BREVARD COLLEGE

APPALACHIAN WOMEN EDUCATORS AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY

A SENIOR PROJECT SUBMITTED TO

THE FACULTY OF THE DIVISION OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF

BACHELOR OF ARTS

DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY

BY

JENNIFER ELIZABETH NEAL

BREVARD, NORTH CAROLINA

9 MAY 2000

Life in the Appalachian Mountains at the turn of the century was harsh on its inhabitants. Mining, logging and the rise of textile mills devastated the land and forced people into "public work." Mountain people lived poorly with no electricity or running water. Many families lived together in run down houses with the nearest neighbors and school miles away. Illiteracy was a major problem with adults and children. Since supporting their families became a priority, few mountain children attended school. Many educators, especially women, were concerned about the poverty and illiteracy in Appalachia. They wanted to give mountain children an opportunity to have a better life. A few of these women founded schools like Berry College and the Hindman Settlement school; many of these schools started out as one room school houses and turned into institutions of higher learning. Other women like Charlotte Young of Asheville, North Carolina, made contributions by becoming teachers and challenging the status quo in public schools, and improving the lives of the mountain people.

Some historians believe that life in Appalachia stood still for several years. The inhabitants lived off the land with no running water or electricity. These people, often stereotyped as "rednecks" or "hillbillies," had a unique way of life. One author believed that, "Only a superficial observer could fail to understand that the mountain people really love their wilderness – love it for its beauty, for its freedom." Even though some mountain people treasured the land, industrialization brought on many changes. Mining, logging, and textile industries had prospered throughout the region while destroying the environment. Because people were forced into public work, the "most promising career open to an ambitious young man was work in the coal mines." A young man coming of age at that time did not have the option of getting an education.

Education was not an important aspect of mountain life at the turn of the century. Mountain children "finished" school when old enough to work. Most log cabin schools functioned as "schoolhouse, church and town hall, all in one, and thus easily the most important building in the district." These schoolhouses had one room that educated children of all ages, including those who were too little to say their a-b-c’s. Small children were sent to school so their mothers could work. In a typical mountain school "all the children in the district are related by blood in one degree or another." Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins often lived in the same house. Students often walked long distances in order to enjoy a productive day at school. Emma Bell Miles wrote an excellent description of a typical mountain school:

Even though these schools may have been productive, many children did not attend long enough to learn how to read and write. Several women with wealthy backgrounds wanted to do something about the poverty an illiteracy of the Appalachian region. Because of the poor conditions of mountain schools, many critics depict these women as angels of mercy.

Historians often romanticize Martha Berry, founder of the Berry schools. Even her biography, Miracle in the Mountains by Harnett T. Kane, portrays her as a saint. Another book that does the same thing is Angel of Appalachia by Elizabeth P. Myers. A native of Rome, Georgia, Berry was first exposed to Appalachian culture as a young woman. She visited a friend who would later marry into the poverty of Appalachia. Even though she was disturbed by seeing her friend live such a hard life, Berry "learned from close experience of the richness of the forests, the craggy heights against the sky – and also of the people themselves." The poverty and illiteracy of her friend’s husband inspired Berry to help mountain people. Her first Sunday school supposedly started when she caught three young boys peering into the window of her family’s "old log-cabin play house." Most people get startled and even angry when someone is watching them. Myers gives her a sweeter reaction by writing, "Since they all wore the traditional wide straw hats raveled at the edges, she knew they were mountain children. But Goodness! They were a long way from home. They must be tired." Being the angel of mercy that she was, according to Kane, Berry coaxed them in with apples and read Bible stories." The best example of portraying Berry as a saint or angel of mercy is an incident that took place on Christmas. Instead of spending the holiday with friends in Atlanta, Berry wanted to show her Sunday school class how to celebrate Christmas. She invited the class to her family’s house on Christmas day and told them to arrive around noon. When her family woke up that morning there were hundreds of people on the lawn. The family’s reaction, according to Myers, is very amusing. She wrote, "Viewing the deluge of visitors from a window in the room where the Berry family had gathered…Martha spoke in appalled tones. ‘I never saw some of those people before – and I don’t have half enough presents.’ Instantly the family rose to meet the occasion. ‘You go on and greet the company…When it comes time for presents, there’ll be plenty.’" This is the only place in the book where Berry’s true feelings are revealed. The family’s reaction is not realistic; most families would feel that Berry let the situation get out of hand. Another example of the Christmas incident is in Berry’s biography. Kane wrote, "She had given up her holiday in Atlanta, her old friends’ welcome, and the evening dress. She had spent all the money she had, including what she saved for some of the family’s gifts. But she said, it was the finest Christmas she had ever known." Even though Martha may have had good intentions, she seemed discouraged by the situation.

