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In the second interview conducted June 17, 1980, Nancy Reynolds describes her father’s family and their tobacco plantation in Virginia, details her thoughts about her family’s wealth accumulated through the tobacco industry, and recalls various trips taken with her sister Mary Reynolds Babcock. During this second interview, Reynolds returns to a discussion of her childhood and describes her happiness over Katharine’s marriage to J. Edward Johnston in 1921. She offers an extended look at life for the family in New York when the family occupied a flat in the city awaiting the birth of Katharine’s child with Johnston.
Reynolds’ description of her relationships with her siblings provides much insight into their personalities. She thought of Dick as her “hero,” but admits, “Dick had been very much a trial to mother” since he did not like Katharine’s marriage to Johnston. Nancy thought of Smith as her friend, even though he was younger, “he was so intelligent, so adult in his thinking.” She recalls flying with him often, saying “I always went with him [Smith] because I said nothing could happen to him if I was with him.” She also reveals that in her teens she felt older than Mary, and that Mary was more timid: “She was afraid of animals, and I wasn’t; I loved them.” Near the end of the interview, Reynolds touches on a variety of topics, including how Ed Johnston was not accepted into the family business and his circumstances after Katharine’s death.
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
Nancy Susan Reynolds Interview 2
DateJune 17, 1980
MediumDocument
Credit LineReynolda House Museum of American Art Archives
CopyrightPublic Domain
Object numberOH.01.004.2
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 second interview conducted June 17, 1980, Nancy Reynolds describes her father’s family and their tobacco plantation in Virginia, details her thoughts about her family’s wealth accumulated through the tobacco industry, and recalls various trips taken with her sister Mary Reynolds Babcock. During this second interview, Reynolds returns to a discussion of her childhood and describes her happiness over Katharine’s marriage to J. Edward Johnston in 1921. She offers an extended look at life for the family in New York when the family occupied a flat in the city awaiting the birth of Katharine’s child with Johnston.
Reynolds’ description of her relationships with her siblings provides much insight into their personalities. She thought of Dick as her “hero,” but admits, “Dick had been very much a trial to mother” since he did not like Katharine’s marriage to Johnston. Nancy thought of Smith as her friend, even though he was younger, “he was so intelligent, so adult in his thinking.” She recalls flying with him often, saying “I always went with him [Smith] because I said nothing could happen to him if I was with him.” She also reveals that in her teens she felt older than Mary, and that Mary was more timid: “She was afraid of animals, and I wasn’t; I loved them.” Near the end of the interview, Reynolds touches on a variety of topics, including how Ed Johnston was not accepted into the family business and his circumstances after Katharine’s death.
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.
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