Katharine Smith Reynolds

Katharine Smith Reynolds was a philanthropist, known for helping to design and build Reynolda House.

Katharine Smith Reynolds
Born
Katharine Smith

(1880-11-17)November 17, 1880
Mount Airy, North Carolina
Died(1924-05-23)May 23, 1924
Alma materSullins College
Known forReynolda House
Spouse(s)R. J. Reynolds (m. 1905–18)
J. Edward Johnston (m. 1921-1924)
ChildrenR.J. Reynolds Jr. (1906-1964)
Mary Reynolds Babcock (1908-1953)
Nancy Susan Reynolds (1910-1985)
Zachary Smith Reynolds (1911-1932)
J. Edward Johnston Jr. (1924-2005)

Biography

Early life

Katharine Smith was born in Mount Airy, North Carolina.[1] Katharine was the oldest of six children of a prosperous local businessman, Zachary T. Smith and his wife, Mary Susan Jackson. Katharine was well educated and attended the State Normal and Industrial School, now known as the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, in the fall of 1897.[2] After a typhoid epidemic broke out 1899, Katharine transferred to Sullins College in Bristol, Virginia where she graduated in 1902.[3] After returning home from graduation, Katharine worked for R. J. Reynolds, her first cousin once removed, as a secretary at The R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The two eventually married in 1905.[1] After an early 8 a.m. ceremony, the couple left for a lavish four-month honeymoon across Europe.[4] The couple then moved in R.J's Queen Anne-style mansion located at 666 Fifth St in Winston-Salem, site of the present-day Forsyth County Public Library.[5]

Katharine Smith Reynolds in 1905 during her honeymoon in Paris

Reynolda House

Reynolda House, located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was the home of Katharine and R.J. Reynolds. Involved in both the design and construction, Katharine envisioned a progressive, self sustaining country farm and estate built upon the selected 1,000 acre land outside of Winston-Salem.[3][6] Katharine hired landscape engineers Buckenham and Miller to draw up the master plan, renowned architect Charles Barton Keen of Philadelphia to design the central house or bungalow, and Thomas Sears to plan the gardens.[3] Construction took eight years and when the Reynolds family moved in December 1917, Reynolda was home to a farm complete with the latest in technology and agricultural practices, a dairy, recreational facilities, and a school.[6][7] After Katharine died in 1924, the estate was held in trust until 1934 when Mary, Katharine and R.J's daughter, and husband Charles Babcock Sr, acquired Reynolda House. They worked to modernize the estate and eventually donated much of the land until a museum was opened in 1967.[7][8]

Philanthropy

As a woman of privilege and wealth, she sought social progress and progressive reform, as evidenced in her push for reforms in the tobacco factory. These included amenities such as hot lunches and water fountains to a nursery for working women.[8] In addition, she was an active member of the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) which provided educational and recreational opportunities for young working women, and served as President of the local Winston-Salem chapter in 1917.[9] During World War I, through the R.J Reynolds tobacco company, she made monetary contributions to the Red Cross to aid in shelter,food, and supplies overseas as well as formed a local chapter with several other prominent women.[9] She was also active in the American Fund for the French Wounded, donating supplies and money and reviewing monthly reports and balance sheets for the organization as well as the Woman's Committee, serving as state chairman for a sub-organization of this war time committee.[9] Outside of her extensive organizational donations, she donated to many religious causes, helping build churches and supporting missionary activities and programs.[9]

Katharine Smith Reynolds on the Reynolda House sun porch in 1921

Personal life

Katharine was married to tobacco tycoon R.J Reynolds from 1905 to 1918. The two had four children together: Richard Joshua Reynolds Jr. (April 4, 1906 - December 14, 1964), Mary Katharine Reynolds (August 8, 1908 - July 17, 1953), Nancy Susan Reynolds (February 5, 1910 - January 1985) and Zachary Smith Reynolds (November 5, 1911 - July 6, 1932).[8][10] Katharine struggled with heart problems throughout her life, possibly due to an undiagnosed rheumatic fever. As a result, her pregnancies were dangerous. For the birth of Nancy a trained nurse was hired on to care for Katharine and the baby. Nancy would remember later in her life that "Mother liked her so much, and we all got along so well, that she stayed on [after the birth]. She was a graduate nurse. We called her by the nickname “Bum.” Her name was Henriette van den Berg, and I suppose Bum is about as close to van den Berg as children can get...She was a very important member of our household…. Oh, she bossed my mother. She called Mother ‘Dearie.’ But Mother was pretty strong, indeed, and I think a little jealous of Bum sometimes, because she did have so much influence over us. But Mother had so much to do that she couldn’t have done it alone, it was really too much for her.”[11]