One challenge that many women educators faced in Appalachia at the turn of the century was the role that men played in their lives. Olive Dame Campbell did the majority of her work after her husband passed away. Until that time, Campbell and her husband worked closely to help improve conditions in the Appalachian region. Alice Lloyd, founder of Caney Junior College, came to Kentucky because "misery seeks company." Lloyd had to leave Boston because of an illness and went to Kentucky because of the climate. William S. Dutton, author of Stay on Stranger, believed that Lloyd "gave up her husband by going, for the two quietly agreed that his career was in Boston and that no need existed for a double sacrifice." Another author, David P. Searles, states that Lloyd arrived in Kentucky with her husband Arthur. Searles reveals that "the reason for his departure was a far simpler one: Alice Lloyd had discovered that Arthur ‘and her best friend had been in love for a number of years.’ She ‘legally released him’ and sent him away in February 1918." Maybe having a broken heart was the key to her dedication. Martha Berry also struggled with a broken heart. She was once engaged to a man from Virginia, and consistently put of the wedding because of her work. One day "she asked if he could not fit his interests to this work of hers; couldn’t each of them have his work each in his own way? The Virginian’s reply was no…" Shortly after that Berry ended the engagement. Berry said, "My five sisters were married in the drawing room of our home. Five times I came down the steps as a bridesmaid…and thought that one day I would have the most beautiful wedding of all." Instead she eventually "stepped across the road and married my schools." Berry did not want a husband that could not accept her work, an unlikely sacrifice for women during this time period.

Appalachian women educators also faced gender issues in the public arena. The women who founded settlement schools around the turn of the century dealt with harsh criticism and rejection because of their sex. David E. Whisnant believed that "there was a lag…between social acceptance of the idea of higher education for women and the opening of business and professions to them." Women attended college, but were expected to become teachers, secretaries, or housewives. American culture could not accept a woman who wanted to be in the business world or open her own school. Because of this cultural bias, women like Alice Lloyd and Martha Berry looked to other women for help. Lloyd "wrote to friends of college days, and others that she had valued as a newspaper writer. As the world measured wealth, none was rich. Mostly they were women." June Buchanon was one of the most important women that answered Lloyd’s call. It is believed that "Alice Lloyd was the driving force behind the enterprise, and Buchanon was the trusted and loyal implementor of her colleague’s decisions." Martha Berry asked many neighborhood friends to volunteer. Most of them said they could help, but only for a short period of time. After a while many of Berry’s friends "discovered that they were working for longer than they had anticipated." This appeared to be the case among many settlement school workers. Elizabeth Watts wrote to Olive Dame Campbell inquiring about work. Campbell asked her to come to Hindman for a year, and Watts stayed for forty-seven. Having so many women come together made it easier to deal with the prejudices of American society. Not only did these women deal with issues concerning gender, but they had to deal with cultural issues as well.

Because most Appalachian women educators came from prominent families, class issues probably separated them from their students. These women dealt with a major culture shock when they experienced the poverty of Appalachia. David E. Whisnant would agree with this idea. He wrote, "…the genteel, Christian, Victorian, Bluegrass women who started conducting summer social settlements among real flesh and blood mountaineers in 1899 experienced considerable culture shock." Whisnant believed that the women "found it difficult at times to retain confident in the social and cultural worth and attractiveness they were convinced lay beneath what they judged to be some perfectly shocking ways of living, thinking, and behaving." These women believed that Appalachian culture needed to be improved, but at the same time wanted to preserve certain aspects. Thus, culture became "characterized by both continuity and discontinuity, stability and change, indigenous and borrowed elements…divided between drawing upon a useable past and divining a mysterious future." Alice Lloyd did not want to disrupt "the way things were" because she feared her school would not survive. She promised the people of Caney Creek "not to mix in their politics, not to meddle with their moonshining, and not to interfere in their religion." Many schools "preserved" culture by having classes in certain areas. The Hindman Settlement school, founded by Katherine Petit and Mary Stone, held "ethical handicrafts for men, women, and children; instruction in native drama, poetry, and language; craft shops; music programs; festivals; art galleries; and dance classes." Olive Dame Campbell added Danish culture to Appalachian culture in her settlement schools. She is known for wanting to preserve "‘all that is native and fine’ in Cherokee County, North Carolina." It was important to improve the quality of life for mountain people and preserve their culture at the same time.

