Lesley Phillips: Sketches of a Community: Pine Mountain Settlement School Through the Eyes of John A. Spelman III
Lesley Phillips is a senior graduating in May from the University of Kentucky. She is pursuing a dual-degree in Psychology and Art History and Visual Studies. She will begin her Masters in Social Work at the University of Kentucky in the fall of 2020, where she hopes to focus on integrated behavioral health.
Lesley chose the John A. Spelman III papers because the collection provided the opportunity to study both art history and the history of social work. Not only was the collection filled with artwork, but it was also connected to her home region — the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky — and an emblem of social work in the early 20th century. Spelman taught art and aided in printing classes at Pine Mountain Settlement School, an all-encompassing, progressive, and cultural education meant to provide opportunities to a region that in the past had none.
Lesley's research into the John A. Spelman III papers was accepted for presentation at the Appalachian Studies Association conference held at the University of Kentucky, March 12-15, 2020. She was also invited to present similar research at the National Conference of Undergraduate Research held at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana, March 26-18, 2020. The University of Kentucky Libraries and Office of Undergraduate Research were sponsors of her travel. Both conferences were cancelled due to COVID-19.
Abstract title: Learning from Pine Mountain: John A. Spelman III and the Preservation of Mountain Culture Through Education
In the early 20th century, settlement schools were established to provide education and tools to communities experiencing social and educational disparity. The hills of Appalachia, with its remote regions, poverty, and lack of education, proved a rich area for establishing settlement schools. Pine Mountain Settlement School (PMSS) in Kentucky was founded in 1913 by Katherine Pettit, a wealthy woman from Lexington, Kentucky, and Ethyl DeLong, a native of New Jersey, with the purpose of providing an integration of outside educational skills while harnessing already established Appalachian culture. Much has been stated about the female-headed school and its feminist implications, however, the fact that many of the educators and workers came from outside of the region has not been researched. How was it possible to curate a balanced educational experience that is equally intertwined with local culture and the outer world? The balance is clear through the work of artist and educator John A. Spelman III, who worked at PMSS from 1937 to 1941. Spelman was capable of using his interest in depicting mountain landscape and culture in a way that provided tools for students to advance their skills and education. Using the John A. Spelman III Papers at the University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center and the collection of Pine Mountain Settlement School Archives, this study will look at how outside influencers impacted students and culture at the school. By examining these collections and the history of PMSS, this study will show how a school nestled in the Appalachian Mountains was capable of garnering a genuine and local cultural experience through a staff of outsiders.
