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Nancy Reynolds kicks off the fourth and final interview, conducted on June 19, 1980, by discussing the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, including how her father, R.J. Reynolds, named his most famous brands—Camel and Prince Albert. In this interview, Reynolds provides further information about her mother, Katharine Reynolds, describing the Smith family, Mount Airy, and Katharine’s education at State Normal and Industrial College, now known as the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She also recalls her first marriage to Henry Bagley, motherhood, and their children.
Reynolds recounts about her return to college in 1956, studying history at Columbia University. She remarried in 1960 to Gilbert Verney. The marriage did not last and Reynolds provides insight into both of her divorces. Reynolds also explains the decision to revert to her maiden name: “After all, the name I was born with I had a right to, and [that] nobody could tell me I couldn’t use, was Reynolds. So I used it.”
A wide range of topics are recollected by Reynolds as the interview progresses, including her visits to Dick and Blitz Reynolds at Sapelo Island in South Carolina, constructing a house and designing gardens for her property on St. Simons Island in South Carolina, and the study at Reynolda House that was converted for use by R.J. Reynolds prior to his death in 1918. Reynolds also makes mention that she considered the years spent at Reynolda from 1921-1924 to be the most stable years of her life. She concludes the interview by candidly speaking about the tragic death of her brother Smith and the negative publicity that followed.
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 4
DateJune 19, 1980
MediumDocument
Credit LineReynolda House Museum of American Art Archives
CopyrightPublic Domain
Object numberOH.01.004.4
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.Nancy Reynolds kicks off the fourth and final interview, conducted on June 19, 1980, by discussing the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, including how her father, R.J. Reynolds, named his most famous brands—Camel and Prince Albert. In this interview, Reynolds provides further information about her mother, Katharine Reynolds, describing the Smith family, Mount Airy, and Katharine’s education at State Normal and Industrial College, now known as the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She also recalls her first marriage to Henry Bagley, motherhood, and their children.
Reynolds recounts about her return to college in 1956, studying history at Columbia University. She remarried in 1960 to Gilbert Verney. The marriage did not last and Reynolds provides insight into both of her divorces. Reynolds also explains the decision to revert to her maiden name: “After all, the name I was born with I had a right to, and [that] nobody could tell me I couldn’t use, was Reynolds. So I used it.”
A wide range of topics are recollected by Reynolds as the interview progresses, including her visits to Dick and Blitz Reynolds at Sapelo Island in South Carolina, constructing a house and designing gardens for her property on St. Simons Island in South Carolina, and the study at Reynolda House that was converted for use by R.J. Reynolds prior to his death in 1918. Reynolds also makes mention that she considered the years spent at Reynolda from 1921-1924 to be the most stable years of her life. She concludes the interview by candidly speaking about the tragic death of her brother Smith and the negative publicity that followed.
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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