After the birth of Nancy in 1910, she was advised by her doctors to not have anymore children. Zachary Smith was born a year later, and she was warned another pregnancy would likely kill her.[12] In early 1914 she suffered a heart attack due to becoming pregnant again, and was rushed to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. Due to the risk that continuing the pregnancy would end her life, the decision was made to terminate it.[13]

Studio portrait of Katharine Smith Reynolds

Upon the completion of construction of Reynolda House in 1917, the Reynolds family officially moved in; however, by this time, R.J. was increasingly ill and in pain with what was most likely pancreatic cancer. In a letter to a friend around this time, Katharine reported that “His trouble seems to have started [in the summer] with gastritis which went into a small stomach ulceration which healed very quickly, but left him in a rundown, nervous condition.”[14] From early 1918, R.J. traveled between Winston-Salem and a Baltimore hospital for treatments and surgeries. R.J. and Katharine's correspondence, scanned and publicized by Reynolda House Museum of American Art and DigitalNC, show her sadness at being separated from her husband while he underwent treatments.[15] While at Reynolda, the room created to be his study was converted into a sick room;[16] On July 29, 1918, Reynolds passed away at Reynolda. Due to his popularity in Winston-Salem, banks and City Hall itself were shut down on July 31, the day of his funeral.; the local municipal council also passed a resolution asking local businesses to close for three hours in consideration. The Reynolds family and friends were joined in the funerary procession by Reynolda servants, local Masons, a Boy Scout troop, and thousands lining the streets of downtown Winston-Salem.[17]

After R.J.'s death, Katherine dressed in black mourning and, when unable to sleep at night, would go down to Reynolda House's reception hall to play on the house's aeolian organ. In memory of her husband she donated the funds to the creation of the R.J. Reynolds High School. A lavish music festival was held through May 8-11 for the dedication of the Memorial Auditorium, just weeks before Katharine would pass away. A souvenir program for the events says: "In 1919, the City of Winston-Salem, in the course of its ex-tended school building program, planned a model high school, and wished to honor the memory of Richard J. Reynolds, by naming it 'The Richard J. Reynolds High School.' It seemed to his wife, now Mrs. J. Edward Johnston, that a memorial of this kind was very fitting, as Mr. Reynolds had had such a large part and was so interested in the development of this city. Mrs. Johnston had wanted to erect some really worth while memorial personally, and when notified of the action of the city authorities, it seemed that this plant, which would be so closely identified with the life of the people, young and old, presented the opportunity for which she was looking. She therefore notified the city that she would be glad to give a suitable site upon which to erect the high school, the selection to be left to the City, and to present as a personal memorial, a beautiful auditorium in connection with the high school plant."[18] After her death, a public memorial service was held in the same auditorium.[19]

Extant 1920s garment belonging to Katharine Smith Reynolds, exhibited at Reynolda House

Katharine also began holding Sunday evening dances for teachers of the newly expanded estate school.[20] She soon began courting the school principal, J. Edward "Ed" Johnston, about twenty years her junior. Katharine was the most eligible bachelorette in Winston-Salem high-society; the relationship caused much gossip due to the age and class difference.[21] Within Katharine's family, her daughters Mary and Nancy liked Johnston and were apparently pleased with the new relationship. However, her son R.J. Reynolds Jr, known as "Dick," was upset and angered. Nancy recalled in a 1980 interview that "Dick had been very much a trial to mother, he did not like— I think he was jealous...because we two girls found him most attractive, so we were all for it, it was just delightful to have him in the family...But Dick couldn't take any of this, he was very, very upsetting to mother."[22] Prior to telling Dick of her new relationship, in a letter to a friend, Katharine said she was more nervous to tell Dick about Johnston than her own parents. Johnston's increasing time at Reynolda lead Dick to avoid the estate, staying with his uncle William Neal Reynolds or working for the tobacco company, at one time putting in a 45-hour work week; her child's reaction to Johnston deeply saddened Katharine.[23] Describing telling her parents of the relationship, she wrote that “I told them how I’d worked and planned for the happiness of others, but now I was working and planning day and night for my own..."[24]

