The Season of Dorland-Bell: History of an Appalachian Mission School

354 Pages·2012·6.46 MB·English

DOCUMENT RESUME
RC 021 175
ED 412 054
Painter, Jacqueline Burgin
AUTHOR
The Season of Dorland -Bell: History of an Appalachian
TITLE
Mission School. Revised Second Edition.
ISBN-0-913-239-71-0
ISBN
1996-00-00
PUB DATE
352p.; Photographs will not reproduce adequately.
NOTE
Appalachian ConsortiUm Press, Appalachian State University,
AVAILABLE FROM
University Hall, Boone, NC 23608.
-- HistoHcal Materials (060)
Books (010)
PUB TYPE
MF01/PC15 Plus Postage.
EDRS PRICE
*Access to Education; Boarding Schools; Cultural Influences;
DESCRIPTORS
Educational History; Educational Practices; Elementary
Secondary Education; Higher Education; Poverty; *Rural
Education; *School Community Relation6hip; *School Role
Appalachian Culture; Institutional History; Mission Schools;
IDENTIFIERS
Missionaries; *North Carolina (Madison County); Presbyterian
Church
ABSTRACT
This book details the history of the Dorland-Bell School, a
residential school in rural western North Carolina. The book is based on
letters, extensive interviews, and research about the school. In 1886, Luke
and Juliette Dorland, Presbyterian missionaries and educators, retired to Hot
Springs, North Carolina. However, at the request of residents in this rural
village, they soon were teaching 25 students in their home. Luke Dorland
appealed to his former employer, the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, and
$300 was granted for books and equipment. At their own expense, the Dorlands
built a two-story frame schoolhouse to accommodate the growing number of
students. By 1894, the school, known as the Dorland Institute, had grown to
include a girls' dormitory, an expanded schoolhouse, and additional teachers.
In 1918, the Dorland Institute consolidated with the Bell Institute, a large
day school for girls. Dorland-Bell School now included seven acres of land,
boarding facilities for 100 girls in the village, and a 300-acre farm with
housing for 40 boys. The book details the evolution of the school over the
years until it closed in 1942. The history of Dorland-Bell involves the story
of the wider Presbyterian mission in the southern Appalachians. By
establishing schools and hospitals, the Board of National Missions in New
York reached into isolated areas to help children overcome significant
barriers to education. This book illustrates the challenge in balancing well
intentioned good works among mountain people with respect for a rich and old
culture that was not always receptive to the intervention of outsiders. When
Dorland-Bell closed in 1942, it merged with the Asheville Farm School to
become Warren Wilson College. The appendix includes acknowledgements,
significant dates in the school history, a list of school staff and faculty,
the school.
a list of students, and brief family histories preserved by
Contains references, an index, numerous photographs, school memorabilia, and
old newspaper articles.
(LP)
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a
The
Season
of
Dor land-Bell
BY
JACQUELINE BURGIN PAINTER
Revised Second Edition
Appalachian Consortion Press
Boone, North Carolina
3
Appalachian Consortium Press
The Appalachian Consortium is a non-profit educational organization comprised of institutions and
agencies located in the Southern Highlands. Founded in 1971, the initial objectives were to perpetuate,
preserve, and promote the heritage of Southern Appalachia. Today the scope and diversity of the
Consortium's objectives and activities have extended far beyond those upon which it was founded. Yet
today it remains committed to one guiding principle-an improved quality of life for the people of the
Southern Highlands.
Members of the Consortium are volunteers who plan and execute projects which serve Appalachian
mountain counties. They serve on eight standing committees (administration, Appalachian studies, folklife,
museum, publications, regional collections, regional cooperation and development, and regional health
services) which meet at various member locations throughout the service region. The Executive Director
of the Appalachian Consortium may be reached at [phone].
Objectives of the Appalachian Consortium are:
*Preserving the cultural heritage of Southern Appalachia
*Protecting the mountain environment
*Publishing manuscripts about the region
*Improving educational opportunities for area students and teachers
*Conducting scientific, social, and economic research
*Promoting a positive image of Appalachia
*Encouraging regional cooperation
The members of the Appalachian Consortium are:
*Appalachian State University
*Blue Ridge Parkway
*John C. Campbell Folk School
*Clinch Valley College
*East Tennessee State University
*Ruth & Billy Graham Children's Health Center
*HandMade in America
*William King Regional Arts Center
*Lees-McRae College
*Mars Hill College
*Mayland Community College
*North Carolina Division of Archives and History
*Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy
*Southern Highlands Handicraft Guild
*Tusculum College
*U.S. Forest Service
*Warren Wilson College
* Western Carolina University
* Western North Carolina Historical Association
Copyright 1996 by Appalachian Consortium Press and Jacqueline B. Painter
All rights reserved.
