Henderson Settlement School collection

Content Description

Approximately 510 prints; 52 negatives; various sizes; one scrapbook, ephemera. Photographs show the buildings, staff students and activities of the Henderson Settlement School and scenes from daily life of the residents of the area, 1925-1969 -- Frakes, Kentucky, various subjects relating to school. Henderson Settlement School was established in 1925 by the Reverend Hiram Frakes near Pineville, Kentucky. Tradition holds that the land was donated by a moonshiner. Henderson was one of a number of settlement schools developed in rural areas, particularly in Appalachia, as a Progressive Era solution to poverty, isolation, and lack of opportunity. The schools, with boarding facilities for students whose homes were too distant for daily travel, clustered with community services, offered training for various trades, and often became laboratories for the study and preservation of local crafts and traditions. The five hundred photographs in this collection depict students engaged in crafts, studying trades, and touring in singing groups to raise money for the school. They also document individuals and scenes within the school, its rural community, and environs.

Acquisition Type

Gift

Restrictions Apply

No