Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 09: BIOGRAPHY – Visitor
Frances Jewell McVey (1889-1945)
Writer, Educator and Visitor at PMSS
Author of “The Blossom Woman” (re: Pettit, 1934)
Wife of Frank L. McVey, President, University of KY

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TAGS: Frances Jewell McVey, PMSS visitor, author of The Blossom Woman, Katherine Pettit, Vassar College, Columbia University, University of Kentucky, Frank LeRond McVey, Frances Jewell McVey Papers, Marguerite Butler Bidstrup, William Creech, Thomas D. Clark, Sarah Bennet Holmes, John Jacob Niles, Rena Niles, Eleanor Roosevelt, Katherine Pettit, Governor A.B. Happy Chandler, Mary Breckenridge, Frontier Nursing Service

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FRANCES JEWELL McVEY Visitor

AUTHOR, “The Blossom Woman” a tribute to Katherine Pettit

Because of Frances’s deep interest in the Appalachian people and their culture and her friendship with the early PMSS worker, Marguerite Butler, McVey became well acquainted with Katherine Pettit, PMSS Co-Director (1913 through 1930). All three women, Pettit, Butler, and McVey, became lifelong friends. In 1934, this friendship led Frances to write the well-known and much-cited narrative, “The Blossom Woman,” as a memorial and tribute to Pettit’s remarkable accomplishments.

With a background in teaching English at the University of Kentucky from 1915 to 1921, Frances Jewell McVey (1889-1945) was a productive author. She wrote serial travel and history pieces, short fiction and essays, many of which were published in magazines of the time. She published two books, The Literature of Shakerism and Uncle Will of Wildwood (co-authored with her brother, Robert), and University is a Place – a Spirit, a collection of the speeches given by her husband Frank McVey, President of the University of Kentucky.  

See: McVey, Frances Jewell. “The Blossom Woman.” Mountain Life & Work. 10 (April 1934): 4, 5. [Also: Appalachian Heritage. 1975, Vol 3 (4) pp. 62-74.] Print.

FRANCES JEWELL McVEY Visitor: Education

Frances attended Sayre School in Lexington from 1905 to 1907.  Katherine Pettit’s early schooling was also at the Sayre School, but some years earlier. Frances then attended the Baldwin School in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. She then received her Bachelor of Arts from Vassar College in 1913 and a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University in 1918. She was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Kentucky in 1940.

As a classmate at Vassar of the Pine Mountain worker, Marguerite Butler, she learned about Pine Mountain Settlement School and its rich early history. Marguerite Butler in her oral history, says of her classmate Frances

Then again, during college days I became interested in the southern mountains, and with Frances Jewell, who was a year ahead of me and later married the president of the University of Kentucky. We together discussed the mountains of Kentucky and how we would like to see the Hindman Settlement School, which had been going for a number of years then; it was started about the turn of the century. But that never worked out.

McVey’s early introduction to Pine Mountain through Butler [Bidstrup] was perhaps also associated with the legend of Katherine Pettit at the Lexington Sayer School. Both McVey and Pettit were young students there, but Pettit had long departed by the time McVey was in attendance.

FRANCES JEWELL McVEY Visitor: Career

Besides her role as a writer, Frances Jewell McVey also served as an educator. She held several positions at the University of Kentucky, beginning as a professor in the English Department from 1915-1921, later as Dean of Women (1921-1923).

Frances is perhaps best known for her role as the First Lady of Maxwell Place after she married, in 1928, Frank McVey, President of the University of Kentucky, 1917-1940. The McVeys were the first of UK’s Presidents to reside in Maxwell Place and Frances was widely praised for her graciousness as host of many teas and dinners. Her gardening skills and recipes for traditional Kentucky and Southern foods were well-known and publicized.

Frances McVey was active in many organizations, including the Southern Association of College Women (of which she served as chair in 1918), which worked with the U.S. Food Administration during WWI, the YWCA, the USO, the University of Kentucky Woman’s Club, AAUW (American Association of University Women); the Garden Club, and the Vassar Club (she was an alumnae member of the Board of Trustees from 1933-1939). She was often asked to give speeches at club meetings, as well as county section meetings of the Kentucky Homemakers Association.

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Frances Jewell (McVey) was born December 23, 1889, to Asa and Elizabeth Jewell in Harrison County, Kentucky. She had two older brothers, Robert and John.

In 1923, Frances married Frank LeRond McVey, President of the University of Kentucky, and became the stepmother to her husband’s three children, Frank, Jr., Janet, and Virginia, from his first marriage.

Frances Jewell McVey was diagnosed with cancer in the fall of 1944 and went to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for emergency surgery. She never fully recovered and died June 13, 1945. She was interred at Lexington Cemetery.

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FRANCES JEWELL McVEY and Marguerite Butler

Frances Jewell (McVey) was a student at Vasser College with Marguerite Butler [Bidstrup]. Later, Butler served as a PMSS staff member in 1914-1922. They remained friends throughout life. Marguerite mentions Frances in an oral history taken in 1972 by a Berea College student:

“MB: When I was in high school in Cincinnati, Ohio, where my family lived, I heard at the Presbyterian church, a Mr. Webb, tell of his experience at (inaudible), [Pleasant Hill ??] Tennessee. I think this was the first time my interest was really aroused in our Southern Appalachians, because I never forgot some of the things he said that day. Then again, during college days I became interested in the southern mountains, and with Frances Jewell, who was a year ahead of me and later married the president of the University of Kentucky. We together discussed the mountains of Kentucky and how we would like to see the Hindman Settlement School, which had been going for a number of years then; it was started about the turn of the century. But that never worked out. …

For Full Transcription See: MARGUERITE BUTLER BIDSTRUP 1972 Oral History

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FRANCES JEWELL McVEY PAPERS: Scope and Content

The Frances Jewell McVey Papers are located in the UK Libraries Special Collections. They includes her personal and professional correspondence, manuscripts, research notes, diaries, and more, as well as materials related to her husband, Frank McVey.

Excerpts from the UK Libraries Special Collections overview of “Frances Jewell McVey Papers“:

Scope and Content

The Frances Jewell McVey papers (dated 1858-1953; 13.5 cubic feet; 38 boxes, 3 wrapped packages) include her personal and professional correspondence, manuscripts and research notes, diaries, address books, notebooks, documents, recipes, photographs, and scrapbooks. Also included are materials relating to Frank LeRond McVey, such as correspondence, speeches, notes, documents, and a scrapbook devoted to the memory of Frances Jewell McVey.

These materials span most of the years of McVey’s life, from 1898 to 1945, and document her childhood and adolescence in Lexington (Ky.); school experiences at the Baldwin School (Pa.), Vassar College (N.Y.) and Columbia University (N.Y.); her career as an English professor and Dean of Women at the University of Kentucky; her marriage to Frank McVey, including her role as the host of Maxwell Place (including extensive recipe files), vacations, joint projects, and family events; her involvement in clubs and organizations; and her extensive research and writing on a variety of topics.

Correspondents include Thomas D. Clark, Sarah Bennet Holmes, Frank LeRond McVey, John Jacob Niles, Rena Niles, Eleanor Roosevelt, Katherine Pettit, and Governor A.B. Happy Chandler.

Organizations represented in the collection include the International Relations Club at the University of Kentucky, the Lexington Board of Education, the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), and the American Association of University Women (AAUW).

There are also materials generated after her death which relate to Frances McVey, including correspondence and information about a portrait dedication. Also included are photographs dating from the 1920s-1930s of Pine Mountain Settlement School, the Frontier Nursing Service, and Mary Breckinridge. Most were likely generated during McVey’s research on the following subjects.

Subjects

• • American Association of University Women.
  • Baldwin School.
  • Columbia University.
  • Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.
  • Hindman Settlement School.
  • Maxwell Place (Lexington, Ky.).
  • Pine Mountain Settlement School (Pine Mountain, Ky.)
  • Sayre Female Institute (Lexington, Ky.).
  • University of Kentucky–Faculty.
  • University of Kentucky–Presidents.
  • University of Kentucky–Societies, etc..
  • Vassar College.
  • Young Women’s Christian Association (Lexington, Ky.).
  • Photographs
  • Breckenridge, Mary, 1881-1965
  • Chandler, Happy, 1898-1991
  • Clark, Thomas Dionysius, 1903-2005
  • McVey, Frances Jewell
  • Women–Societies and clubs

FRANCES JEWELL McVEY: Related Archival Materials:

2005MS47, Frontier Nursing Service collection, University of Kentucky Special Collections.

