Preserving the Mars Hill Story
Unabridged text by C. Robert Jones from an article published in MHU alumni magazine, Spring, 2021 issue
by C. Robert Jones
Frances Snelson used to tell wonderful stories about “the good old days” at Mars Hill College. Whenever I visited her after she retired in the 1990s, I knew I’d get an afternoon of delightful memories told with a zest that made them seem like they’d just happened yesterday. She was a “walking encyclopedia” of MHU’s history, having worked 49 years as Assistant to Presidents Robert Lee Moore, Hoyt Blackwell, and Fred Bentley.
And the three of them served a total of 99 years! (1897-1996). Amazing!
I often wished I’d brought a video camera with me to record those visits. I once even mentioned to Dr. Bentley that I hoped someone would do just such a recording, but somehow it never happened. Frances knew everybody. If you wanted something done, and she liked it, presto! She knew just whom to call. Life was an adventure to her. Her laughter was infectious and her love for the College was legendary. In 2002, when I learned she had died, my sadness was compounded by my own personal pique in not having done a video interview with her myself when I had had the chance. I realized we had lost a valuable resource for the next person who’d write a history of the University.
And indeed, that was borne out when the University celebrated its Sesquicentennial in 2006-2007. Up to that point, John Angus McLeod’s formal history, From These Stones, last revised in 1967, had been the “Bible” when it came to the story of Mars Hill College. (“College” became “University” in August 2013.) There were several different Sesquicentennial projects afoot for which intense research about MHU’s past would be needed. Robert Chapman, Walter Smith, and Darryl Norton in their book about the school were writing and producing a beautiful, pictorial history, Through the Long Years. Ken Sanford used an anecdotal synthesis in the writing of his The Mystique of Mars Hill. And in my musical stage play, Treasures, I focused on telling of the story of the dynamic Helen McMaster who had played a pivotal role in keeping the trustees from closing the University in the 1890s. There were many times when we all wished for Frances to help provide context and elaboration.
Shortly after all the Sesquicentennial celebrations were over, then-President, Dr. Dan Lunsford, called a meeting of those who had been a part of the planning, also including Dr. Karen Paar who had recently joined the staff as University archivist. Dr. Lunsford’s purpose was to do an assessment of what we had done well and to make recommendations for those who would plan the next major MHU celebration in 2056, the 200th anniversary.
A high priority in those discussions was deciding the best ways to be preserving the University’s history. Remembering Frances, I suggested an on-going series of video-taped interviews, thus chronicling history by seeing and hearing it from those who’d lived it. As often happens in such cases when no one volunteers, I realized I’d talked myself into a new project.
I dug around a bit to see if I could find other nearby schools which had similar on-going oral history projects and found no models or templates. So, I set out on my own, working ad hoc out of Dr. Lunsford’s office with the help of his Assistant, Fifi DeGroot and University Consultant Richard Dillingham. Dr. Paar guided me through the ‘basics’ of building such a collection for archival purposes. I would need technical help, and Deana Holland, Director of the Media Center, graciously provided time and assistance from her associate, Kristie Hollifield, who is now Director of Media Services. Kristie would act as videographer, editor, and preparer of the finished interviews in DVD format. In the thirteen years Kristie and I have been working on this endeavor, we’ve completed 100 interviews—involving 119 interviewees and 20 different interviewers. If the DVDs were played end to end, it would take the better part of a week to see them all.
Figuring out how to do it
From the beginning, I envisioned the interviews in an informal setting and with a format akin to that used by Barbara Walters and Ellen DeGeneres. Kristie and I have worked in many different locations. I particularly remember the poignancy of the interview Teresa Buckner did with MHU’s first black student, Oralene Graves Simmons. They were seated on a bench at the lovely hillside location of the memorial to her great grandfather, Joe Anderson, the slave who had been taken as collateral when the University could not pay its bills in its early history. Another memorable interview was the one done by Wayne King of his mentor Betty Hughes, the much-admired English professor. It was conducted in the cozy den of her home in Weaverville shortly before she died.
I felt the interviews, assembled together, should ‘feel like’ a living tapestry with all the aspects of university life woven into one giant tableau vivant. I wanted the ‘personal’ as well as the ‘historical.’ The interviewees have included professors, secretaries, coaches, artists and performers, the Registrar, Board Chairpersons, architects for campus buildings, the Alumni Director, etc. Also included are in-depth interviews with all the Deans, Vice-Presidents, and Provosts 1980-2020: Drs. Don Schmeltekopf, Earl Leininger, Robert Knott, Nina Pollard, John Wells, and John Omachonu. Throughout the series, I’ve tried to match interviewees with interviewers who knew them best. Especially effective in that regard was Robert Melvin’s insightful interview with his long-time friends, President A. Max Lennon and his wife, Ruth.
