{"id":16218,"date":"2015-12-04T17:37:35","date_gmt":"2015-12-04T22:37:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/getitright.pmss.net\/?page_id=16218"},"modified":"2020-05-20T15:20:15","modified_gmt":"2020-05-20T19:20:15","slug":"joanna-ayers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/staging.pinemountainsettlement.net\/?page_id=16218","title":{"rendered":"JOANNA AYERS"},"content":{"rendered":"
Pine Mountain Settlement School
\nSeries\u00a019: Students
\nSeries 09: Biography<\/h5>\n

Joanna Ayers<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Student 1931-1935<\/strong>
\nOffice 1935-1936; Bookkeeper 1936-July 1939<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Born Joanna Morley Ayers in 1916, Joanna Ayers was the daughter of Henry Gilmore Ayers (1894-1959), a coal miner from Twila, Kentucky, and Ethel Elizabeth Oaks Ayers (1883-1979). Joanna, more commonly called “Joan,” was the oldest of six daughters who all fondly called their father “D.O.” All of her siblings were students at Pine Mountain Settlement School.<\/p>\n

According to a 1942 study written by Glen Morris, PMSS Director (1931-1942),<\/p>\n

[Joanna] came from a family which was well-knit socially, and also above the literacy level of the community. The mother had taught school for several years, and the father had served as both secretary and president of the labor union Local.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Joanna Ayers: The Ayers Sisters<\/h3>\n

Mary Evelyn Ayers, “Eb,” attended the School from 1937 to 1941 and Ruby Ayers from 1935 to 1940. Mattie Ellen Ayers, called “Ellen” later in her life, attended from 1937 to 1941.<\/p>\n

Ellen graduated from Pine Mountain in 1941 and married classmate, Paul Hayes<\/a>, in the School’s Chapel<\/a>. Later in life she and Paul returned to Pine Mountain School where Paul served as Interim and then Director of the School from 1986 until 1996.<\/p>\n

“Bon” or Bonnie Ayers attended Pine Mountain from 1939 to 1937 and settled in Arizona where she practiced law. She married Walter Shaw who was not from Pine Mountain.<\/p>\n

Another sister, Georgia Ayers<\/a>, also a student at the School from 1933 to 1937, married Arthur W. Dodd<\/a>\u00a0following her graduation from Pine Mountain. “Dodd,” as he was called in later years, was a teacher, acting director and later school principal at Pine Mountain during the period of 1932 to 1951 when the couple and their children moved to Ganado, Arizona.<\/p>\n

Joanna Ayers: PMSS Student<\/h3>\n

While at Pine Mountain, Joanna lived upstairs in the Infirmary<\/a> along with her\u00a0best friend,\u00a0Fern\u00a0Hall<\/a>. Both Joan and Fern remained at Pine Mountain after graduation to work in the School’s office. Fern later married William Hayes<\/a>, the older brother of Paul Hayes and Joan left to attend Stephen’s College in Missouri. Letters<\/a> from Joan to Glyn Morris, the Director for whom she had worked, provide a lively account of her years in Missouri.<\/p>\n

The threads in the Ayers family run deep\u00a0in Pine Mountain culture. The many related marriages contributed to a long history with the School and for what later, with some humor and pride, became known among the relatives as the “Ayers Nation.” The continuing contributions and concerns for the School have persisted for a lifetime.<\/p>\n

While students at Pine Mountain Joanna, Georgia, and Ruby Ayers all showed talent for music and were often asked to sing. In 1936-1937 the three sisters were all members of the Pine Mountain Settlement School Girls’ Octet<\/a>, a group that often toured for the School on promotional trips. The PMSS Girl’s Octet was created in 1936-1937 by Glyn Morris<\/a>\u00a0and largely focused on traditional ballads and music common to the Southern Appalachians. The octet gave promotional concerts in various eastern and midwestern cities,\u00a0including a remarkable invitation performance at the White House in Washington, DC, for the Roosevelts and also for Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ford\u00a0at the Ford Motor Company headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan.<\/p>\n\n\t\t