People exist as fascinating conundrums. They may be a friend to some while an enemy to others: one can be a colleague and a competitor simultaneously; be close to others or just an acquaintance. There are characters with unique abilities and recluses living away from the mainstream. The enigma continues as the nouns describing people embed themselves in our conversations as we think of the roles played out in life’s experiences. One’s curiosity is forever busy in relating to others.
The roles individuals play in their lives are important, but just as vital is the personality they develop. The behavioral traits determine one’s effectiveness. Friendliness, thoughtfulness, being receptive and positive in life’s moments… these can start your list of worthy behaviors one looks for in day-to-day encounters. There are people who treat others with respect and joy. They are people with whom we want to share life’s experiences. They make us welcome in their world and give extra meaning to all our lives.
Mrs. Margaret Jane Hines Morningstar was such an individual. Mrs. Morningstar was a “people’s person” – naturally enthusiastic about meeting people and getting to know others. She was remarkably easy to meet. One never worried about talking to Mrs. Jane because one never talked to her, one talked with her. She was keenly interested in many things. It’s easy to see how these characteristics led her into a vocation in public communications.
Jane Hines was born a member of the John Porter and Margaret Hines family on November 20, 1904 in Calhoun, Kentucky. Following high school graduation, she attended and graduated from Bowling Green Business College, fondly called “BU”, nationally recognized as a forceful institution for training commercial business leaders. She was employed briefly as a part-time worker at the Park City Daily News until her marriage to Louisville resident Roy Ballenger Morningstar in 1926. The couple resided in Louisville, later in Florida, and then in St. Louis. When Mr. Morningstar passed away in 1938, Jane returned to Bowling Green to live. She began working part-time once more for the Park City Daily News. By 1942 she had worked herself upward to the position of city editor.
Jane Morningstar had a keen interest in keeping the public accurately informed but was sensitive to the people and events in the past that provided the quality of community Bowling Green experienced. This “people-person” became a respected civic and cultural leader in the city and county. She was one of the founders of the Landmark Association and the Hobson House Association. She received from the Landmark Association their highest honor, the Heritage Award, for her efforts toward preservation efforts in Bowling Green and Warren County. She extended her outreach with membership in the XX Literary Club, National Society of Colonial Dames of America, Magna Charter, and the Daughters of the American Revolution, plus decades of service on the Bowling Green Public Library Board of Trustees.
This gentle but enthusiastic public figure was dearly loved by the readers of the Daily News as a result of her column called “’Home Folks’ by Jane Morningstar.” Reading the column was like visiting the neighborhood store and hearing the news of friends and neighbors. She would tell of letters from former residents as they shared memories of the past in the city. Names and addresses of individuals were carefully documented. Naming the Fiscal Court members, she told of their special meal served on a local farmstead in which every item eaten had been raised on that farm. She once introduced the readers to the young people sleigh riding in the snow on Reservoir Hill and the devices that had been secured to use on this occasion.
Jane continued to share people and events to build the community spirit and knowledge of neighbors. Like the story of the children in one family who were playing hide-n-seek within the home. Everyone was found but one boy. Parents and neighbors helped to hunt. No luck. Standing on the enclosed back porch wondering what to do, one person happened to open the door to an abandoned old icebox and the young boy fell out, barely breathing. Another column included reference to the outbreak of scarlet fever in the city and how, due to a quarantine issued, children could not play together. Jane drove by and watched some kids throwing balls back and forth across the street. Kids’ creativity won the day.
A major section of Mrs. Morningstar’s correspondences was received from former residents of this city or relatives of theirs. Often these simply requested information of sites around the city; Hobson House or other local topics like the steamers on Barren River that once carried people to Mammoth Cave, or the name of a favorite restaurant on 31W they couldn’t remember. The most renown of correspondence related to several generations of the family of Elijah Moorman Covington (1773-1848). This included the related Delafield and Dulaney and others recorded in Warren County records. These have been preserved in the Manuscripts & Folklife Archives in the Department of Library Special Collections or Western Kentucky University. Mrs. Morningstar made use of this information to enable her to label the portraits of Warren County Justices serving between 1803 and 1970.
In a brief article (as is this month’s attempt to help readers to recall a glimpse of the history of the city and county), it is difficult to fully describe an individual’s contribution to the quality of life of this community. It can be stated that Jane Morningstar’s influence continued to be felt through the life of her daughter, Mrs. Cora Jane Morningstar Spiller, well known and respected for her and her husband’s philanthropy and community services. But that’s a topic for another day and another article.
Meanwhile, thanks to you, Margaret Jane Hines Morningstar (1904-1989) for your contributions to our community. It’s been fun visiting with you again.
-by Mary Alice Oliver
About the Author: Mary Alice Oliver is a Bowling Green native who is a 1950 graduate of Bowling Green High School. She retired from Warren County Schools after 40 years in education. Visiting familiar sites, researching historical records and sharing memories with friends are her passions.
