Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 09: Biography – Students
Series 19: Students
Emmitt Patterson Student
Published 2021-04-18 aae
EMMITT PATTERSON Student 1945 – 1949
TAGS: Emmit Patterson, William Emmit Patterson, boarding school students, Edna Mae (Metcalf) Patterson, Jess Patterson, PMSS Class of 1949, Christine R. Kinnaird

EMMITT PATTERSON Student: At Pine Mountain
While a student during the last years of the boarding school (1929 – 1949) at Pine Mountain Settlement School, William Emmitt Patterson wrote a letter of self-assessment to his parents, a regular process required by the School. He was not pleased with his work in English, promising to “try harder next semester.” and described his progress in Civics and Science as “about average.” However, in Woodworking he rated his efforts as “good.”
Perhaps this positive viewpoint resulted from the artistic influence of both his parents. Edna Mae (Metcalf) Patterson, worked for over 25 years at PMSS in various roles, such as health aide, kitchen assistant, and teacher, and was skilled in weaving. Jess Patterson, the School’s bus driver, maintenance man, and farm worker in the 1930s through the 1960s, was also an expert craftsman who is well-known to this day for his beautifully handcrafted dulcimers.
On the whole, it appears that Emmitt began his school years at Pine Mountain on a good footing. In a letter dated September 28, 1945, Emmitt’s parents received this reassurance from the Principal at Pine Mountain: [Emmitt] “has adjusted nicely to campus life, seems to be well satisfied, and his teachers say that a good beginning has been made in his studies and in his industrial work.”
Emmitt was part of PMSS’s Class of 1949, the last group of students to graduate during from the boarding school years.
EMMITT PATTERSON Student: Background
Emmitt was born on December 4, 1930, in Pine Mountain, Harlan County, Kentucky. At the time of Emmitt’s application to become a PMSS student in July 1945, Emmitt was 14 years old and in the ninth grade. His former schools had been at Little Laurel and Loyall. He indicated that he had one brother, Glyn Edwin Patterson, three months old. The family lived in Keith, Harlan County, although by April 1946 they returned to their former location at Pine Mountain.
Eventually, Emmitt married Christine R. Kinnaird, a PMSS teacher from 1953 until 1956. They had at least one child, Mark Aaron Patterson, born in 1961 in Fayette County, Kentucky.
William Emmitt Patterson died on September 15, 1993, in Lexington, Kentucky.
See Also:
EDNA MAE METCALF PATTERSON Staff – Biography
EMMITT PATTERSON Correspondence 1946-1947
JESS PATTERSON Staff – Biography
GALLERY: EMMITT PATTERSON Student
- Miss Kinnard’s Room: Sarah Nolan, Mary Nolan, Dennis Baker, Lee Day, Walt Creech, Astor Brownig, Delphine Callahan, Glyn Patterson, Forester Wilder, Lorene Hensley, Lela Cornett, Elmer Parris and Clark Turner. [53_life_work_children_classes_1735-1.jpg]
- “Emmitt Patterson 1948” with cart and squash. [nace_II_album_046.jpg]
- Gladys Hill’s Birthday, 1946 (?) Eoble Thomas, Emmitt Patterson …(lft)III_campus_life_051
- Freshman Class 1945-1946. (First Row) Margaret Slusher, Frances Selvey, Naomi King, Birdie Miniard, Reba Blevins, Geraldine King, Bess Taylor, Eli Ison. (Second Row) Fannie Mae Caldwell, Margie Belcher, Ora Mae Boggs, Donald Freemen, Carlos Banks, Leone Sturgill, Emmit Patterson, Bonnie Reynolds, Arnie Halcomb, Miller Howard. (Back Row) Ralph Scott, Earl Brown, Walter Blackson, Clayton Sturgill, Clarence Garrett, Harold Caudill, Arles Centers, Ray Bird. [nace_1_044b.jpg]
- Group of boy students: (Back) Lewis, Fugate, Baker, Caudill, Hall, Whitehead, Caldwell, Sturgill, Thomas, Tolliver. (Front) Banks, Blackson, Bird, Brown, Scott, Reynolds, Patterson. [nace_II_album_087.jpg]
- Boy’s House 1949. Group of boy students with list of names: (Back) Lewis, Fugate, Baker, Caudill, Hall, Whitehead, Caldwell, Sturgill, Thomas, Tolliver. (Front) Banks, Blackson, Bird, Brown, Scott, Reynolds, Patterson. [nace_II_album_087.jpg]
- 1949 Graduating Class, Pine Mountain Settlement School. [pmss_class_of_1949-2-e1494194193657.jpg]
Title |
Emmitt Patterson |
Alt. Title |
William Emmitt Patterson ; William Patterson ; William E. Patterson ; |
Identifier |
EMMITT PATTERSON Student |
Creator |
Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY. |
Alt. Creator |
Ann Angel Eberhardt ; Helen Hayes Wykle ; |
Subject Keyword |
William Emmitt Patterson ; Emmitt Patterson ; Pine Mountain Settlement School ; boarding school students ; PMSS Class of 1949 ; Christine R. Kinnaird ; Edna Mae (Metcalf) Patterson ; Jess Patterson, ; |
Subject LCSH |
Patterson, William Emmitt, — 1930 – 1993. |
Date |
2021-04-18 aae |
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 filing cabinet. |
Source |
Series 09; Biography – Students and Series 19: Students. |
Language |
English |
Relation |
Is related to: Pine Mountain Settlement School Collections, Series 09: Biography – Students ;and Series 19: Students. |
Coverage Temporal |
1930 – 1993 |
Coverage Spatial |
Pine Mountain, KY ; Harlan County, KY ; Loyall, KY ; Keith, KY ; Fayette County, KY ; Lexington, 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 of William Emmitt Patterson ; clippings, photographs, books by or about William Emmitt Patterson ; |
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 |
Sources “EMMITT PATTERSON Correspondence,”Series 09: Biography – Students ;and Series 19: Students. Pine Mountain Settlement School Institutional Papers. Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY. Internet resource. “Kentucky, Vital Record Indexes, 1911-1999,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKHR-J28R : accessed 2021-04-18), Christine R Kinnaird in entry for Mark Aaron Patterson, 1961; citing Birth, Fayette, Kentucky, United States, Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort. Internet resource. “United States Social Security Death Index,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JRPY-CZL : accessed 2021-04-18), William Patterson, 15 Sep 1993; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing). Internet resource. |
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