MARIAN PURBRICK Correspondence II

Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 09: BIOGRAPHY – Staff
Marian Purbrick Correspondence II

MARIAN PURBRICK Correspondence II, 1932 – 1948
Nurse, 1928 – 1931

TAGS: Marian Purbrick, nurses, health, Oneida Mountain Hospital, Glyn Morris, Infirmary, Save the Children Fund of America, The State Tuberculosis Sanatorium, Martha ?, Dancing Green, H.R.S. Benjamin, Long Island Hospital

CONTENTS: MARIAN PURBRICK Correspondence II

[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. The initials at the bottom left of most PMSS letters indicate the writer (along with initials of the secretary). For example, “GM” refers to Glyn A. Morris. All letters from Miss Marian Purbrick are handwritten. The following list of contents is in chronological order and not necessarily in order of the image numbers.]

CONTENTS: 1932

[1932_035] January 8, 1932. To Purbrick at Oneida Mountain Hospital, Oneida, KY, from GM (Morris), Director, who missed seeing her when she left and wrote to “thank you on behalf of the Pine Mountain Settlement School for your long and excellent service for the School and the community. Gladys joins me in wishing you all good fortune in your new venture, and we shall be glad to hear from you from time to time.”

[1932_036] through [1932_036b] January 18, 1932. Three-page letter to Morris from Purbrick in Oneida, KY, [036] who thanked him for his kind note; described preparations for opening the hospital in two weeks; poor road conditions. [036a] Encloses $2.50 check for Polly Wilder’s music lessons from Miss (Esther) Epstein. Sends regards to Mrs. Morris and friends at Pine Mountain. [036b] Closing; Asks that Miss Ames forward her magazines and encloses stamps.

[1932_037] through [038] IMAGES NOT FOUND

[1932_039] January 26, 1932. To Purbrick from GM (Morris), who responded to items in Purbrick’s January 18th letter.

[1932_040], [040a] April 11, 1932. Two-page letter to Morris from Purbrick, thanking him for including her on the PMSS mailing list; enclosing “a small subscription…”Pine Mountain Settlement School will always have a very special place in my heart…”  

[1932_041] April 15, 1932. To Purbrick from Morris, thanking her for her $5 donation; the School has a doctor and has “made a few changes at the Infirmary.”

[1932_042], [042a] N.D. Two-page letter to Morris from Purbrick, [042] who encloses $5 annual subscription. “How I wish I could afford to give more, but I, in common with everybody else, am feeling the effects of the times.” Describes the hospital’s struggles due to lack of funds. [042a] Closing.

[1932_043] N.D., apparently October 1932. To Morris from Purbrick, who invites Morris and Dr. [Kenneth] Gould to the dedication of the Oneida Mountain Hospital.

[1932_044] October 18, 1932. To Purbrick from Morris, who regrets that he cannot attend the hospital dedication.

CONTENTS: 1933  

[1932_045] May 15, 1933. To Purbrick from Morris, thanking her for her $5 donation; describes the School’s commencement.

[1932_046], [046a] N.D. Two-page letter to Morris from Purbrick, Saco, Maine, [046] who will send for Martha after the first of June. [046a] Asks that a place is reserved for her next fall.

[1932_047], [047a] Nov. 4, 1932. Two-page letter to Morris from Purbrick, who encloses $5; hopes to attend the silver jubilee in New York and see some old friends there. 

CONTENTS: 1934

[1934_001] through [1934_011] SAVE THE CHILDREN FUND OF AMERICA brochures and reports.

[1934_001], [001a] Articles: [001] “Startling Facts From a Recent Letter of a Relief Worker.” “Goat Milk Will Save Children.” [001a] “Waging A War Against Hunger and Disease.” American Save the Children (International Save the Children Fund of America, Inc.), 156 Fifth Avenue, New York.

[1934_002] through [002b] Cover for “Save the Children.” Notation in Pettit’s handwriting: “Mrs. W.C. Clemmons [illegible].” [002a] “20000 Children Helped Last Year: Typical Achievements of 1934” with map. [002b] “International Save the Children Fund of America Incorporated” with a paragraph describing the organization and names of the executive staff, national and state sponsors, and state committees.

[1934_003] A montage of images of children and their environment.

[1934_004] “A Question and Answers.” A montage of letters to Dr. John R. Voris, Founder and Executive Director of the Save the Children Fund of America, New York, NY. Several of the letters are responses to a question in one of the letters asking “why the present Government program does not take care of the emergencies which you, in the past, were so active concerning.”

[1934_005] An article following up on the question in [004], likening the needs of those in city slums to those in the southern mountain communities. Lists of Officers and Chairmen; Sponsoring Committee. Statement of the source of the photographs on the cover.

[1934_006] through [006b] Carbon copy of a typewritten three-page “Report of the Public Health Nurse, Harlan County Save the Children Fund of America, January 15th – March 1st.” written by Marian Purbrick, R.N.

[1934_007] Carbon copy of a typewritten “Report for the Month Ending May 31st 1934,” by Marian Purbrick, R.N.

[1934_008] A typewritten “Report for the Month of April 1934” by Marian Purbrick, R.N., describing the activities of the Child Health Conferences held in 9 communities.

