May Stone

May Stone (May 1, 1867 – January 29, 1946) was an American educator and administrator from Kentucky who contributed to the settlement school movement of the early 20th century.

Background Stone was born in Owingsville, Kentucky, to Henry L. and Pamela (Bourne) Stone. Due to her family's affluence, she attended private secondary schools in Owingsville and Mt. Sterling, then went on to study German at Wellesley College. After leaving Wellesley in 1887, she returned to Kentucky, where she became active in the Louisville chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Federation of Women's Clubs and served as the secretary of the Kentucky Federation of Women's Clubs.

Hindman Settlement School Stone met Katherine Pettit through the Federation of Women's Clubs in 1899. With Pettit, Stone spent three summers conducting a series of schools for the Federation near Hazard and Hindman, Kentucky, from 1899 to 1901. Local man Solomon Everage asked the two women to establish a school in the Troublesome Creek area, and, in 1902, with financing from the Women's Christian Temperance Union, Stone and Pettit co-founded Hindman Settlement School in Knott County, Kentucky. In 1912, Pettit left to found Pine Mountain Settlement School, but Stone remained on as principal. Under her leadership, the Hindman School taught courses in traditional academic subjects and industrial arts. Teachers offered medical clinics and helped improve other rural schools in Knott County. During the Depression, Stone even used her own wealth to keep the school functioning. After she retired in 1936, she remained on the board of directors until her death in 1946. She was buried in the Lexington Cemetery.