Despite some condescension, these educators believed their work could make a difference in people’s lives. Many of them shared the belief "that mountain people need not have to choose between poverty on the homeplace and migrating to the piedmont cotton mills, which lured them with promises and then ruined them both physically and economically." If the quality of life did not improve for mountain people, they would be forced to flock to the industrial cites of the north. Petit and Stone agreed that "To live among people in a model home, to show them by an example the advantages of cleanliness, neatness and order, and to inspire them to use pure language and to lead pure Christian lives will be our effort hoping thereby to elevate and uplift them." They could not let the culture of the Appalachian region be forgotten. Other women educators "viewed themselves as ‘trying to build up a form of education that shall mean growth, and not retrogression, as the type of mountain civilization changes with the incoming railroads." If permitted, industrialization would have wiped out Appalachian culture, leaving behind a few distant memories. These mountain school founders did not let this happen. These women often told a students to "Cherish your traditions, but mind our new manners; affirm what you are, but groom yourself for social mobility; life in the mountains is wonderful, but its wonders must be shaped according to the vision of the great stereoscopic world beyond." Mountain life had to change with the turn of the century, they agreed, but it should not slip into the past to be unremembered.

Martha Berry, Alice Lloyd, Olive Dame Campbell, Mary Stone, and Katherine Petit helped conform Appalachian education to twentieth century standards. Even though these women did not grow up in the Appalachian Mountains, they eventually adjusted to the mountain culture. Charlotte Young faced many of the same problems as these Appalachian educators. Young was born on June 11, 1879 in Hominy Valley, North Carolina. Her father, Pickney Rabun Young was a teacher, minister and war veteran. Young’s brother and sister, Oscar and Leona, were also Appalachian educators. She was educated by her father and attended Carson-Newman College in 1898. Although her teaching career lasted for sixty-five years, she did not receive her education degree from Western Carolina University until 1947. She taught in over twenty-four different schools in North Carolina. Young also taught in Tennessee, New York, Maryland, and Ohio. Her teaching career began at age twenty-two and she chose to end it at age eighty-five. Even though she grew up in a prominent family, it was not difficult for Young to adjust to Appalachian culture because she hailed from the region.

Being a native of Appalachia made it easier for Young to identify with her students. She formed many relationships with her students that lasted until the last years of her life. Young often received letters from students who wanted to thank her for being such a positive influence in their lives. In 1949 Young received a letter saying, "Dear Miss Young, I want you to know I think you are a swell teacher. I think you have taught me a lot. I wouldn’t have learned as much from any other teacher. I thank you a lot for helping me. I know the other boys feel the same. You don’t know just how much I would like to learn how to read. It means so much to me. Yours truly, James." This letter showed Young that she had inspired one of her students to further his education. Young loved receiving letters like this because they let her know how important her work was. During World War I, Young taught in Swain County, North Carolina. She befriended a young man that was about to be drafted. The young man came back from the war and ended up marrying one of Young’s relatives. She loved to tell this story:

Because she cared so much about him, it made a difference in the young man’s life. Being a native of Appalachia helped Young become accepted in Cherokee cultures around North Carolina. While teaching at Whittier, near the Indian Reservation, Young became friends with a few Cherokee women. When asked about this experience Young replied, "I made the acquaintance of several Indian women, and one of them knew the Cherokee language and English. The other lady knew only Cherokee…We would all get together and sit by the Tuckasegee River, and they would sing their songs in Cherokee. Then this other woman would interpret them, and before I forgot it I wrote it down." This experience deeply moved Young because she loved native folklore and music. She decided to put two of these ballads in her first book of poetry. ."