J. Edward Johnston and Katharine married June 11 1921 in the Reception Hall of Reynolda House, in front of the inglenook fireplace, in a small ceremony attended by her three youngest children.[25] A weekend of festivities preceded the ceremony, including a concert for over 500 guests.[26] Her daughter Mary, 12 at the time, wrote in her diary after the marriage: “At about 7:15, Mother was married to Mr. Johnston. The affair was very quiet. Smith was ring bearer, and Nancy and myself were flower girls. We are trying to keep it quiet, but about the [whole] town knows it.”[27] Dick refused to attend the service, deeply disturbing his mother.[28]

After a multi-month honeymoon abroad in Europe,[29] the couple settled in a cottage on the Reynolda Estate, leaving the children in the main house under the primary care of their governess Henrietta van den Berg.[30] The new Mrs. Johnston soon became pregnant and they, along with Katharine's children Mary, Nancy, and Smith, moved into a New York apartment to have easier access to doctors for the pregnancy. The night of May 1 1922, a baby girl, Lola Katharine Johnston, was born to the couple, but passed away a day later at 11 o'clock in the morning.[31] Due to her heart problems, Katharine was frequently seeing doctors at this point in her life, and pregnancy was extremely dangerous for her. Before the pregnancy and birth of Lola, Dick had told Edward Johnston of his mother's condition and emphasized that she should not get pregnant. Once, catching his mother and Johnston in an intimate moment, he punched Johnston in the face. However, Katharine was determined to give her new husband a baby, saying she'd do it "even if it killed [her]."[32]

Despite the danger, she became pregnant in late 1923. The Johnstons again moved to New York for better medical access. On May 21, 1924, she gave birth to a son, J. Edward Johnston Jr. However, due to complications of an embolism caused by this childbirth, Katharine would pass away three days later at the age of 44 on May 23, 1924; a blood clot traveled to her brain and killed her instantly.[33]

Legacy

After her death, J. Edward Johnston created a memorial for his late wife—originally located behind one of Katharine's local creations, the Reynolda Presbyterian Church—called the Katharine Johnston Memorial Circle. Johnston intended for Katharine to be interred at the site; however, her son Dick insisted her grave remain at Salem Cemetery where she was buried beside her first husband.[34] The principle piece of the memorial, an obelisk made of Mt. Airy granite, presently resides in front of R.J. Reynolds High School, next to Hawthorne Rd.[35] At the base of the monument is a statement of contemporary pastor Rev. Lilly: KATHARINE SMITH JOHNSTON. To her was given the vision of life in its larger meaning; She wrought with understanding heart for a greater future for mankind; All that love and labor for this cause rise up and call her blessed; ANNO DOMINI MCMXXIV."

An honors scholarship exists in her name at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Known as the Katharine Smith Reynolds Scholarship, it grants honor student recipients funding for community service involvement as well as internship and study abroad programs and opportunities.[36]

In 2016, the Kimpton Hotel in Winston-Salem, North Carolina opened a restaurant named after Katharine called The Katharine Brasserie and Bar.[37]

