Evening star., 1941-03-16
D. A. r. Pursues Education
Job in Americas Bockwoods
Mrs. A. c. Houehton
Tells of Needs,
Accomplishments
BY JESSIE FAINT EVANS.

with a background OF Colonial
and Revolutionary War heritage,
Mrs. Arthur C. Houghton looks
toward the future as State chair
man of approved D. A. r. schools.
Her home at 2630 University place
NV. is treasure trove of rare, old
furniture, china, prints and Geor-
gian silver dating back to TIT.
From its walls, st. Menin's portrait
of her famous forbear, Gov. Robert
Bowie of Maryland look upon her
efforts to further education.
Approved" in connection with
D. A. r. schools, means vouched for.
because of their dire necessity and
urgent usefulness to the communi-
ties which they serve, she says.
Fourteen in number, these schools
are scattered from New England,
where two function toward bringing
American citizenship ideals to the
children of the foreign born to the
tabled shores of Longfellow's Gitche
Gummee, Hiawatha country in Wis
consin. The Northland College at
Ashland. Wis, is one of the farthest
north educational institutions in the
United States. The majority of its
students are the children of hardy
Finn and Scandinavian forbears,
who are splendid citizens in the
making.
Has Visited Many.
In carrying the message of the
needs of these schools to District of
Columbia Chapters of the D. A. R.
and other interested groups, Mrs.
Houghton draws upon her visits to
many of them, and her own teach
ing experience in Central High
School and the old Business High
School, now the Roosevelt High
School.
She strongly emphasizes the needs
of the mountain schools of the
Appalachian Mountains.
Two of them, the Tamassee School
at Tamassee, S. c., meaning in
Indian, the sunlight of God" and
the Kate Duncan Smith School at
Grant, Ala, are owned and operated
by the D. A. R.
THE children in these Southern
mountain schools" Mrs. Houghton
said. ARE among the descendants
of the very Oldest and purest English
strains of Anglo-SaXon settlement
in our country. They are in very
truth. pure blooded Americans, and
have been a part of Americas first
line of defense in every war since
Colonial times. There is scarcely
family among them whose chill
dren are not entitled to become
members of the Children of the
American Revolution because of the
service of their forbears in winning
American Independence"
Pitifully eager for an education,
the children trudge many miles
up and down mountain side to the
nearest school. Often they carry
all of their worldly possessions in
little poke" slung over their
shoulders from a young sapling cut
down for a stick. A poke" is q
square of cloth, sometimes an old
bandana.
Proud Spirit Encouraged.
The great contrast Mrs Houghton
makes between these mountain chill
dren and the pupils in more favored
schools is that they are not simply
taught to receive, but are encouraged
in their own proud spirit which
spurns charity unless it, too, can
reciprocate In some manner"
Seldom does one of these noun
tain children return from a vaca-
ton to one Of the bleakest of these
mountain homes that he or she will
not bring back a goodwill Offering
Sometimes it may be only a bag of
potatoes or cabbages, or precious
side of raZor-back bacon.
The Pine Mountain School at Pine
Mountain, KY, was founded in
bloody Harlan County, all too
well-known for the encounters be-
tween the revenue officers and its
citizens and their own feuds among
themselves. Five hundred acres are