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As Reynolda’s landscape supervisor, Robert Conrad Sr. was one of many hands that helped maintain the gardens and greenhouse. Born in Winston-Salem in 1896 to William Joseph and Molly Elizabeth Watkins Conrad, Robert Conrad was expected to become a dentist like his father. In the days before novocaine, Conrad didn’t relish the sounds he heard coming from his father’s exam rooms. Instead, after graduating from City High School in 1913, Conrad got on his bicycle and rode out to Reynolda and began working in the gardens, where he would stay for over 50 years.
Out of all her employees, Katharine Smith Reynolds seems to have formed the closest relationship with Conrad. According to his son’s oral history, Conrad, who his son described as “wed” to Reynolda, returned Katharine’s high regard: “He rode his bicycle out there. It was a gravel, dirt, mud road. Every morning he went to work in the greenhouse. And he thought she [Katharine Reynolds] hung the moon. She was wonderful. But that’s the way he got his beginning at Reynolda.”
With the coming of World War I, Robert Conrad had to briefly sever his ties to Reynolda. Initially found to be too underweight for military service, Conrad, on the advice of a local Marine recruiter, spent months eating bananas to help boost his weight. Conard finally qualified for service and entered the Marine Corps on June 22, 1918.
In a letter to Katharine Reynolds on June 27, 1918, Conrad’s mother recalls visiting Reynolda with her son during his final visit before he left to join his unit in South Carolina: “...it was real pathetic to see him going from one place to another stopping over different plants and flower beds for the longest time and when we came away he said, ‘I love Reynolda.’” Molly Conrad also assured Katharine that her son would cherish the radium dial wrist watch she gifted him: “[I] am so anxious to send him the beautiful wrist watch you sent him, and know it will make him happier than anything else could possibly have done. I think it was wonderful in you to remember him at this time and in this way.” Conrad finally received his watch on July 7, 1918, and wrote his own personal thanks to Katharine: “The only trouble with the watch is the inscription on the back. When I turn it over and see ‘Reynolda’ I begin to get the blues right off….My thoughts are always drifting back to Reynolda and I look forward to the day that I might again resume relationship there.”
After being honorably discharged from the Marines on August 13, 1919, Robert Conrad earned a degree in horticulture from the University of Maryland and returned to Reynolda. He married Sadie Trotter in 1923, and the couple lived in the Horticulturist’s Cottage in Reynolda Village. Whenever Sadie suggested that they move their family to another home in Winston-Salem, she quickly realized that she would never get her husband to leave Reynolda. Robert Conrad remained at Reynolda until starting his own landscaping business in the 1950s. Robert C. Conrad, Inc., was headquartered in Reynolda Village, and Conrad continued working in Reynolda’s gardens in an unofficial capacity until his death in 1976.
Throughout his interview, Robert Conrad Jr. describes life as a child in Reynolda Village: “And you talk about a place for a kid to grow up? If you had a bicycle, you had the world by the tail.” He also recounts the fun he had in the underground tunnel system that housed the electrical and telephone wires: “I’d park my bicycle in a bush, pull up the manhole, zip down and come out at the power plant. They could never find me or find out how I got there so fast…” Conrad also names many of the workers on the estate and describes visiting Five Row with his father. He also offers a perspective of R.J. Reynolds’ wealth, saying, “Well, let’s face it, back in the 1930s, when everybody else was broke, the Reynolds didn’t know there was a depression on. They were making these cigarettes and money hand over fist.”
In addition to working at Reynolda, Robert Conrad Sr. did much of the landscape work designed by Thomas Sears throughout Winston-Salem. His son remembers his dad being particularly proud of the gardens he put in at the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company automated cigarette plant at Whitaker Park in Winston. His father also did tree planting and landscaping in Critz, Virginia, the homestead of R.J. Reynolds’ parents, Hardin William and Nancy Cox Reynolds.
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.