One of the most rewarding experiences Young had in western North Carolina was teaching adults how to read during the Depression of the 1930s. She was amazed at how well Appalachians handled those rough years. Young realized that, "Somehow the mountain people--the lowest mentally, educationally and socially, or what-have-you from the lowest to the highest—they learned to be independent and somehow they did get through it pretty well." Even though she was a native of western North Carolina, Young was no "angel of mercy." She often helped people out because she took pity on them. One of her neighbors, named Penland, worked in the paper mill in Canton, North Carolina. He joined a union and ended up being fired because the union failed. Penland had trouble finding jobs because of this, so Young decided to help him out. She said in a later interview, "He could hardly read. I found that he could spell out words enough to read a little, but he wanted to read better. So I taught him, and then I gave him work papering my house, which helped him out a little." Although growing up in western North Carolina helped her communicate with her students, she faced much greater obstacles dealing with discrimination from her male colleagues.

Along with most Appalachian women educators, Charlotte Young faced unsympathetic male colleagues and supervisors. She was exposed to this in 1899 at her first teaching job in Oak Grove, Tennessee. She taught elementary grades at a two-teacher school, and after she was there for one year a man was hired to run the school. Young never got along with this man and called him a "tyrant" in later interviews. She taught with him for a year and decided to apply for one more year. The committeemen were hesitant in hiring her again because they wanted to save money by only paying the "tyrant" to run the school. Young believed that, "One person shouldn’t have taken it over, but he decided he could take the whole thing and that did away with my job." Even though she knew this was unfair, Young did not let it get to her. She returned to North Carolina in 1902, taught at several one-teacher schools, and held the position of principal at others. While acting as principal of Denver High school in 1910 "…men were sent from State University and from the university at Chapel Hill with big ideas of modern teaching." These men believed that a classroom should be democratic. They wanted students to have more say in what goes on in the classroom. Even though Young opposed this idea, she decided to try it. When one of her students got in trouble he went in front of a judge and jury of his peers. Charlotte carried out the punishment without hesitation. The next day the boy's mother paid her a visit and explained what was wrong with the boy. Young did not say what the problem was in her interview, but she felt so humiliated that she decided to never again run her class like a democracy. She taught there for two years until the administration had enough money to pay a male principal. Instead of firing Young on the basis of gender, the administration looked for a legitimate reason. The perfect opportunity to fire Young surfaced when she punished one of the committeemen’s daughters. The father felt that his daughter did not deserve to be punished, but Young knew she had done the right thing. Young once said, "I haven’t always been a good Christian, but I know one thing, in my teaching I have carried out my brother Oscar’s words: ‘Do what you know is right, and don’t you be afraid.’ I never have been afraid. When I lost that job, I got something better." After Denver High School, Young taught home economics at Cullowhee Industrial and Normal School. She did not feel secure here because the male faculty, including the president, "decided by doing away with the sewing teacher and the cooking teacher they’d get more salary." Once again, Young lost her job because of her gender. Naturally, they told her she was let go because of the economy, but Young knew that, "…this was the economy that would go down to their pocketbooks: the men, the president, and others." Young’s next job was Principal at Webster High School in Jackson County, North Carolina. She stayed four years, which was the happiest period of her teaching career. She would have stayed, but she lost the job for not passing the son of a school board committeeman because he would not study his Latin. This particular committeeman held the vote that decided whether or not Young continued teaching there. Young said that, "After four years now, I’ll tell you that hurt. Before that I was able to take it, but I loved those children and I had done my best because I was backed." Even though this situation devastated her, Young did not stop teaching. In 1918, she became the principal of Almond High School in Graham County, North Carolina, a four-teacher school. She taught there for two years until the administration decided they wanted a male principal. Young believed that "Some of the committeemen had young daughters; it would be more interesting to get some young college graduate who was single. They just decided to get another person as quietly as they could without any uproar." She accepted her fate and continued teaching throughout North Carolina. In 1938 Young was offered a principalship at Otter Creek High School in Macon County, North Carolina. Young gave an account of the discrimination she suffered there:

It is hard to believe that Young endured the same kind of discrimination for over forty years. This bias forced her to change jobs over nine times. Because she was such a strong woman, Young did not let the problems discourage her. Young not only had to deal with discrimination, but she also dealt with the culture of the Appalachian region that made her work so important.

