Events circa 1914-1926.
Written January 1995.
One morning in late August of 1914, I woke up in a new place, a new house, a new town, and a new state. Here I was, destined to spend most of the next two decades of my life. As I walked outside and looked around, I was delighted. So this was Berea, Kentucky, nestled in the Western foothills of Appalachia. About four miles from town, a crescent range of small mountains six or seven hundred feet high rimmed the edge of the landscape from Northeast to Southwest. The famous Kentucky Blue Grass Region began on the west with its fertile, fabulous farms. What a beautiful setting for Berea College, which was to nurture the needs of each member of my family.
Father was the editor of The Citizen, the town and college newspaper. Mother taught eighth grade in the Foundation School. My brother went to first grade in the College Training School, and I entered the eighth grade there, also. My teacher was Miss Ollie Mae Parker, larger than life, from Ohio. She was a model teacher who commanded attention and respect yet made her pupils love their work and her at the same time. My education had been a yo-yo experience in the past, but now Berea gave me a feeling of stability and, at last, being in the only right place.
My teachers were good people, erudite, and able to impart enthusiasm for their subjects. Professor and Mrs. Peck, both Ph. D.s in their respective fields, taught in the Academy — the college preparatory school. Professor Peck made first and second-year algebra and plane and solid geometry seem so clear and reasonable that I breezed through them with top grades, enjoying them from day to day. Mrs. Peck taught American English and Ancient History, which she made so dramatic. It was a pleasure to sit at her feet. She taught trends, their implications on subsequent happenings in the arena of events, why wars were fought, their aftermath, and what they settled. She was fascinating! The Pecks stand out in my memory as the two best teachers I ever had.
Berea College was unique in its beliefs, and teaching “God has made of one blood all nations of men” was its motto, which made it unpopular in the South. Educationally, it stressed labor and learning as necessary and honorable partners. Each student is required to work two hours a day along with his studies.
This program has made Berea College educationally famous, both nationally and internationally. When Taiwan began to set up its educational program, it sent scouts to Berea to study its labor and learning program. In their culture, a scholar never soiled his hands with any kind of menial labor.
The faculty was devout, as a rule, but from a variety of denominational backgrounds. However, they felt the need for a special place to worship. Up to this time, they had met in a temporary chapel on campus just East of Boone Tavern. They were granted the ground across the street from the Tavern upon which they built the beautiful brick church with its portico of large white pillars. The interior was modeled after the First Congregational Church in Oberlin.
Appropriately, they named it “The Union Church”. It was completely independent and had no affiliation with any other religious organization. Sunday School was taught well by Bible scholars, and the Epworth League for young people met every Sunday evening. It was well attended because its spirited hymn singing was fun.
Social life was mostly church-centered. On Sundays, people went to each other’s homes for Sunday Dinner — a very pleasurable custom. It was fun to invite a family to our house when I could help serve and enjoy the company of my peers. The church women created a second-hand clothing shop and invited the poor women of the mountains nearby to come and sew and makeover clothes to suit their needs. Dr. Hutchins, President Francis Hutchins’ wife, held a women’s clinic there periodically — but finally took her services to the country because transportation was too hard for her patients.
Athletically, there was a vivacious rivalry among the five schools that composed Berea College. There were always exciting games to attend without leaving campus. Football, baseball, basketball, tennis, and track meets filled the leisure time schedule. Tennis, volleyball, and hockey were played in season. Hiking to the mountains and a good steep climb to a lookout where we could see for miles were always popular.
Most anticipated was “Mountain Day,” when the whole college took a day off to hike three miles to West Pinnacle and Indian Forte Mountain. On this day, we were allowed to date and have lunch together on top of our world — if we could make it. We did! Hiking in the mountains on Sunday afternoons with my father is one of my happiest memories.
The friends I made there have been a joy all of my life. It is still a delight to receive letters from four of my contemporaries. They keep old memories alive and assure me that the Berea that I knew was my hometown and that it will always be.
Mary W. Dial
Transcribed January 1995 by CED
Posted Jan 14, 1995 at 00:29.
Revised Dec 23, 2023 at 12:42. EDT.
Retrieved Jun 1, 2026 at 22:11.
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