Oral History Interview with Jana Vee Everage

CASSIE MULLINS: ... maybe, yeah, there we go, make sure things are working. Okay, today is August the eleventh, nineteen ninety-eight. Just go ahead and state your name, so we'll know who I'm talking to.

JANA VEE EVERAGE: Jana Vee Stacy Everage.

C.M.: Let's just start then, tell me where you grew up. I know you're from Knott County.

EVERAGE: I grew up in Airy, Kentucky, near Homeplace clinic, in a rural area called Lick Branch of Ball.

C.M.: Tell me a little bit about your family, like how many brothers and sisters, and things.

EVERAGE: Two brothers, no sisters.

C.M.: I guess we should start out, what year did you graduate?

EVERAGE: Seventy-two.

C.M.: Seventy-two, okay. And you lived on this campus right, when you went to school here?

EVERAGE: Four years.

C.M.: Did you go to grade school in Hindman? 1:00EVERAGE: No, went to a one-room school, which the teachers were provided at that time through the Hindman Settlement School. Lauren Kramer was one, was my elementary teacher that I remember, that was provided through the settlement school.

C.M.: And that was over in Airy?

EVERAGE: Right.

C.M.: Okay. So how did you know about the settlement school? How did you end up coming here to stay? Because in the seventies a lot of people didn't do that.

EVERAGE: All of my cousins and extended family, we lived in such a remote, the area was so rural, because the creek and the hollow I grew up on was eight miles long on a dirt road. So, there was no busing. If you went to high school, it would have meant that you would have to walk eight miles out to meet a bus, 2:00eight miles back every evening, so that was impossible. But with the elementary school, which was built by our family. And like I said, the settlement school was very instrumental in even community outreach ongoing from early onset, providing, you know, quality education to the people in the local area and communities. So, we would not have had the opportunity to have a high school education. So all of my cousins and extended family came here to the settlement school, if they went to high school. Or their families actually had to move or let their children live with someone in the Hazard area, in order to go to high school, N.C. Napier or in the Hazard school system.

C.M.: Gosh, I guess that would be, I mean you'd think in the seventies, that it wouldn't.... There were so many rural spots like you said.

EVERAGE: There was bussing, but you ...

C.M.: You couldn't go to it. 3:00So, when you decided to come here, did either of your brothers come here?

EVERAGE: Both brothers.

C.M.: Were you here at the same time as them, or were you here by yourself?

EVERAGE: I was here with my oldest brother, because he actually worked here on campus. He was a dorm father.

C.M.: Oh, okay.

EVERAGE: My brother Kelly Stacy was a dorm father here. So, I was here, while he was employed by the school.

C.M.: When you first came, did you get homesick? Was it hard to kind of get used to?

EVERAGE: Yeah, but it was a growing experience, and I wasn't probably as likely to get homesick and miss being home, because I had my brother here. And I knew if anything went wrong, I could always get him to come and be there. So, I had an advantage.

C.M.: Yeah, that's why I was asking that, because I remember we had talked before about him. And I thought, well people I've talked to seem to have an easier time if 4:00they had somebody here with them that they knew. It helped a little bit, I guess. Let's just start off, where did you live when you were here?

EVERAGE: Okay, I lived in Westover, which is now the location of the Human Services Center. And that's been torn down. I lived there my freshman year, sophomore year I moved into the May Stone Building, into the dormitory area there, sophomore and junior. And then the senior year, the Catherine Pettit Building had been under construction during my first three years. And then it actually opened up my senior year and all the senior girls got to move up there. Because that was built for dormitory use, so all the seniors got to move into the 5:00Catherine Pettit Building.

C.M.: What was it like living in the little dorms in the May Stone Building? There's no privacy. I was just wondering. Or was it fun?

EVERAGE: Westover was fun.

C.M.: Was it?

EVERAGE: It was cozy and quaint and memories of girls running up and down stairs, you could still hear it. Huge pine tree shaded the whole building. I think the stump is still over there. Anyway Mrs. Stahl was our dorm mother and she always made hook rugs. I always was back early on Sunday, because my brother had to come back early to be here when all the boys came in. And she would always pull out all her pretties and show me. I can just remember her, with her snow, white hair. And we developed this closeness, 6:00because I always came back early and talked to her.