The rural areas of Appalachia usually had one-room schoolhouses that employed one or two teachers. Young taught at many of these schools throughout her career. When the county superintendent sent her to "Siberia" in 1940, Young did not mind at all. When asked about this experience Young replied, "I had a little group cut off by roads, up on a big plateau on the Onion Mountain. But it was a good little community, and there were twelve students – averaged about ten. I was cut off from his influence and everything else. I had the time of my life teaching that little group…" There were no highways in the area of Macon County, so no buses went to the school. Children had to travel long distances to get to school. Students would "…come on horseback and sometimes they’d come in a buggy…" In 1902 Young taught at a one-teacher school in Cartoogechaye, seven miles from Franklin. Because the school was in such a rural location, the mail was delivered once a week. Young said that, "If it snowed, you had to wait several weeks to get your mail." Despite all the problems, Young loved teaching in rural areas.

The only downside to being a native of western North Carolina was putting up with the stereotypes placed on mountain people. Young often took these stereotypes with a grain of salt. Somehow those not raised in the mountains "…got the idea that throughout western North Carolina, people carried hayseed in their ears." Young believed that the people who believed this were surprised to find prosperous, educated people in western North Carolina. One time a woman asked her if she was born and brought up in the mountains of North Carolina. Whey she said yes the woman was stunned and said, "‘Well, surely not. You don’t say ‘cheer’ for chair and ‘over yonder.’’" Young found this comment amusing because the woman had never been to western North Carolina. Once she tried to explain why people used these stereotypes and said that, "Now some places who don’t understand western North Carolina; they’re a little bit snooty without any reason except geography, which doesn’t have anything to do with civilization." People formed these stereotypes because of ignorance, and ignorance is bliss.

Through other people’s ignorance and discrimination, Young learned a lot about herself. These experiences had an impact on her unique teaching philosophy. Young believed that in order to put one hundred percent into teaching she had to be happy with her colleagues and the environment where she worked. From 1941 to 1943 Young taught in Southport, North Carolina, the farthest east port in the state. She loved the students and got along great with the faculty, but hated the sandflies and mosquitoes. Young said that those tiny insects "…simply thrived on my legs. Friends would say: ‘Oh, take so and so. Rub your legs with so and so.’ I did, and the mosquitoes throve on that medicine." Young got so fed up with the constant biting and scratching that she handed in her resignation. The principal thought Young was hiding the real reason she wanted to leave. She explained to him that she could not remember starting off so happily as she did there, and that he was the best principal she had worked with. The principal was so pleased with her explanation that he asked Young to tell the county superintendent what she told him. Young did not want to leave, but she could not allow her distractions affect her work.

Young also believed that students benefited from attending small schools. She strongly disapproved of the transition from small schools to big public schools. She said that, "Up until 1907 we spoke of free schools and high schools. Free school went through the seventh grade; high schools went through eight, ninth, tenth, and eleventh. There were four years of high school, beginning with the eighth, and believe me, by the time they got to the eight grade, they were even above the present ninth grade." Young felt that a student could learn more at a small school because the teacher had more time to get to know the students. Her passion about small schools can be felt in her words, "Children have to get up before day, stand in the wind and snow and wait for that big bus to come. It’s a shame on humanity the way those big schools are managed by these big overhead men who don’t care a hoot for the children nor for education." Those "big overhead men" wanted to consolidate schools in order to save money. Money became more important than the education and well being of children. Even though it would cost more Young believed that, "They ought to have enough for two or three teachers, about twenty students each, and really educate the children; inspire them and talk to them…" Teachers and students should be able to have an honest and open relationship. Students need to feel that they can come to their teachers with a problem, even if it is not school related. At a small school "...the teacher knows each child and is part of the community and can work with the community." Young felt that if schools and communities worked together, children got a better education. Community involvement would prepare students for college classes or a job after high school.

