Aunt Alice
Yesterday, Sarah continued HerKentucky's
celebration of Women's History Month
with
a tribute to her great-great-grandmother
. As I read that post, I was struck by the poignant beauty of Sarah's family's attempts to reconstruct Ruby Lovelace's history from the handful of details they have about her life. I've started and scrapped and re-written today's post at least a dozen times because I have the opposite problem. One of the most influential women in my life is my great-great-aunt Alice, whose story has been told many times. There's even
about about her life. The funny thing about legends, though, is that they tend to leave out the most important details of all.
Alice Hall Slone was born May 4, 1904 in Caney Creek, KY, the fifth of eight children born to
and
[Thornsberry] Slone. I can remember, as a kid, thinking how bizarre Ike and Leanner's kids' names seemed -- there were their older girls, Frankie Jane, Lou Hettie, and Rilda (my great-grandmother), their son Commodore, and the baby, Bertha. In comparison, I remember thinking while listening to family stories, Alice and her younger brothers Bob and Jim Courtney lucked out.
Rilda and Leanor with my great-aunt Marie, 1930s
Aunt Alice's story truly is amazing. As a bright female student in a poor, rural corner of Eastern Kentucky, it became clear that her opportunities were limited. Alice Lloyd, the Boston "society lady" who founded
, arranged for Alice Slone to travel all the way to Cleveland to attend school -- while Alice studied there, her guardian and hostess was Susan B. Anthony's niece. Alice went on to study at Ohio State. As
, our family -- like so many other Knott County families -- owe so much to Mrs. Lloyd for the incredible educational and cultural opportunities she helped young people attain. It must have been terrifying for a young girl -- her father recently deceased and with no real exposure to life outside the holler -- to travel all that way to learn. It's a 6 hour, 400-mile drive from Caney to Cleveland now; I can't imagine how arduous the journey was in the late nineteen-teens.
Rilda and Alice, early 1980s
The official story always goes that, while Alice's sisters chose the traditional roles of wife, mother, and homemaker, Alice's path led her straight toward education. My grandfather, however, sometimes laughingly spoke of Alice's short-lived marriage to a know-it-all East Coast newspaper reporter whom he and his siblings nicknamed "Uncle New York Times." Regardless, Alice went on to found the
(
) in Knott County. The school was her life's work -- it was fueled mainly on donations, working on a unique public-private hybrid model. Many of Mrs. Lloyd's Northeastern "society contacts" were called upon to maintain the school. I can remember, as a high school student interviewing Aunt Alice for a school project, being most impressed that her donor list included the Eastmans (of both Kodak Film and "Paul McCartney's in-laws" fame.)
Alice Slone, Rilda Watson, Bertha Whitaker, 1980s.
Aunt Alice was an amazing lady. She founded a school -- who even knew you could do that? -- and championed educational and environmental causes. (Did I mention she was an early opponent of mountaintop removal?) What I remember about her, though, is that she was kind and smart and funny. I remember her rustic, log cabin-style living room with an oddly bohemian beaded curtain concealing a closet. I remember her milky-white skin and bright blue eyes -- common traits among the Slone family. I don't remember an educational trailblazer; I remember a lovely lady whom we were always glad to visit.