C.M.: And that was Mrs. Stahl?

EVERAGE: Right. But it was very quaint, we had bunk beds. Everybody had a roommate, if not two. You got very close to those people, it was like family. You spent twenty-four hours together, you walked to school, ate, you were with each other all the time. So, you developed a real close friendship. Living in the May Stone Building, even more closeness, because it wasn't separated much with just the bunkbeds and the stalls in there. Westover was a lot better, because 7:00you kind of could close the door and separate yourself from the whole group. We had study halls. There was always a real need to excel. There was a lot of emphasis placed on making good grades, whereas I think some of the kids have lost sight of that in today's education.

C.M.: Was that part of your living here, that you were expected to study?

EVERAGE: You had to maintain a B or above average grade.

C.M.: Wow,()?

EVERAGE: Yes, because there was a waiting list, as obvious, you know, there was just limited amount of people who could board here. So, you were expected to maintain a certain academic standard, and your grades were posted. I remember Mrs. Earp was always in charge of posting your grades. [Laughing] That's why it is really 8:00hard for me to see her on a friendship type basis, when she is on campus. Because you know, I worked under her, I worked for her in the laundry. I worked for her in the office. She was the one who would point her finger at me and say, you better be here Sunday for CE. [Laughing] That was a Christian Endeavorance (??) program that we had ever[y] Sunday.

C.M.: Mrs. Earp, was she in charge of that?

EVERAGE: And she was in charge of that.

C.M.: What did you all do at that?

EVERAGE: We sang. She played the piano while we sang. And we read scripture. Some Sundays, if they were having revival at the local Baptist church or the Methodist church, we would attend that as a unit from the settlement school, representing the school. Not only did we get a very good education here, academic, 9:00but we learned the quality of work, social skills. We had a certain religious rapport, that we developed a respect for elders and each other, you know, people in general.

C.M.: Well, how did you feel about that at the time, like the Christian Endeavor? Going to things like that, was it something that you thought, I don't want to go to that or?

EVERAGE: There were times when it just like "sigh", I need to study for this, at the time it didn't seem to be that important to me.

C.M.: What about now I guess, thinking about it?

EVERAGE: Now I think it is the greatest thing that I could have experienced. Because it instilled in me a want and a need to serve the Lord and to do the right thing. And I would have got that at home, 10:00but having such a larger group and having peers of my own age to share that with and to be a part of constantly. It had a greater impact.

C.M.: That's what, because I was just asking, because people have mentioned that to me, that the program and how .... At the time they just kind of went, but now thinking back ...

EVERAGE: Right, because it was required.

C.M.: Right. Just how you would, like I'm required to go to stuff and I'm sure later on I'll appreciate it. But that was why I was asking that. Well, that's interesting that you mentioned about Mrs. Earp, because of course, she is such an important part of the settlement school and is still part of it. But what was she like then? As you said, when she worked here and you were a student, what was kind of her personality?

EVERAGE: I'll always remember Mrs. Earp as putting her head back and laughing, always happy, but yet very stem. She could reprimand you without 11:00you feeling being reprimanded, more like guidance. Even though, even though she never had children of her own, anytime an alumnus comes back to campus, if Mrs. Earp's on campus, they will search her out. That's the kind of impact she has had.

C.M.: That's what, kind of what I thought. Because I have interviewed her and talked to her about a few things. And I just thought it was fascinating to think of her...

EVERAGE: She's kind of like an old, mother hen with her wings outstretched and we all could, you know you could go to her with your problems and they didn't go any farther than just to her. You could talk to her about stuff.

C.M.: That's always good. What sort of work did you do? You mentioned a couple things, just like in passing, but when you were here.

EVERAGE: Okay, the girls 12:00as freshmen, it was understood, when you were a freshman, you were K.P.. You did kitchen detail.

