A native of Augusta, Georgia, Lola Anderson was brought to Kingsport in 1919 by the Kingsport Improvement Company and was employed as the city’s first landscape architect. She was a graduate of Cornell and prior to coming to Kingsport had worked in several cities including Richmond and Charlotte and had taught at the Landscape Architectural School at Cornell. At the time of her arrival in Kingsport the Kingsport Times noted that she was “considered one of the leaders in her profession in the South.” In 1929 Lola married John B. Dennis, a financier and developer of modern Kingsport and they made their home at Rotherwood. In addition to her job as the Kingsport’s landscape architect Lola also managed the Kingsport Nursery. When John B. Dennis died in 1947, Lola moved to Biltmore but was still involved in Kingsport for many years. In 1968 she was on hand for the dedication of Glen Bruce Park and Founder’s Fountain. The fountain was donated by Mrs. Dennis. Although mostly identified as the wife of one of the city’s founders, Lola, in her own right, contributed substantially to the building of Kingsport. Lola and John B. Dennis are entombed in a Mausoleum at Oak Hill Cemetery in Kingsport. #kingsportarchives #kingsporthistory#thisiskingsport #WomensHistoryMonth #womenofkingsport
Ruth Springer came to Kingsport in the early 1920s from Ottumwa, Iowa. A graduate of Northwestern University, Ruth worked for the Kingsport City School System upon her arrival in Kingsport until her retirement in 1958. Ruth was a member of Broad Street United Methodist Church and was active in the Order of the Eastern Star and Delta Kappa Gamma. She was the daughter of Charles and Hannah Springer and lived in Kingsport until her death in March 1965. She is buried in Agency, Iowa.
Archives of the City of Kingsport 