RG 09. Faculty and Staff

Abstract

From 1895 to 1922, the Rev. Henry M. Penniman served as Professor of Christian Evidences, a field agent, fund raiser, financial agent, and general evangelist for Berea College.  He was a close friend of President Frost and helped raise the funds for the·women's Gymnasium that would be named the Woods-Penniman building on the Berea College Campus.  After retirement, Penniman continued to preach, teach, and work with the College.

Abstract Dr. Ira Jay Martin III was a fixture at Berea College serving as professor in the Philosophy and Religions Department for thirty-three years.  He was an instructor for two years before being promoted to Assistant Professor in 1946.  In the fall of 1966 he was appointed to the Henry Mixter Penniman Professorship, which he held until his retirement in 1977 (becoming an emeritus professor).  Martin published several books on a variety of topics in religion.  He was the author of ...

Abstract Isham B. Chesnut served as the Berea College Forester from 1918-1927.  Born in Hiatt, Rockcastle County, Kentucky in 1882, Chesnut attained teaching certificates from multiple Kentucky counties and was schooled in agricultural practices by Robert Spence before serving as a field agent in West Virginia from 1915 to 1917. In 1916, Chesnut married Matilda Francis Kuster—a Berea student from Redford, Michigan. After his tenure as forester, Chesnut continued to work at the College until 1938 when...

Abstract Jane Wilhelmina Pierson was born in Ohio on July 24, 1917, the daughter of William and Barbara (Ries) Pierson. In 1939, she graduated from Mercy School of Nursing and later completed Midwifery training in the Frontier Nursing Service (1952). After working for five years in the maternity ward at Good Samaritan Hospital in Dayton, she served for two years as a frontier nurse on horseback in the Bull Creek, Kentucky area. After serving as a frontier nurse, Pierson worked at the Berea Hospital...

Abstract Joseph O. Van Hook was raised in Pulaski County, Kentucky and began teaching in a one-room school house in 1909. He came to Berea in 1910 and earned two diplomas from the Normal School. He served as an Army corporal during World War I and spent four years following the war teaching in China at the Shanghai American School (1921-1925). He then returned to Berea College, earning three Bachelor of Arts degrees by 1926. He also earned a Master of Arts degree from the University of Kentucky in...

Abstract John Courter was an organist, carillonneur, and professor of music at Berea College. Courter joined the Berea College faculty in 1971 as a teacher and organist. After retiring from teaching in 2007, he continued to serve as College Organist and was also the College Carillonneur. In addition, to work at the Courter was the organist at Union Church and a long-time contributor to the music of St. Clare Catholic Church, both in Berea. A native of Lansing, Michigan, Courter earned a bachelor’s...

Abstract

John Franklin Smith taught in both the Berea College Academy School and the Normal School from 1911 to 1931.  Originally drawn to Berea to teach Rural Social Science, Smith also served as a publicity agent for serveral years and directed the College Sunday School for fifteen years.  Smith was a prolific writer, including a poet. Smith retired from Berea in 1931 due to illness.

Abstract John Crowden taught at sociology at Berea College for forty-one years and coordinated the college's convocations program for twenty years before retiring in 2004. Crowden was a graduate of Transylvania University in Lexington and also held degrees from the Lexington Theological Seminary and was ordained in the Disciples of Christ (Christian) Church. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky. He began teaching in the Sociology Department of Berea College in 1963 and served as the...

Abstract John Kessler was commanding officer(first executive officer) of the V-12 officer training school unit at Berea College during WWII.  Kessler also worked to organize reunions of V-12 alumni following the War. Before and after his service in the Navy, Kessler was an insurance salesman.  In addition to organizing Navy V-12 reunions, Kessler also helped to develop the Navy V-12 Scholarship and the Navy V-12 Award (scholarships recognizing Berea College students who are able leaders and who...

Abstract

These are the personal papers of John M. Ramsay, in particular his papers regarding attempts to be classified as a conscientious objector with the Selective Service Board. Included in the papers are copies of his memoirs, personal correpsondence and correspondence with the US government (draft board), lawyers, and others involoved in working for his conscientious objector status, pamphlets, and official government papers.