References
  1. Gillespie, Michele (2014). Edith Vanderbilt and Katharine Smith Reynolds: The Public Lives of Progressive North Carolina's Wealthiest Women. Athens: The University of Georgia Press. pp. 337–358.
  2. Gillespie, Michele (2012). Katharine and R.J. Reynolds: Partners of Fortune in the Making of the New South. University of Georgia Press.
  3. Smith, Margaret (July 1988). "Reynolda: A Rural Vision in an Industrializing South". The North Carolina Historical Review.
  4. Slater, Alexis. "Meet the People of Reynolda: Katharine Smith Reynolds". Reynolda House Museum of American Art.
  5. "R.J. Reynolds house, 666 West Fith Street…". North Carolina Collection.
  6. "Reynolda Farm," Splendid Country Estate of Mrs. R. J. Reynolds : Its Origin and Development, and the Aims of its Owner. Reynolda House Museum of American Art. 2014.
  7. "The Reynolds Era". reynoldahouse.org.
  8. Zerwick, Phoebe (February 28, 2011). "The Women of the Reynolda House". ourstate.com.
  9. See, Laurel (1992). Equalled By Few Others: Katharine Smith Reynolds. Winston-Salem,NC.
  10. "Meet the People of Reynolda: Katharine Smith Reynolds". reynoldahouse.org.
  11. "On the Payroll: Governesses". Reynolda Revealed.
  12. Schnakenberg, Heidi. Kid Carolina: R. J. Reynolds Jr., a Tobacco Fortune, and the Mysterious Death of a Southern Icon. p. 9.
  13. Schnakenberg, Heidi. Kid Carolina: R. J. Reynolds Jr., a Tobacco Fortune, and the Mysterious Death of a Southern Icon. p. 18.
  14. Mayer, Barbara (April 1, 1997). Reynolda: A History of an American Country House. Blair. p. 75.
  15. "Correspondence between R.J. Reynolds and Katherine Smith Reynolds". DigitalNC.
  16. Tilley, Kimberly. "RJ, Katherine, and the Lovely Home They Did Not Enjoy".
  17. "Northwest Almanac: R.J. Reynolds' funeral brought city to a standstill". Winston-Salem Journal.
  18. "Souvenir program, dedication, Richard J. Reynolds Memorial Auditorium and Music Festival : Winston-Salem, North Carolina, May 8, 9, 10, 11, 1924". Internet Archive.
  19. "Important Historical Events of R.J. Reynolds High School". R. J. Reynolds Senior High School Class of 1981.
  20. Zerwick, Phoebe. "The Women of the Reynolda House". Our State.
  21. "Mrs. J. Edward Johnston". Walking Through Salem.
  22. "Nancy Susan Reynolds (Interview 2a): Reynolda House Museum of American Art Oral History Project" Check |url= value (help).
  23. Schnakenberg, Heidi. Kid Carolina: R. J. Reynolds Jr., a Tobacco Fortune, and the Mysterious Death of a Southern Icon. pp. 24–25.
  24. "Exhibitions: A Self in the Remaking: Katharine Smith Reynolds Johnston". Reynolda House Museum of American Art.
  25. "Katharine's Second Marriage". Reynolda Revealed.
  26. Slater, Alexis. "Meet the People of Reynolda: Katharine Smith Reynolds". Reynolda House Museum of American Art.
  27. Zerwick, Phoebe. "The Women of the Reynolda House". Our State.
  28. Schnakenberg, Heidi. Kid Carolina: R. J. Reynolds Jr., a Tobacco Fortune, and the Mysterious Death of a Southern Icon. pp. 24–25.
  29. Slater, Alexis. "Meet the People of Reynolda: Katharine Smith Reynolds". Reynolda House Museum of American Art.
  30. The Gilded Leaf: Triumph, Tragedy, and Tobacco: Three Generations of the R. J. Reynolds Family and Fortune. pp. 109–115.
  31. . The Twin-City Daily Sentinel. 2 May 1922 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8661429/announcement-of-lolas-death/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  32. Schnakenberg, Heidi. Kid Carolina: R. J. Reynolds Jr., a Tobacco Fortune, and the Mysterious Death of a Southern Icon. pp. 26–30.
  33. The Gilded Leaf: Triumph, Tragedy, and Tobacco: Three Generations of the R. J. Reynolds Family and Fortune. pp. 109–115.
  34. "Reynolda Presbyterian Church : a church for Reynolda". Internet Archive.
  35. "Mrs. J. Edward Johnston". Walking Through Salem.
  36. "Available UNCG Merit Scholarships". 2012.
  37. "Best restaurants in Winston-Salem NC: The Katharine Brasserie & Bar. KimptonHotels.com". kimptonhotels.com. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
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