First Edition -1987 by Biltmore Press-Asheville, North Carolina
ISBN 0-913-239-71-0
Cover photograph- Dorland Institute, Hot Springs, North CM'Olina
Photographer-unknown
4
FOREWORD
Jacqueline Burgin Painter's compelling story of the Dor land-Bell School stems from her
birthright and her heart. Her father, Kenneth Burgin, attended Dor land-Bell in Hot
Springs, and served, later, as its basketball coach. He passed on to his daughter his great
love for Dor land-Bell.
The Dor land-Bell School, in reaching out to the sons and daughters of rural and often
impoverished Western North Carolina, accomplished remarkable good works, and Jackie
Burgin Painter unfolds the story with anecdotes, letters, extensive interviews and research
and a lively narrative. Enhancing the book's appeal are numerous photographs and
graphics, old newspaper ads and articles, report cards and programs from school events.
It in many ways is more than a book, but a first-person diary and journal from those who
lived the stories.
The history of the Dorland-Bell School is also the story of the wider Presbyterian mission
of the Southern Appalachians. By establishing schools and hospitals, the Board of
National Missions in New York reached into isolated areas and achieved much in helping
children overcome significant barriers to education. And yet, as Jackie's account
illustrates, there was always the challenge of balancing the well intentioned good works
of lending a helping hand to a mountain people, while at the same time respecting
a rich
and old culture that was not always receptive to the intervention of outsiders. This has
been the larger story of the Southern Appalachians' mixed history of cultural wealth and
economic poverty.
After Dor land-Bell School closed its doors in 1942, it was merged with the Asheville
Farm School in becoming Warren Wilson College. Up to the present day, Warren Wilson
has been the proud steward of the Dor land-Bell legacy and family tree. In many ways,
Jackie Burgin Painter has been an important thread that connects Dor land-Bell with
Warren Wilson College. She has been ever diligent in maintaining the Dor land Memorial
Presbyterian Church, fully aware that it is now the most tangible reminder of the history
of this remarkable school. She has led the efforts to establish and maintain the annual
reunion of Dor land-Bell alumni who convene at the Church on a Sunday each August.
Jackie's work and authorship has won her the Special Recognition Award of Excellence
from the North Carolina Society of Historians, and the Warren Wilson College Alumni
Association's Alumni Service Award. She also has completed a book on the family of
Maud Gentry Long, a very special teacher at Dor land-Bell, and written and published a
pictorial history of the internment camp for German civilians that existed in Hot Springs
during World War I.
We commend this daughter of Madison County for her abiding love of a school that made
a significant difference in the lives of generations of students from the slopes, coves and
hollows of these mountains. She has our everlasting gratitude for her commitment to
keeping this remarkable story alive for future generations.
Douglas M. Orr, Jr., Ph.D.
Swannanoa, North Carolina
President
May, 1996
Warren Wilson College
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This volume is dedicated to the memory of Kenneth Sanders Ownbey Burgin
(1907-1976), faithful alumnus of Dorland-Bell School.
7
BEST COPY AVAILABLE
The Season
of
Dor land-Bell
Preface
A few years ago, as a tribute to Independence Day in Plus, Norman Vin-
cent Peale expressed his concern that the flame of tradition had been allowed
to burn low by the present generation. He said:
It is unfortunate that some people assume themselves superior to all the past
as if history began yesterday. They seem unaware that a great tree climbs to
the sky and is able to cope with winds and tempests because its roots are sunk
deeply into the earth. Up through those roots comes the life-giving energy which
keeps the tree alive through long years. The sacred traditions of a nation feed
the lifeblood of today from the creative experience of the past. Attention to
the basic traditions of the nation serves to perpetuate the ideals of a people.
And so it was that my attentions were turned one second Sunday in August
(following the Dor land-Bell annual reunion), to the plight of an Appalachian
tradition in our own midst. My family were discussing the uniqueness of
the Dor land Memorial Church and the faithful alumni who contribute to
its upkeep, as well as represent the church's origin. Since all flesh is mortal,
we asked, "What will happen to the church and to the school's memory
in future years?" It was then that I decided to try to list the church on the
National Register of Historic Places.
Providing the required documentation proved to be a difficult and expen-
sive task, since church records prior to 1931 had been lost, and the Pres-
byterian USA archives were in New York and Philadelphia (except for the
organization of the church as recorded in Presbytery minutes at Montreat).
When at last enough data accumulated to satisfy the preservation board in
Raleigh, I could not allow the results of those months of research to fade
again into oblivion; hence, the beginning of The Season of Dor land-Bell.
Although preservation was the primary purpose of the history, a secon-
dary reason soon evolvedthat of inspiration. As scores of former pupils,
teachers, and friends of the mission school were interviewed, a fascinating
story unfoldedone of Christian love, hard work and sacrifice, and of "studying
to show thyself approved unto God."