85M1, Frontier Nursing Service records, University of Kentucky Special Collections.

0000ua004, University of Kentucky. Office of the President Records: Frank LeRond McVey, University of Kentucky Special Collections.

1981ua001, The Lexington branch AAUW records, University of Kentucky Special Collections.

56M304, Garden Club of Kentucky records, University of Kentucky Special Collections.

2005ua001, Kentucky Extension Homemakers Association, University of Kentucky Special Collections.

0000ua257, Dean of Women collection, University of Kentucky Special Collections.

2011ms063, Jewell family papers, University of Kentucky Special Collections.

FNS001, Frontier Nursing Service Oral History project, University of Kentucky Special Collections.

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See Also:
KATHERINE PETTIT 1934 Frances Jewell McVey Memorial Tribute to “The Blossom Woman”

McVey, Frances Jewell. “The Blossom Woman.” Mountain Life & Work. 10 (April 1934): 4, 5. Print. [Also: Appalachian Heritage. 1975, Vol 3 (4) pp. 62-74.] Print.

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Title	Frances Jewell McVey
Alt. Title	Frances McVey ; Frances Jewell ;
Identifier	https://pinemountainsettlement.net/?page_id=8744
Creator	Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY
Alt. Creator	Ann Angel Eberhardt ; Helen Hayes Wykle ;
Subject Keyword	Frances Jewell McVey ; Pine Mountain Settlement School ; Sayre College ; Baldwin School ; Vassar College ; Columbia University ; University of Kentucky ; Frank LeRond McVey ; Maxwell Place ; Southern Association of College Women ; YWCA ; USO ; University of Kentucky Woman’s Club ; Garden Club ; Vassar Club ; Kentucky Homemakers Association ; Frances Jewell McVey Papers ; International Relations Club ; Lexington Board of Education ; Thomas D. Clark ; Sarah Bennet Holmes ; John Jacob Niles ; Rena Niles ; Eleanor Roosevelt ; Katherine Pettit ; Governor A.B. Happy Chandler ; Mary Breckenridge ; Frontier Nursing Service ; recipes ; documents ; speeches ; scrapbooks ; “The Blossom Woman” ; Hindman Settlement School ; Marguerite Butler Bidstrup ; Mountain Life and Work ; William Creech ; “The Blossom Woman” ; Ellen Churchill Semple
Subject LCSH	McVey, Frances Jewell, — 1889-1945. 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	2014-04-02
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 – Visitors
Language	English
Relation	Is related to: Pine Mountain Settlement School Collections, Series 09: BIOGRAPHY – Visitors
Coverage Temporal	1889 – 1945
Coverage Spatial	Pine Mountain, KY ; Harlan County, KY ; Harrison Co., KY ; Lexington, KY ; Bryn Mawr, PA ; New York, NY ; Hindman, 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 Frances Jewell McVey ; clippings, photographs, books by or about Frances Jewell McVey ;
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	2017-09-28 hw ; 2025-06-28 aae ; 2025-06-29 hw
Bibliography	Sources 0000ua003: Frances Jewell McVey papers, 1858-1953, University of Kentucky Special Collections. Accessed 2025-06-28  on Explore UK website: https://exploreuk.uky.edu/fa/fa-test/?id=xt7hmg7fs77k Internet resource. “Frances Jewell McVey” information on various pages on the PMSS Collections website. Series 09; BIOGRAPHY Pine Mountain Settlement School Institutional Papers. Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY. Internet resource. Bibliography McVey, Frances Jewell. “The Blossom Woman,” Mountain Life and Work 10, no. 1 [Apr. 1934]). Print. McVey, Frances Jewell. Literature of Shakerism. New York: Columbia University, 1918. Print. McVey, Frances Jewell and Robert Berry Jewell. Uncle Will of Wildwood: nineteenth-century life in the Bluegrass. Lexington (Ky.): University Press of Kentucky, 2005. re-Print. McVey, Frank LeRond. University Is a Place — a Spirit. Collected and arranged by Frances Jewell McVey. Lexington (Ky.): University Press of Kentucky, 1944.  Print.

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