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In the first interview conducted on May 5, 1980, Nancy Reynolds recollects early memories of her father, R.J. Reynolds, who died at age 61 in 1918 at age 61 when Nancy was only eight years old. Remembering her father, she says, “...he was quite old to have started a family…he was so delighted, I think, to have a family all of a sudden that it was something really, really special to him. I have a very warm feeling when I think about him.”
During the interview, Reynolds recalls a number of memories from the family’s first house at 666 West Fifth Street in Winston-Salem, where Nancy grew up prior to moving to Reynolda. Her parents held numerous parties at the home (including an annual Halloween party). Reynolds describes many of the neighboring families on Fifth Street—her Uncle Will Reynolds and his wife Kate Bitting Reynolds, the Bowman Grays, and the Lasater, Rich, and Cone families–and details the community’s closeness and interconnections in subsequent generations.
After the family’s move to Reynolda, a typical day for Nancy included reading and riding horses through the Reynolda estate, particularly her mother’s horse, Kentucky Belle. Additionally, Reynolds reminisces about the employees who lived and worked at Reynolda, including John Carter, Marjorie Carter, Savannah Jones, Robert Holden, Albert Wharton, Lizzie Thompson, and, in particular, nurse Henrietta van den Berg, or Bum as she was known to the Reynolds children. “She [Bum] was a very important member of our household,” Nancy explains, “Oh, she bossed my mother…. She called mother ‘Dearie.’ But Mother was pretty strong…and I think a little jealous of Bum sometimes, because she did have so much influence over us.”
Reynolds concludes the first interview with a discussion of her adolescence and the years after her mother’s death when she was under the guardianship of her uncle Will Reynolds and stepfather J. Edward Johnston. Nancy recounted attending Reynolds High School before enrolling in a private boarding school.
ProvenanceThe Reynolda House Museum of American Art Oral History Project, established in 1980, gathered recollections from Reynolds family members and former employees, residents, and guests of the Reynolda estate. The interviews explore life at Reynolda and in Winston-Salem, N.C., during the early and mid-twentieth century, touching on the area’s socioeconomic, political, business, and cultural history. Early interviews conducted in 1980 were done by Lu Ann Jones; later interviews were conducted by museum staff.
Exhibition HistoryFrom 2005
Orientation Gallery
Reynolda House Museum of American Art
8 September 2015-July 2016
Reynolda Gardens: Reynolda at 100
Reynolda House Museum of American Art
Published ReferencesMayer, Barbara, Reynolda: A History of an American Country House (Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, 1997).
Millhouse, Barbara Babcock, Reynolda: 1906-1924 (Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2011).
Gillespie, Michele, Katharine and R. J. Reynolds: Partners of Fortune in the Making of the New South (Athens, GA: University of George Press, 2012).
DepartmentEstate Archives
Nancy Susan Reynolds Interview 1
DateMay 5, 1980
MediumDocument
Credit LineReynolda House Museum of American Art Archives
CopyrightPublic Domain
Object numberOH.01.004.1
DescriptionNancy Susan Reynolds (1910-1985), daughter of R.J. and Katharine Reynolds, was interviewed by Lu Ann Jones in the summer of 1980 as part of the Reynolda Oral History Project. The interviews took place at Reynolda House and at Reynolds’ home, Quarry Farm, in Greenwich, Connecticut. Over the course of four interviews, Reynolds intimately discussed her parents and early childhood, growing up at Reynolda, and what life was like for her and her three siblings after the deaths of their parents.In the first interview conducted on May 5, 1980, Nancy Reynolds recollects early memories of her father, R.J. Reynolds, who died at age 61 in 1918 at age 61 when Nancy was only eight years old. Remembering her father, she says, “...he was quite old to have started a family…he was so delighted, I think, to have a family all of a sudden that it was something really, really special to him. I have a very warm feeling when I think about him.”
During the interview, Reynolds recalls a number of memories from the family’s first house at 666 West Fifth Street in Winston-Salem, where Nancy grew up prior to moving to Reynolda. Her parents held numerous parties at the home (including an annual Halloween party). Reynolds describes many of the neighboring families on Fifth Street—her Uncle Will Reynolds and his wife Kate Bitting Reynolds, the Bowman Grays, and the Lasater, Rich, and Cone families–and details the community’s closeness and interconnections in subsequent generations.
After the family’s move to Reynolda, a typical day for Nancy included reading and riding horses through the Reynolda estate, particularly her mother’s horse, Kentucky Belle. Additionally, Reynolds reminisces about the employees who lived and worked at Reynolda, including John Carter, Marjorie Carter, Savannah Jones, Robert Holden, Albert Wharton, Lizzie Thompson, and, in particular, nurse Henrietta van den Berg, or Bum as she was known to the Reynolds children. “She [Bum] was a very important member of our household,” Nancy explains, “Oh, she bossed my mother…. She called mother ‘Dearie.’ But Mother was pretty strong…and I think a little jealous of Bum sometimes, because she did have so much influence over us.”
Reynolds concludes the first interview with a discussion of her adolescence and the years after her mother’s death when she was under the guardianship of her uncle Will Reynolds and stepfather J. Edward Johnston. Nancy recounted attending Reynolds High School before enrolling in a private boarding school.
ProvenanceThe Reynolda House Museum of American Art Oral History Project, established in 1980, gathered recollections from Reynolds family members and former employees, residents, and guests of the Reynolda estate. The interviews explore life at Reynolda and in Winston-Salem, N.C., during the early and mid-twentieth century, touching on the area’s socioeconomic, political, business, and cultural history. Early interviews conducted in 1980 were done by Lu Ann Jones; later interviews were conducted by museum staff.
Exhibition HistoryFrom 2005
Orientation Gallery
Reynolda House Museum of American Art
8 September 2015-July 2016
Reynolda Gardens: Reynolda at 100
Reynolda House Museum of American Art
Published ReferencesMayer, Barbara, Reynolda: A History of an American Country House (Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, 1997).
Millhouse, Barbara Babcock, Reynolda: 1906-1924 (Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2011).
Gillespie, Michele, Katharine and R. J. Reynolds: Partners of Fortune in the Making of the New South (Athens, GA: University of George Press, 2012).
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