But could I retain the perspective needed to tell the "true" story? I was
born and raised in Madison county, my father's ancestors having come to
3
a
Hot Springs in the early 1860's. My mother was born on Shelton Laurel, and
my father, his sister and mother, were Dor land-Bell graduates; I, too, was
a Dor land "student" in Miss Hickman's nursery school. From Cradle Roll
days, the Dor land Memorial Church has influenced my life. Consequently,
while fully appreciating the benefits of the Presbyterians, I still bristle some-
what at the Northerners' condescensions, and resent the fact that often por-
trayed to the outside world were some of the worst examples of mountain
poverty and ignorance.
There were (just as Julia Phillips wrote) as many grades of society in
Appalachia as in any other part of the country, but the mission's purpose
was to serve the most dejected of these. In order to support the work, out-
side contributors had to be convinced that there was genuine need. There-
fore, the extreme cases were cited, necessarily, to raise money for the school's
operation. The actual feeling of most mountaineers was seldom relayedthat
mountain families by mountain standards fared "tolerably well."
Through acceptance of the missionaries' perseverance and tenacity, the
local people traded some of their independence for educational improve-
ments, suffered some humilities in exchange for superiorities in other fields.
One hundred years later Appalachia continues to be the object of institu-
tional mission programs; we are still fighting the notion that a typical mountain
person is unschooled, indigent, and removed from society.
Nevertheless, The Season of Dor land-Bell contradicts the thesis of many
scholars that native people would fare better if left alone by social workers.
While the mountaineers have often been exploited by outsiders, the Pres-
byterian missionaries were guilty of taking away only a few mannerisms and
"sins" which would have, eventually, been swallowed up by an encroaching
civilization. In return, the mission workers brought an acceleration of hope
and dignity to our forebears when it was sorely needed.
The day-to-day events occurring during the five Dor land-Bell adminis-
trations give insight into our ancestors' way of life. The teachers' responses
to Appalachian "poverty and ignorance" versus the mountaineers' responses
to impositions of the missionaries strikes a curious balance which resulted
in a better life for mountain youth.
Thus, to the reader who is a stranger to Dor land-Bell, my intention is
to show the impact the Presbyterians had upon the area, and to bring alive
a segment of Appalachian history which others have dubbed "the mission
school era."
And to the reader who is a "descendant" of Dor land-Bell, my hope is
that he will have a greater understanding of his heritage and find some answers
to the oft-asked question, "Who am I?"
It is hoped that all readers can identify with Luke and Juliette Dor land
as they opened their home and hearts to the local children, then with Julia
Phillips and Francis McGaw in their struggles to improve facilities and develop
4
the boys' work. It is further hoped that readers will come to understand the
Presbyterian "family" connection to the Asheville Normal, Farm School and
Bell Institute and to the "caring-parent" Board who "always knew best" for
the siblings. Moreover, through the administrations of Hadley and Taylor,
readers will feel the school's at last earning its rightful place in Appalachia,
only to be plucked up, even as it was once plantedby the grace of others.
Fortunately, the "plucking" was not the end of Dor land-Bell, but the begin-
ning of a higher step to learning through Warren H. Wilson Junior College.
Operating on the same premise as Dor land-Bell, it was an affordable school
for Appalachian youths who were still victims of poverty and isolationism,
but were willing to work for an education. Then in 1966 the junior college
became a four-year school, offering greater opportunities to the Southern
mountaineer, and extending the dream of Luke Dor land.
Dor land-Bell School was noted for its cadre of excellence. The staff were
highly dedicated to their calling, even to the point of working without pay
in a few cases. Many of its teachers were graduates of top schools in the
Northeast and Midwest; on this basis Dor land graduates had no trouble find-
ing employment. A list of personnel, reconstructed as fully as possible, appears
in the appendixes.
The appendixes also contain names of those who made this book pos-
sible. Some provided great chunks of material, others only bits of confirma-
tion; none were insignificant. Those contacted were exceedingly polite and
helpful, with many going the second mile to send photographs or prized
memorabilia.
While interviewing Dor land individuals, I was struck by their inherent
sense of "duty and goodness!' Most have fulfilled the mission school's goal
by returning to their home communities. The former students are working
and giving in their churches; they are performing a myriad of community
services; and they are strengthening and educating their own families (their
children include doctors, nurses, and educators, among others). One pair
of Dor land graduates has even produced missionary sons and missionary
grandchildren!
My efforts have been painstakingly sincere in researching the mission
school history. But, since errors are inevitable,
I apologize for omissions,
inaccuracies, distortions of the truth, or any offense a reader might suffer.
Fortunately, historians are seldom satisfied with "the end of the story;" they
continue to dig and delve and rectify.
In a 1986 textbook study by People For the American Way, Anthony
Podesta said, "The fact is, you can't understand American history without
understanding the important part that religious people, religious values, reli-
gious leaders and religious institutions have played in shaping our society!'
Thus, in this year of Dorland-Bell's centennial, I present to the readers
of posterity a record, albeit unavoidably incomplete, of persons, events, and
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