1970 dedication
It all began on June 17, 1970. A host of Reynolds family members, descendants of Hardin and Nancy Reynolds, traveled to Critz, Virginia for the dedication of Reynolds Homestead, formerly known as Rock Spring Plantation. They had been invited by Nancy Susan Reynolds to join her in a family reunion and the dedication of their ancestral home she had lovingly restored, with the assistance of other relatives who contributed furniture and other family heirlooms.
Kitty Reynolds
Born on October 15, 1838, Kitty was among the 88 enslaved people that lived on Rock Spring Plantation by 1863. Following the emancipation of slaves, she served as a nanny in the surrounding area, and maintained close connection with the Reynolds family. In 1878, two of Kitty's sons, Burwell and Lee Reynolds, were charged with the murder of a white man. They were defended by Andrew Lybrook, son-in-law to Hardin and Nancy Reynolds, and the subsequent trial led to the Supreme Court case Ex Parte Virginia, which ruled that jurors could not be excluded from serving on a trial on the basis of race. Today, the Reynolds Homestead continues to discuss the life of Kitty Reynolds and the other enslaved people that lived on the plantation.
Nancy Susan Reynolds (1910-1985)
Daughter of R.J. and Katharine Smith, Nancy Susan Reynolds continued her parents' philanthropic ventures throughout her life. One notable example includes the donation of $500,000 and 350 acres of land from the Reynolda estate to move Wake Forest University from Wake Forest to Winston-Salem. In 1970, Nancy Susan donated the deed to her father's childhood home, Rock Spring Plantation, to Virginia Tech for agricultural research and historical preservation. This location is now known as the Reynolds Homestead.
Richard Joshua Reynolds (1850-1918)
Born on Rock Spring Plantation, R.J. Reynolds grew up working in his father's tobacco manufacturing business before moving to Winston-Salem, NC to begin his own company in 1874. This company, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, grew to be a major producer of chewing tobacco and cigarettes, including Camel cigarettes, which still exist today. After his death, the company grew to hold stakes in many different industries, including food and aluminum. Today, R.J. Reynolds' company survives as Reynolds American, Inc., a large corporation that owns many sub companies that specialize in tobacco production and research.
Katharine Smith Reynolds (1880-1924)
After marrying R.J. Reynolds in 1905, the two moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 1917 and lived in an estate now known as the Reynolda House, which Mary Katharine helped design. There, she focused heavily on agriculture, and offered literacy classes to farmers and workers in her husband's factories. She pushed for reform in tobacco factories as well, making them offer lunch and water to the workers and had a nursery built for the women working in the factories. After R.J.'s death, she continued various philanthropic works, including building schools and churches in the area, along with serving as the president of the local chapter of the YWCA. Today, a monument to her memory exists as a 20-foot tall obelisk that sits on the grounds of Richard J. Reynolds High School, one of the schools she helped construct.
Love Letter
Virginia
This is a letter written by Willie Reynolds to an anonymous girl, referred to only as “Sugar-Pie.” Typed in 1919 on a Danville and Western Railway Company letterhead, the letter appeals to the anonymous woman romantically, requesting that she write back and asking if she has feelings for the sender, Willie. At this time, there exists little information on who Willie is in relation to the Reynolds family - while there was a Willie Reynolds alive around that time, the boy was only around 10 years old at the time the letter was written. However, the letter still provides an interesting insight into the love lives of people in the early 1900s, and how the process of courting contrasts to modern methods.
Related to item REY_REY_000007
Reynolds, William
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/
https://www.reynoldshomestead.vt.edu/
image/jpeg
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REY_REY_000010
Donor's notecard
Virginia
Donor's notecard explaining the letter written by Willie Reynolds to an anonymous girl, referred to only as “Sugar-Pie.” Typed in 1919 on a Danville and Western Railway Company letterhead, the letter appeals to the anonymous woman romantically, requesting that she write back and asking if she has feelings for the sender, Willie. At this time, there exists little information on who Willie is in relation to the Reynolds family - while there was a Willie Reynolds alive around that time, the boy was only around 10 years old at the time the letter was written. However, the letter still provides an interesting insight into the love lives of people in the early 1900s, and how the process of courting contrasts to modern methods.