DepartmentEstate Archives
Robert Conrad Jr. Interview
Subject
Mary Reynolds Babcock
(1908 - 1953)
DateMarch 31, 1994
MediumDocument
Credit LineReynolda House Museum of American Art Archives
CopyrightPublic Domain
Object numberOH.03.027.1
DescriptionRobert Conrad Jr. (1926-2002) was the son of Robert Conrad Sr. (1896-1976), the landscape supervisor at Reynolda until 1943. Conrad was interviewed by Sherry Hollingsworth on March 31, 1994 as part of the Reynolda Oral History Project. In his oral history, Conrad describes his childhood on the Reynolda estate, his father’s work at Reynolda Gardens and elsewhere in Winston-Salem, and other employees at Reynolda. He also includes personal information about the Conrad family, as well as the bond his father had with Katharine Smith Reynolds.As Reynolda’s landscape supervisor, Robert Conrad Sr. was one of many hands that helped maintain the gardens and greenhouse. Born in Winston-Salem in 1896 to William Joseph and Molly Elizabeth Watkins Conrad, Robert Conrad was expected to become a dentist like his father. In the days before novocaine, Conrad didn’t relish the sounds he heard coming from his father’s exam rooms. Instead, after graduating from City High School in 1913, Conrad got on his bicycle and rode out to Reynolda and began working in the gardens, where he would stay for over 50 years.
Out of all her employees, Katharine Smith Reynolds seems to have formed the closest relationship with Conrad. According to his son’s oral history, Conrad, who his son described as “wed” to Reynolda, returned Katharine’s high regard: “He rode his bicycle out there. It was a gravel, dirt, mud road. Every morning he went to work in the greenhouse. And he thought she [Katharine Reynolds] hung the moon. She was wonderful. But that’s the way he got his beginning at Reynolda.”
With the coming of World War I, Robert Conrad had to briefly sever his ties to Reynolda. Initially found to be too underweight for military service, Conrad, on the advice of a local Marine recruiter, spent months eating bananas to help boost his weight. Conard finally qualified for service and entered the Marine Corps on June 22, 1918.
In a letter to Katharine Reynolds on June 27, 1918, Conrad’s mother recalls visiting Reynolda with her son during his final visit before he left to join his unit in South Carolina: “...it was real pathetic to see him going from one place to another stopping over different plants and flower beds for the longest time and when we came away he said, ‘I love Reynolda.’” Molly Conrad also assured Katharine that her son would cherish the radium dial wrist watch she gifted him: “[I] am so anxious to send him the beautiful wrist watch you sent him, and know it will make him happier than anything else could possibly have done. I think it was wonderful in you to remember him at this time and in this way.” Conrad finally received his watch on July 7, 1918, and wrote his own personal thanks to Katharine: “The only trouble with the watch is the inscription on the back. When I turn it over and see ‘Reynolda’ I begin to get the blues right off….My thoughts are always drifting back to Reynolda and I look forward to the day that I might again resume relationship there.”
After being honorably discharged from the Marines on August 13, 1919, Robert Conrad earned a degree in horticulture from the University of Maryland and returned to Reynolda. He married Sadie Trotter in 1923, and the couple lived in the Horticulturist’s Cottage in Reynolda Village. Whenever Sadie suggested that they move their family to another home in Winston-Salem, she quickly realized that she would never get her husband to leave Reynolda. Robert Conrad remained at Reynolda until starting his own landscaping business in the 1950s. Robert C. Conrad, Inc., was headquartered in Reynolda Village, and Conrad continued working in Reynolda’s gardens in an unofficial capacity until his death in 1976.
Throughout his interview, Robert Conrad Jr. describes life as a child in Reynolda Village: “And you talk about a place for a kid to grow up? If you had a bicycle, you had the world by the tail.” He also recounts the fun he had in the underground tunnel system that housed the electrical and telephone wires: “I’d park my bicycle in a bush, pull up the manhole, zip down and come out at the power plant. They could never find me or find out how I got there so fast…” Conrad also names many of the workers on the estate and describes visiting Five Row with his father. He also offers a perspective of R.J. Reynolds’ wealth, saying, “Well, let’s face it, back in the 1930s, when everybody else was broke, the Reynolds didn’t know there was a depression on. They were making these cigarettes and money hand over fist.”
In addition to working at Reynolda, Robert Conrad Sr. did much of the landscape work designed by Thomas Sears throughout Winston-Salem. His son remembers his dad being particularly proud of the gardens he put in at the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company automated cigarette plant at Whitaker Park in Winston. His father also did tree planting and landscaping in Critz, Virginia, the homestead of R.J. Reynolds’ parents, Hardin William and Nancy Cox Reynolds.
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.
Status
Not on viewCollections
July 9, 1980
May 5, 1980
June 19, 1980