Eleanor Cunningham

Miss Apple: Letters of a Maine Teacher in Kentucky Eleanor Cunningham

In 1998, Eleanor Cunningham found twelve letters which her mother, Ethel V. Applebee, had written to her mother in 1920-21. She wondered why Ethel had left her beloved Maine to teach at Chandler Normal School in Lexington, Kentucky. She learned through research and two trips to Maine that her mother was one of thousands of Northern teachers sent to the South by the American Missionary Association to teach black children after the Civil War. The letters told of her mother's adventures as a white teacher in a southern town. There were joys and heartaches, trials, and rewards. She loved the children, some of whom called her 'Miss Apple.' Then Eleanor discovered another, more personal reason why her mother went to Kentucky to teach - a promise made to a dear friend before he died. While in Kentucky, Ethel Applebee became acquainted with another Maine teacher, Sara Leighton. The following summer she introduced Ethel to her brother, Howard, back in Maine on the family farm. It was love at first sight. Letters exchanged by Ethel and Howard helped their daughter to envision her parents in their youth as she read of their developing romance, engagement and wedding at Ethel's home in Bucksport, Maine. Miss Apple: Letters of a Maine Teacher in Kentucky is a wholesome read for those who love children, the teaching profession, and history.