Charlotte Young utilized her ideas on education and community involvement throughout her sixty-five year teaching career. She published six books of poetry between 1953 and 1984. The Appalachian region was special to Young so she worked hard to contribute to people’s lives there. She did this despite the added difficulties that the culture of this region presented women educators. Until her death in 1984, Charlotte Young had the insight and tenacity to make a difference in the education of Appalachia.

The turn of the century brought on many changes to the Appalachian Mountains. Mining, logging, and textile industries spread throughout the region as a result of industrialization. Large families lived together in small houses, usually without pluming or electricity. Children stopped attending school before they completed high school because poverty forced them to help support their families. Working in a coal mine was the most promising career a young man had at the time. The poverty and illiteracy of the Appalachian region became a major problem. A typical mountain school consisted of a log cabin with one room and one teacher. These schoolhouses were often used as churches or town halls, thus becoming the most important building in the area. Children of all ages attended these schools until they were old enough to work. As a result, many children went through life without knowing how to read or write. Several women educators, including Charlotte Young, wanted to give mountain children a better life, so they decided to challenge the status quo in Appalachian schools.
Women educators came across many problems while working in Appalachia. The biggest challenge these women had to face was gender discrimination. Settlement school founders, like Olive Dame Campbell and Katherine Petit, had to deal with harsh criticism and rejection because of their sex. In the first part of the twentieth century women were usually expected to get married and have children. Women’s roles in the professional world were limited to educational, clerical, domestic, or factory work. American society was not ready to accept women in male dominated roles. This gender bias forced women educators to look to each other for support. Martha Berry and Alice Lloyd asked neighborhood friends and old college friends for help and were received with great encouragement. Many of these women did not get discouraged when they experienced discrimination. If Charlotte Young lost a job due to discrimination by her male colleagues, she would not let it bother her. Appalachian women educators had to deal with cultural issues as well as issues concerning gender.

Because these women came from prominent families, some of them experienced a major culture shock when they understood the poverty of Appalachia. Women like Martha Berry and Mary Stone would be overwhelmed by their work because the mountain people were so unrefined. Charlotte Young was able to identify with her students because she grew up in western North Carolina. She formed close relationships with her students that made a difference in their lives. These educators understood the implications of modernization and industrialization in the Appalachian Mountains. If conditions in Appalachia did not improve, its inhabitants would have been forced to find jobs in the industrial cities of the north, causing economic and physical ruin. By focusing on education, literacy, cleanliness, and the unique culture of the region, these educators preserved certain aspects of the Appalachian culture and improved it at the same time. These fundamentals would be essential to the success of Appalachians in the twentieth century. Appalachian women educators sought to empower the mountain people in preparation of the changing times.

Bibliography

Biographical Note. Charlotte Young Papers, Special Collections, D. Hidden Ramsey Library, University of North Carolina – Asheville.

"Chronological Account of My Teaching, Writing and Colleges and Universities by Charlotte Young, May 3, 1982." Charlotte Young Papers, Special Collections, D. Hidden Ramsey Library, University of North Carolina – Asheville.

Dutton, William St. Stay on Stranger. New York: Farrar, Straus and Young, 1954.

James [no last name] to Charlotte Young, 21 March 1949. Special Collections, D. Hidden Ramsey Library, University of North Carolina – Asheville.

Kane, Harnett T. Miracle in the Mountains. Garden City: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1956.

Miles, Emma Bell. The Spirit of the Mountains. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1975.

Myers, Elizabeth P. Angel of Appalachia: Martha Berry. New York: Julian Messner, 1973.

Painter, Nell Irvin. Standing at Armageddon. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1987.

Publications of Charlotte Young. Charlotte Young Papers, Special Collections, D. Hidden Ramsey Library, University of North Carolina – Asheville.

Searles, David P. A College For Appalachia: Alice Lloyd on Caney Creek. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1995.

Whisnant, David E. All That is Native and Fine. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1983.

Young, Charlotte. Interview by Dr. Louis D. Silveri, 26 June 1975. First Session, transcript. Southern Highlands Oral History Collection, Special Collections, D. Hidden Ramsey Library, University of North Carolina – Asheville.

Young Charlotte. Interview by Dr. Louis D. Silveri, 20 August 1975. Second Session, transcript. Southern Highlands Oral History Collection, Special Collections, D. Hidden Ramsey Library, University of North Carolina – Asheville.