C.M.: That was probably the worst. [Laughter] EVERAGE: That was the worst. You started as, just like any job, you got to start somewhere. That was considered low, and then every year you moved up. And the more qualified you got, the better jobs you got. You tried to do a good job, so that you could get the better work assignments. So, it was based on attitude and quality of work and performance. Work that I did, freshman year of course, kitchen, sophomore year I worked in the laundry with Mrs. Earp. In my junior year, 13:00I worked in the office with Mrs. Earp and Pretty Fields. In my senior year, I'm ashamed to say, I didn't work, because I ran track and I got to practice an extra two hours. So sometimes, me and three other girls, so I wasn't the only one. It was, that was part of our work too, because it was something that we had gotten involved in, kind of like basketball practice. It was still work, I mean I would have rather been sitting in the office behind a typewriter as out running. But we were required to run anywhere from five to eight miles a day for practice.

C.M.: You were on that team? So what other things were you active in, in high school, besides track? Other sports?

EVERAGE: Band, I was drum major and first chair clarinet. And was on the dance team, we had a folk dance team. 14:00That kept me pretty busy, plus keeping a B-average. You had to, you know, work hard.

C.M.: Did you all have structured study tables? Like when you were here, was there a certain time that you sat down and studied at night? EVERAGE: Everything was structured. You came in from school, you worked your two hours, then we had dinner. Everyone sat at an assigned table. We had a staff person at the head of every table. We all started eating at the same time. We all got up at the same time. Then we went back to the dorm and got our work for study. If you didn't have anything to study, you came to study hall anyway. We had study hall for an hour, went back to the dorms.

C.M.: Where did you go for study hall?

EVERAGE: In the Great Hall.

C.M.: Great Hall? 15:00EVERAGE: Right. There were tables set up. We had study hall and then went back to the dorms and got ready for the next day. Lights out at ten.

C.M.: Wow. That is pretty strict, I guess even for high school.

EVERAGE: And then Mrs. Stahl was kind of, she was lenient about letting us keep lights on, studying more, if you needed to, but then again, you know, you could close the door. Mrs. Hall, who was over in May Stone, was this little, short lady. She reminded me of a little sergeant. Everything was ho hum, she was matter of fact, and no second guessing her. [Laughter] She ran a tight ship. When lights were out, lights were out. And we used to hide in the closet in May Stone. [Laughter] And put up pillows, or something to darken the vents 16:00on the closet, so that we could study longer.

C.M.: Oh, my gosh. She was a stickler.

EVERAGE: She didn't want anyone to be disturbed.

C.M.: I might have to tell my room mate to do that, if I want to go to sleep, study in the closet. Who was your house mother or dorm mother when you lived up at the new place?

EVERAGE: Amerett Wiley. And she was here from Anchorage, Alaska. I think besides Pretty Fields, she had the greatest impact, influence on my life. Highly religious, not in that sense. She was remarkably close with the Lord. In my sophomore year, I was baptized. We had a study group, 17:00you know, where we would study the Bible. And she just had a major impact. And of course, that wasn't required, like the CE. It was a more in depth group. And just a wonderful person, very strong. I got a lot of, how do I want to say it, a lot of guidance from her in a hard time in my life. You know, being away from home, being away from your mother, lot of guidance. There was a lot of people here, most all the people who came to work here, they weren't here for the money. They were here, because it was like a mission. And they were just good people who wanted to help, you know, in education.

C.M.: Now when you were here on campus, do you have any idea how many people were living on campus, like an estimate?

EVERAGE: A hundred and thirty-five.

C.M.: In seventy? 18:00EVERAGE: Uh huh.

C.M.: Gosh, I didn't know that.

EVERAGE: Right. There was Westover, Hillside, which is where Miss Watts is buried, and that burned my junior year, New Year's Eve. When the McClains, Raymond McClain was the director then. It caught on fire from the dryer. And we were having a New Year's Eve party down in the May Stone. Everyone was down there and they came running down the hill, saying that the house was on fire, Ruth McClain. And they couldn't put it out, because it was just an older building. It went up in a matter of a few minutes, it was gone. So, they lost everything. It was very sad. 19:00C.M.: So the McClains, Mr. McClain was the director when you were here?

EVERAGE: Right. And he left that year. My senior year, Lionel Duff came on board. And we would have, part of the office work, we sent out mass mailings, like we do now, the newsletters and the appeal letters and so on. Everyone would get together in the dining room and we'd set up folding tables. We'd have a stuffing party, as we called it.

C.M.: Oh, so everybody did it.

