'Priceless' items to be placed on display
$250,000 received from Cooper Fund
When David Henry Cooper began
his service as Chowan College pro
fessor of science in 1922, little did
he realize the position would not on
ly help advance his career but pro
vide him with his wife as well.
At Chowan, he met Jo Piland of
Winton, a senior art student at the
then four-year women’s college. In
1923 they were married.
The story of their devotion to
each other, service to mankind,
and her great courage have been
provided by relatives and friends
following the announcement that
Chowan College has received
$250,000 from the David Henry
Cooper and Jo Piland Cooper
Memorial Charitable Trust Fund.
The gift was provided from the sale
of the late couple’s West Virginia
Farm and other holdings.
Native of Winton
Jo was one of eight children born
to James J. and Olivia Copeland
Piland of Winton. Three of Her
older sisters also graduated from
Chowan: Georgia P. Cohoon, 92,
who resides in the Guardian Care
Nursing Home in Ahoskie; Jessie
P. Midgett of Coin jock; and Elsie
P. Stephenson of St. Augustine,
Fla.
She had three other sisters: Mrs.
Jimmie P. Lassiter of Windsor,
mother of Mrs. Robert C. White of
Aulander whose husband is a
Chowan trustee; Mrs. Thelma P.
Kimbal of Charlotte; and the late
Mrs. Mildred P. Midgett of Nor
folk. Her brother, the late Herman
Piland, lived in Wakefield, Va.
In 1924, the couple moved to his
hometown of Jefferson City, Tenn.
He taught science at Morristown
"Painting was her joy
if life. She was always
cheerful despite her
affliction."
High School while Jo continued her
interest in art class at Carson-
Newman College.
Then, when she was 25, tragedy
struck. She was stricken with
rheumatoid arthritis. The odds
were against her continuing her in
terest in art. Her hands were
drawn up and her fingers bent and
stiff. She was confined to a
wheelchair for life.
Flowers Favorite Subject
But she didn’t give up. Although
it required great effort and concen
tration, she continued to paint. Her
favorite subject was flowers,
especially wild flowers. She also
painted flowers on wooden trays
and on tin, an art form call tole.
Her neice, Mrs. Robert White of
Windsor, was very close to Mrs.
Cooper. She has provided the col
lege with considerable information
concerning her aunt. “Painting
was her chief joy in life,” com
mented Mrs. ^^te. Mrs. White
remembers that “she was always
cheerful despite her affliction. She
had a great spirit. ”
A Jefferson City neighbor, Lelia
Murphy, noted, “Even though she
suffered intense pain and crippling
results of rheumatoid arthritis,
that eventually left her body im
mobile, she never became embit
tered.”
She said the Mrs. Cooper was
“endowed with rare artistic talent.
She propped her brushes betweeen
rigid fingers and perserved.
against all odds, to the creation of
exquisitely lovely flower pictures,
perfect in even the most minute
detail.”
She remembers Jo Piland Cooper
as a “gentle, kind and considerate
self. There was no pettiness in Jo
Cooper’s great soul.”
She also paid tribute to David
Henry Cooper. “In his loving care
of her he was completely selfless.
His high quality of mind and
character translated into adoration
of her kept her alive years beyond
her expected life span. His en-
December, 1982
CUhmmmfan
I
$250,000 check is presented
President Bruce E. Whitaker accepts the gift from Mrs. Robert White of Windsor,
as Mr. White looks on.
"She was a gentle, kind
and considerate self.
There was no pettiness
in Jo Cooper's
great soul."
couragement of her in her every
endeavor helped her to really live
beyond excruciating pain and to be
able to brighten the lives of others
with her lovely creations and her
lovely self.”
In 1942, the Coopers moved to
Washington, D. C., where he had
accepted a government job
teaching at Emory School of Elec
tronics, They made their perma
nent home in Washington imtil
their deaths. Both are buried in
Ahoskie Cemetery. Jo died on Jan.
16,1969. David Cooper died on Aug.
13, 1980. In his will, David Cooper
left his estate to Chowan in
memory of his wife, Jo Piland
Cooper.
Continued to Paint
In Washington, Jo continued to
paint flower pictures, but also
branched out into another art form,
heraldry, the painting of coats of
arms.
Mrs. White said David Henry
Cooper would lift his wife into their
car, put in her folding chair, and
take her to the Library of Congress,
where she did exhustive research.
Mrs. White explained that Jo
Cooper became a familiar per
sonality at the Library of Congress,
meeting people from all over the
country. In recognition of the quali
ty of her work, she was requested
to submit her name to be placed on
the list of Heraldic Artists approv
ed by the Library of Congress.
The Coopers bought a farm near
Romney, W. Va. as a weekend
retreat. Here, Jo painted many of
her flower pictures, receiving in
spiration from the apple orchards,
mountains and colorful foilage.
While Jo Cooper was a talented
artist, she was also a warm human
Continued on Next Page
The Chowanian, December, 1982—Page 1