[1934_009] “Saving the Children of the Cumberlands.” Images and map. “Their Fathers Proved Their Worth in Every Crisis in the Nation’s History.” Fundraising narrative.

[1934_010] “Exhibit ‘A’: Substantial Progress in S.C.F. Work Revealed at Annual Meeting … Community House Brings New Life to Stricken Community! … Children of our Frontiersmen in Need! … The General Public Awakens to the Situation! … New Fields to Serve! ….”

[1934_011]  “Exhibit ‘A’, page 2: … “Generous Contributions in Money, Materials and Service! … Public Relations! … Financial Status Improved! … The Three-Fold Challenge of the Southern Mountains! …”

[1934_048] IMAGE NOT FOUND

[1934_049] March 2, 1934. To Purbrick, ℅ The Save the Children Fund, Harlan, KY, from Morris, who expresses, “how glad I am that you are back in the county and to know that you are heading up such important work as that which is being done by the Save the Children Fund.” Mentions Dr. [Frank] Newman; invites her to visit PMSS.

[1934_050] April 27, 1934. To Purbrick from Morris, thanking her for her $5 gift.

[1934_051] May 28, 1934. To Purbrick from Alice Cobb, Secretary, writing in Morris’s absence. She asks for help with a medical case reported by Dr. Newman: Lige Lewis has “spontaneous pneumo-thorax, and has probably had tuberculosis for twenty years.” He has a family and no means of support but “is willing to go to an institution if the authorities at Harlan can get him a place.”

[1934_052] June 4, 1934. To Purbrick from Paul A. Turner, MD, Supt. and Med. Director, The State Tuberculosis Sanatorium, Louisville, KY. The State has only 12 beds for tuberculous patients, but if the legislature will make money available for more free beds, the patient will be considered, “provided he is a case we may be reasonably sure can recover.”

CONTENTS: 1936

 [1936_053 through 055] IMAGES NOT FOUND

[1936_056] December 11, 1936. To Morris from Purbrick, Harlan, KY, changing the day when she will come for Martha.

[1936_057] December 15, 1936. To Purbrick from [unsigned], he states a “hard and fast rule that [no student] should leave Pine Mountain before the date set for the school to be officially closed.”; offers to drive Martha himself or arrange for the school truck.

CONTENTS: 1938

[1938_058] through [058b] April 5, [no year]. Three-page letter to Morris from Purbrick, New Rochelle, NY. [058] Sending $5 gift; has no arrangement yet for Martha’s summer; will return to Saco, ME, [058a] to a new position. Asks for advice about [058b] Martha’s continuing at PMSS.

CONTENTS: 1939

[1939_059] February 10, 1939. To Purbrick from [unsigned], who has her order for a copy of At Home in the Hills.

[1939_060], [060a] February 23, 1939. Two-page letter to Morris from Purbrick, New Rochelle, NY, who is “glad that the matter which I brought to your attention proved to be only rumor…I hope Martha is doing well in studies…” 

[1939_061] May 14, 1939. To Morris from Purbrick, Saco, Maine. “I enjoyed the book, ‘At Home in the Hills,’ but it made me home-sick. I know everyone of those homes and the people who live in them…”

[1939_062] May 19, 1939. To Purbrick from [unsigned], thanking her for her $5 gift; describes May Day and the creation of the outdoor theatre on Snake Path [Dancing Green]. 

CONTENTS: 1946

[1946_063] April 4, 1946. To H.R.[S.] Benjamin from Purbrick, Long Island Hospital, Boston, MA, who sends $10, her annual subscription.

[1946_064], [064a] N.D. Two-page letter to H.R.S. Benjamin from Purbrick, who asks for confirmation that her gift was received by PMSS. She is ill with pleurisy. “I too knew and loved Granny Creech. I wish I could have seen her once more before she left us.”

[1946_065] May 8, 1946. To Purbrick from Benjamin, who confirmed receipt of her $10 gift. 

CONTENTS: 1947

[1947_066], [066a] April 21, 1947. To Benjamin from Purbrick, who sends a gift. “I have so many pleasant memories of Pine Mountain that I am glad to have even a small share in [066a] the work of Pine Mountain Settlement School.”

[1947_068] April 25, 1947. To Purbrick from Benjamin, thanking her for her $5 gift; gives updates: spring, graduation of 25 seniors, the largest PMSS class ever. “Today they have gone over to Evarts (where Mr. Morris is now principal of the school) to give their senior play, ‘Robin Hood’….”

CONTENTS: 1948 

[1948_067] April 24, 1948. To Benjamin from Purbrick, sending her subscription. “Pine Mountain will alway have a warm spot in my heart, and I am glad to have even a small share in it.”

[1948_069] April 30, 1948. To Purbrick, Long Island Hospital, Boston, MA ,from H.R.S. Benjamin, Director, thanking her for her $5 gift. “This afternoon Miss [Abbie] Christensen is having final rehearsal for May Day on the Green. … The girls in the weaving department have all woven skirts which they will wear to do Weaving, a Danish dance which describes the processes of cloth making.”

See Also:
MARIAN PURBRICK Correspondence I, 1926 – 1931
MARIAN PURBRICK Staff – Biography