY DIXON CREECH
WILLIAM CREECH
WILLIAM MATTHEW LEACH Trustee
Return to:
BIOGRAPHY – A-Z
| Title | George Robert Leach |
| Alt. Title | Robert Leach |
| Identifier | https://pinemountainsettlement.net/?page_id=66339 |
| Creator | Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY |
| Alt. Creator | Helen Hayes Wykle ; Ann Angel Eberhardt |
| Subject Keyword | George Robert Leach ; Robert Leach ; Creech Family ; PMSS Board of Trustees ; PMSS ; Alumni Advisory Board ; Little School ; Mildred Mahoney ; William M. Leach ; |
| Subject LCSH | Leach, George Robert, — born c. 1948. Pine Mountain (Ky.) Settlement School — History. Harlan County (Ky.) — History. Education — Kentucky — Harlan County. Rural schools — Kentucky — History. Schools — Appalachian |
| Date | 2018 hw |
| Publisher | Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY |
| Contributor | n/a |
| Type | Collections ; text ; image ; |
| Format | Original and copies of documents and correspondence in file folders in |
| Source | Series 05: Governance – Board of Trustees ; Alumni Advisory Board Series 09: Biography – Trustees Series 20: Alumni & Alumni Relations – Advisory Board |
| Language | English |
| Relation | Is related to: Pine Mountain Settlement School Collections, Series 05 – Governance – Board of Trustees & Alumni Advisory Board, Series 09: Biography – Trustees and Series 20: Alumni & Alumni Relations – Advisory Board. |
| Coverage Temporal | 1948 – 2012 (?) |
| Coverage Spatial | Pine Mountain, KY ; Harlan County, KY ; |
| Rights | Any display, publication or public use must Copyright retained by the creators of certain items in the by United States copyright law. |
| Donor | n/a |
| Description | Core documents, correspondence, writings and administrative papers created by or addressed to George Robert Leach; clippings, photographs, publications, illustrations by or about George Robert Leach. |
| 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 | |
| Bibliography | |
| Source(s) |
