Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 09: BIOGRAPHY
Harriet B. Turner, Dietitian
Summers 1946, 1951-1962
Harriet Barzania Turner (1888-1969)
Miss Harriet Turner and Mr. Turner, 1946, in front of the Office. [nace_1_030b.jpg]
TAGS: Harriet Turner, Harriet Barzania Turner, dietitians, foodways, Peter Rogers, student committee, USDA commodities, Laurel House, hostesses, Quincy IL
HARRIET B. TURNER Staff
The savory dishes prepared by Harriet Turner, the PMSS dietitian at Pine Mountain Settlement School during the summers of 1946 and 1951-1962, continue to be fondly remembered to this day. Peter Rogers, former PMSS student and son of Mary and Burton Rogers, recalls her delicious “Pot Luck Soup,” “Laurel House Whole Wheat Bread,” (still served at Laurel House), “Peanut and Syrup,” and special macaroni and cheese and chili dishes. He writes that “It was amazing how much she could do with USDA commodities” during a time when the country was at war and food was rationed.
Peter Rogers continues:
She was a central member of the PMSS staff. For over a decade, she was Laurel House to me and my school mates and hostess to both staff gatherings and for many School guests.
She also created a student committee to help make the lunch menus for the month, plan and decorate special “theme’ meals, bring favorite recipes from home (e.g. “Don’s Dessert,” (a whipped lemon gelatin), and to make other suggestions.
Her apartment just inside the front door of Laurel House was everafter call “the Turner apartment.”
Her home was a family farm outside of Quincy, Illinois. Burton Rogers, then-PMSS director, mentions that, while traveling the country with his family in 1959, he visited Miss Turner when she was spending her vacation with her father at the farm. According to the 1950 U.S. Census, her home was with her 90-year-old father, T. Will Turner, in Brandenton, Florida.
Miss Turner left Pine Mountain Settlement School in 1961 after 16 years of service with the School.
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The stories of how Miss Turner became aware of PMSS and how she managed her day-to-day tasks are yet to be discovered as her correspondence files are processed and scanned. Please feel free to send your own memories of Miss Harriet B. Turner.
Harriet Barzania Turner was born in Illinois on August 13, 1888, to Edith (Davenport) Turner and “Willey” Thomas Turner. She had one younger sister, Margaret Turner.
She died on November 30, 1969, at the age of 81 and was buried at Ellington Home Cemetery in Quincy, Illinois.
| Title | Harriet B. Turner |
| Alt. Title | Harriet Barzania Turner ; Miss Harriet Turner ; Miss Turner ; |
| Identifier | https://pinemountainsettlement.net/?page_id=35123 |
| Creator | Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY. |
| Alt. Creator | Ann Angel Eberhardt ; Helen Hayes Wykle ; |
| Subject Keyword | Harriet Turner, Harriet Barzania Turner, dietitians, foodways, Peter Rogers, student committee, USDA commodities, Laurel House, hostesses, Quincy IL |
| Subject LCSH | Last name, first name, — Turner, Harriet Barzania. 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 | 2026-10-08 aae |
| Publisher | Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY. |
| Contributor | Peter Rogers |
| Type | Collections ; text ; image ; |
| Format | Original and copies of documents and correspondence in file folders in filing cabinet. |
| Source | Series 09: BIOGRAPHY |
| Language | English |
| Relation | Is related to: Pine Mountain Settlement School Collections, Series 09: BIOGRAPHY |
| Coverage Temporal | 1888-1969 |
| Coverage Spatial | Pine Mountain, KY ; Harlan County, KY ; Quincy, IL ; |
| 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 Harriet B. Turner ; clippings, photographs, books by or about Harriet B. Turner ; ; |
| 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 | |
| Sources | Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/143636337/harriet_b-turner: accessed 08 Oct 2026), memorial page for Harriet B. Turner (13 Aug 1888–30 Nov 1969), Find a Grave Memorial ID 143636337, citing Ellington Home Cemetery, Quincy, Adams County, Illinois, USA; Maintained by Kim (contributor 51924784). Internet resource.
“”United States, Census, 1940”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KWW9-NY8 : accessed 08 Oct 2026), Entry for Harriet B Turner and Will T Turner, 1940. “United States, Census, 1950”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6X23-DZ1D : Accessed 10 Oct 2026), Entry for T Will Turner and Harriet B Turner, May 17, 1950. |
See Also:
LAUREL HOUSE II
PETER ROGERS Student Staff
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