EVERAGE: Yeah, and we would get the mailings all out in one evening, while the McClains, you know the McClain Family Band. That was when they were first in their early stages of playing and starting. And they would entertain us, while we would have a stuffing party. So that was a fond memory, too.

C.M.: That was pretty great. Well, what were some changes, like after McClain left, that you saw 20:00when Lionel Duff came? Anything that you want to get into, or don't want to get into? I know how stuff like that works. Or questions like that work. [Laughing] EVERAGE: Well in any change, I think there is good and bad.

C.M.: Right.

EVERAGE: There was an unrest in the student body. Mr. Duff, I felt like he was overly strict. He really did not have to be as strict as he was. Because I don't think he looked at the clientele of the students that he had here. First of all, you wanted to be here, you didn't have to stay. And anywhere there is boys and girls, you are going to have hand holding and attractions. 21:00But you weren't allowed to even look at a boy, let alone hold a hand, or you were sent home. I think that was the most negative thing at that time, that I saw. But looking back, he was retired in a sense. They should have had a younger person, per se, like if your father had come in. Like Mike had been here at that time, there would have been a new spirit. It would have been a rebirth of the institution. It was kind of sad in a way. The students weren't as happy, that's as best as I can describe it. [Laughing] C.M.: That's fine. So you graduated 22:00in seventy-two. And now, just for the record, you work here at the settlement, as administrative assistant. How many years have you been working here?

EVERAGE: Fifteen C.M.: Fifteen years. And I guess how did you end up back here? This is where you went to school, you lived here, you left, did other things, you know, had a son and then this is where you've been for fifteen years working. I guess what is that like to be at the place, or to still be a part of the place that you were part of in high school?

EVERAGE: Sometimes there are ghosts here. [Laughing] And it is hard sometimes. When I first came back it was really different. Because I had this attitude, well that's not how we did things and excuse me, but that's correct. That's not how things were done then. Because this is a new institution 23:00now, it's taken on a new facelift. It's got a new vitality and growth. And it's just an extension of what I was saying earlier. I worked with Mike Mullins at Owsley College and he called one day and I had been there eleven years. And he called one day and said, "how would you like to come back to the Hindman Settlement School to work? We've got a computer system and we need someone to come in and help set up development files and data bases and so on. And if you would be interested, come and look the situation over." And I was a single mom, and Jonathan had actually grown up here on this campus. There was a daycare. There 24:00wasn't quality child care in the area, and I was just so fortunate to have this place to have him come and stay daily. And I didn't have to worry about him and he got a real good foundation for Kindergarten. And having an inquisitive mind, it was a really good place for him. So, there again, I had an additional tie and love for this institution. So, when Mike called me and planted that opportunity there in my mind, and it was really time for me to leave the college. I had pretty well decided it was time for me to look for another position somewhere else and so on. Needless to say, I came and took the job, and gave a five year verbal commitment, which has just kept extending. [Laughing] 25:00I have no desire to be anywhere else. I believe in what we are doing here. I believe in the quality of work, you couldn't ask for a better environment. We all work very hard here, but I believe that every day when we see one of our students graduate from the dyslexic program, or where an adult gets a GED, the work that we do, behind the scenes, it's worth it. It's worth all the effort.

C.M.: Well, I guess in your opinion, since like you said, you have a lot of ties to this place, it's where you graduated, your son kind of grew up here, and this is where you worked for fifteen years. So it's as much a part of you, as anything else. In looking at it from the standpoint of, like you said, somebody that works here, how important do you think, in your opinion, the settlement school is to this area? 26:00I mean not just to Hindman, but to like Knott County and the surrounding areas, at this present time, because it is a lot different than it was when you were here. But now look at the programs today and the things that go on today, in your opinion, what kind of impact do you think that it is having, that the school is having?

EVERAGE: Well, as far as myself, it provides an income. But, if you were to ask someone like Florida Slone, who can now read, or Twyla Messer, who is now a teacher. Those are the people that, they're the ones that this school has made the greatest impact on. And when you start looking at someone who doesn't even know where these clothes come from, 27:00who lost their home, you know? And they don't need to know. Or a student who gets five hundred dollars a year to help buy books and so on, through a scholarship. And even my son, even though I work here, what value, what impact this place had on his life. That's, I think if we did not have this institution, where would those people be?

END OF INTERVIEW