Related to item REY_REY_000010
Allman, Virginia Via
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/
https://www.reynoldshomestead.vt.edu/
image/jpeg
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REY_REY_000007
Reynolds Homestead
Virginia
The Reynolds Homestead was built in 1843 as the Rock Spring Plantation in Critz, Virginia, by Hardin Reynolds, a successful farmer, merchant, banker, and tobacco manufacturer. Hardin and Nancy Cox Reynolds’s son, Richard Joshua (R.J.), founded the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, and their grandson, Richard Samuel, Sr., founded Reynolds Metals. The Reynolds Homestead has been designated a State and National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Registry of American Homes.
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/
https://www.reynoldshomestead.vt.edu/
image/jpeg
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REY_REY_000004
Zachary Smith Reynolds Log of Aeroplane NR-898W
Aviation
Travel
Reynolds, Zachary Smith, 1911-1932
Holman, Libby, 1904-1971
Virginia
This handwritten log kept by Z. Smith Reynolds documents his 17,000-mile solo journey from England to China from August 26, 1931 to April 5, 1932. After several false starts, Smith finally began his flight in London in December 1931, landing outside of Paris. He then flew south over Italy and the Mediterranean until he reached North Africa. From there, he followed airline routes already established by British fliers, traveling across the Syrian Desert from Gaza to Baghdad and on to India. In the log, Smith Reynolds records not only equipment and flight data but also his impressions and experiences in the places he landed. It is clear from the log that Smith often flew in remote areas and sometimes encountered dangerous situations, and he was alone, with no contact with the ground for most of the journey. After his landing at Fort Bayard, a French military base in present-day Zhanjiang, China, Smith recorded his final log entry on April 5, 1932. Nancy Susan Reynolds, Smith’s sister, believed that Smith continued on to Hong Kong, his prearranged destination, despite those entries being absent from his log.
Reynolds, Zachary Smith, 1911-1932
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/
https://www.reynoldshomestead.vt.edu/
http://reynoldahouse.libraryhost.com/repositories/2/resources/10
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REY_REY_000023
EA.2017.002
Hardin William Reynolds Account Book
Migration, Internal
Virginia
Account Book for Hardin William Reynolds' general store which operated at Rock Spring Plantation documents customer purchases, including purchases made by R.J. Reynolds. Notably, African American patrons of the store are identifiable by the use of the term "Colored" adjacent to the names on the accounts. Some of the names represent former enslaved individials who remained near Rock Spring Plantation after the Civil War. This account book is part of PC.194.03.
Reynolds, Hardin
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/
https://www.reynoldshomestead.vt.edu/
http://reynoldahouse.libraryhost.com/repositories/2/resources/2
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REY_REY_000022
Recollections of Major A.D. Reynolds
Reynolds family
Tobacco industry
Reynolds, A.D. (Abram David), 1847-1925
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Virginia
In 1916, using a partially used company ledger book, A.D. Reynolds set out to record his memoir in a series of sketches, anecdotes, and recorded memories. These sketches were written over an eight year period, between 1916 and 1924. Reynolds documents growing up on a tobacco plantation in Virginia, his role in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, and his life as a tobacco manufacturer. The recollections themselves document the period between 1862 and 1924. Included among the sketches are Reynold’s observations of his father, Hardin William Reynolds, and his more successful younger brother, R.J. Reynolds, founder of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.
Reynolds, A. D. (Abram David), 1847-1925
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/
https://www.reynoldshomestead.vt.edu/
http://reynoldahouse.libraryhost.com/repositories/2/resources/11
image/jpeg
Text
REY_REY_000021
EA.2018.001