Interviews easy? No! Research beforehand? Yes! I discovered quickly that one has to know the questions to ask and how to prepare the arc of the interviews—and when to end them. The average interview runs about an hour, though several are two hours or more. I interviewed Dr. Lunsford four times during the period between 2008 and 2018. His sixteen-year term in office, in his own voice, is the most well-documented of all MHU presidents so far. His retirement interview, the longest in the series, is a thoughtful ‘take’ on his presidency. One gets to know the Lunsford era as well as Dr. Lunsford, himself.
People are always asking me which of the interviews I like best. That’s like asking which is your favorite child. The interviews with some of the now-deceased MHU “giants” are especially memorable: Emmett Sams (by Susan Kiser), Otis Duck (Ellen Coomer), Noel Kinnamon (Carol Boggess), Don Anderson (Richard Dillingham), and Robert and Rachel Chapman (a joint interview which I did.)
Sessions with MHU first ladies Doris Bentley and Beverly Lunsford were delightful, especially Doris’s remembrances of Dr. Bentley carving the front doors of the chapel and getting dust all over the president’s house, and Beverly’s trying to explain “shabby chic” to a delivery man who thought the kitchen chairs had been damaged during the time she was turning the Carter-Humphrey House into a campus guest house.
Two of the funniest interviews were those involving first female Board Chairlady, JoAnne Alexander and MHU Education Department founder, John Hough. JoAnne interviewed Coach Virginia Hart, her mentor and former teacher. Virginia, thinking it was an audio interview, arrived wearing a tee shirt: “GO, CLEMSON!” No problem. She just held up her arms and JoAnne turned the tee shirt front to back. In my interview with John, we finally get, on tape, the hilarious and oft-told story of the time Miss Snelson sent him and Vice-President Richard L. Hoffman to represent MHU at a nearby funeral. John and Dick did not know the gentleman being eulogized. By the time John had figured out they were at the wrong funeral, Dick had rushed forth to offer condolences to the bewildered family on behalf of the University. Miss Snelson playfully never let either of them forget it.
Jim Thomas’s, Earl Leininger’s, and Bill Gregg’s recollections of the founding of the Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre are noteworthy. Where is one likely to find a small college in southern Appalachia with a professional theatre company? All three men were there for the first season in 1975 when Earl began SART’s history by singing “Try To Remember” from The Fantasticks, the first production. In her interview, ballad singer, folklorist, and honorary degree recipient, Betty Smith, stands by the beautiful wall hangings she was commissioned by Dr. Bentley to weave for Broyhill Chapel and explains their meaning and how they were woven. Betty is never without a song, and she ends the session with a charming Appalachian folk tune.
Perhaps the most surprising interview was with “Herr” Robert Kramer. He taught German for over forty years, and for thirty of those also chaired the Visiting Artists and Lecturers Committee. I asked him what had been his favorite performance. “Lionel Hampton!” he said immediately. “Why?” I asked. Bob’s response, paraphrased: “I saw a limousine behind Moore Auditorium delivering this decrepit old man, and I knew we were in trouble for the concert that night. And then at 8:00 o’clock when the curtains opened, there’s this dazzling guy behind his vibraphone, and he brings down the house! Magic! He was something else.”
As was Bob himself.
The Memories Collection morphed into an undertaking that has exceeded my fondest hopes. Who knew? The 150-plus folks who have helped by their gracious participation have made it a joyous adventure. Hopefully, others will succeed Kristie and me and continue these interviews to preserve and protect the University’s history in the years ahead. Imagine how neat it will be for future generations to be able to look back and actually “see and experience” some of the past at this place we all love.
C. Robert Jones is Professor Emeritus, Department of Theatre Arts
The Memories Collection DVDs are kept in the Southern Appalachian Archives, located in Liston B. Ramsey Center for Appalachian Studies at the Renfro Library on campus at Mars Hill University and may be viewed there by contacting Dr. Karen Paar: kpaar@mhu.edu or at (828) 689-1262 For more information about The Memories Collection visit Renfro Library, Mars Hill University: