Library Files, 1911 - 1983

The PMSS library houses a particularly rich collection of documents, papers, letters and printed material (approximately 4 cubic feet). A significant portion of this is in the form of publications and includes the following: 1) “Notes from the PMSS,” 1919-53, 1974-82, a very informative source of anecdotes about school life; 2) student publications such as the “Pine Cone,” “Conifer,” “Ears,” and “Enterprise” (various years); 3) two scrapbooks (1919-72) filled with leaflets, pamphlets and programs relating to fundraising activities, May Day celebrations, Commencements, Chapel services, community fairs, and also including school catalogs, rule books and similar publications; 4) pamphlets on the Co-op (1938-39) and Guidance Institutes (late 30’s- early 40s); 5) printed programs and announcements on the various events of the Pine Mountain Environmental Education Center (1970-present); 6) several scrapbooks and folders containing magazine and news clippings (1919- present) of PMSS activities, including fund-raising, tours by student performers, activities of the founders, programs at PMSS, and anecdotes about life at PMSS. This series also consists of personal letters by Katherine Pettit, Ethel DeLong Zande, Margerite Butler, Evelyn Wells, Katherine Rittenhouse (all staff members); members of the Creech family and a great number of other former workers and students. This correspondence covers the period 1911-40 and provides a wealth of anecdotal history of the founding and early history of the PMSS. Also, a great deal of information can be gathered from official records, comprehensive reports and summaries which describe activities at the school between 1913-41 and a collection of annual and interim reports to the Board of Trustees (1913-73).

Documentation of the academic program includes a music project developed by Golda Pensol around 1950, a ceramics program active in 1965-66, the accounts of activities of two environmental studies groups, one from Berea College and one from the Morton (Illinois) Arboretum, and a collection of stories and poems by third and fourth graders in 1969. There are also documents related to industrial courses taught in 1936-37 and a proposal for an emotionally disturbed children’s project. Material related to student activities include documents of Christmas programs, dramas and music (1920’s to 1940’s); other student pageants and plays performed in various years, 1919-69; a mimeographed collection of ballads sung in school activities; and a student survey of religious attitudes.