Black Mountain College Community Bulletin
College Year 10 Bulletin 27
Monday, April 26, 1943
CALENDAR
Regular Meetings:
Monday, 6:45PM North Lodge Lobby. News Review by Barbara Heller.
Wednesday, 4:30PM, Kocher Room. Faculty Meeting.
Thursday, 5:00PM, Study 10. Board of Fellows. Monthly Business Meeting.
Other Meetings:
On Wednesday afternoon, April 28, at 1:00 o’clock actors in “The Elves and the Shoemaker” will give a fifteen-minute broadcast of scenes from the play through Asheville Station WAVE. More than five thousand school children will listen to the broadcast in school rooms in Buncombe County.
There will be no lecture on Wednesday evening of this Week. Josef Albers’ lecture on “Photos as Photography and Photos As Art” will be given on Wednesday, May 5.
Eric Bentley will read aloud, in German, several of the short plays of Bertolt Brecht in Black Dwarf on Wednesday evening from 6:30 to 10:00 o’clock.
Bob Orr is trying to make arrangements for the showing at Lake Eden on Thursday evening of a documentary film on the present war. If he cannot get it this week, he may be able to get it next week.
Kenneth Kurtzand Barbara Pollet are writing the script for the Black Mountain College broadcast on Friday afternoon, 2:30-3:00. It will be a Shakespeare broadcast.
The broadcast next week will be by the Music Department.
The Upper Division Examinations will be given on Monday, May 3 and Tuesday May 4.
ALUMNI NOTES
Jimmy Jamieson is now working as an attendant at the Brattleboro Retreat. “We work twelve hours per day,” he writes, “so there is not much time for letter writing.” Address: CPS #87, Brattleboro Retreat, Brattleboro, Vermont.
Changed address: Corporal RL Biles, Company B, 1525 Service Unit, Phoenix Hotel, Room 758, Lexington, Kentucky.
Barbara Sheddon is planning to join the WAVES. Her address is 565 East Wesley Road, Atlanta, Georgia.
Mendez Marks is now working in the office of the New Yorker Magazine.
Martha McMillan has been asked by both the Marines and the Coast Guard to come into the Public Relations Offices of their Womens Auxiliaries to be official photographer. She is about to make up her mind to join the Coast Guard.
Jack Roberts has been in North Africa since last November.
Address: Private Otis Levy, ASN 33342705
66 Car. Ren.
Tr APO 454
Camp Blanding, Florida
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The College Sports Program has been aided by a gift of Rachel Dwinell of a complete badminton tape set.
BMC COMMUNITY BULLETIN, Monday, April 26, 1943- page 2
ANNOUNCEMENTS (continued)
Mrs Hal Hazelrigg has temporarily succeeded Dorothy Trayer as Registrar. She will work in the College office until a permanent secretary can be procured.
The Newsletter for April will go to press early this week.
Gorman Mattison writes that he is planning to return to Lake Eden on Saturday, May 1.
Bill McCleery writes that he will arrive on Tuesday, May 4, for a week’s visit.
The following students will take the Upper Division Examinations next week:
For entrance into Senior Division:
Marilyn Bauer, Renate Benfey, Maja Bentley, Sam Brown, Mimi French, Dora Harrison, Betty Kelley, Liese Kulka, Isaac Nokata, Ruth O’Neill, Irene Sagen, Jane Slater, Jacqueline Tankersley, Ralph Tyler
b) For practice
Henry Adams (first day), Barbara Pollet, Tanya Sprager, Jeanne Wacker, Nancy West, Helen Wright
EXCERPTS FROM LETTERS
Alfred Hazin, one of the editors of The New Republic writes: “Black Mountain is a symbol of democracy in action, and a working model of our highest possible democratic faith.”
John G Green of Boston writes: “I was delighted to receive a copy of your new illustrated bulletin the other day and to see how progress is being made at the college. It may interest you to learn that since my last visit to Black Mountain the winter before last, I have had occasion to visit several other experimental colleges, but always left with the impression that Black Mountain had made by far the most important contribution to the problem of control of our institutions of higher education. Of course, most Americans- even most educated Americans- do not realize that there is such a problem. But having been a student at Oxford for two years, I know better! It is quite inadmissible. It seems to me, that the ultimate control of most of our colleges and universities should be in the hands of those who have had no experience as teachers and who have a financial stake in the status quo.”
A LETTER TO THE COLLEGE
Dear People, April 23, 1943
My name is Perry. I’m a Marine. I’ve been in the outfit now almost a year. But underneath, I’m not a Marine. Underneath, I am still the same fellow who went in… the same foolish fellow who joined up so rashly. (Of course, do not misunderstand me. I don’t regret my choice. I’ve regretted nothing.)
But I’m a dime store philosopher. I’ve got just enough education in me to make me realize that I need more. I’m young… 20 years old. I’m single. I can dream beautiful dreams. Sooner or later I’ll succeed at something. I don’t know wat it will be… No matter. I’ve got what it takes to get ahead. You can pound on me, but I go on thinking. It is my greatest asset.
I’m a high school graduate… A grade B leader. A good sense of humor. A nice student. A writer of some degree. Quick-witted, Nice looking. And (as you can see) a slight bit vain. Nevertheless, there is one paramount thing that I know. I can write.
BMC COMMUNITY BULLETIN, Monday, April 26, 1943- page 3
A LETTER TO THE COLLEGE (continued)
Nothing else matters to me. It is what I want. I have always wanted it.
And after the war, I want something more than a crowd of people waving… I want something more than a band of drums, I want a lifetime. The world doesn’t owe it to me, granted… But it’s there. And I want it. It’s mine. I’m willing to work to get it. This period I’m spending in service is splendid. I’m meeting millions of mirrors. This will help. But it is secondary.
So here’s the angle. I like the idea of your college. It is down-to-earth. It is something real. How about letting me in on it. I’m quite serious. I need polishing. I need a hell of a lot of polishing. And I like the sky above the Tarheel State at night. It’s brilliant.
So look. After this war is over…. It may be over some day… how about giving me a chance. That’s all I’ll need. I can offer good references… good scholarship ratings… anything. Even speak French, which is no accomplishment. And not to mention that I know people. I know myself rather well. See?
So, people, why can’t we get together. I think we can make a deal. You offer me a chance to get there… and I’ll graciously move in. (All of which is figuring post-war era.) Give me a break.
We used to have an idealist for an English teacher in high school. She’s the one who started me off reading between the lines of things. I was kinda sorry though. I had to re-read all that I have previously read… but it was worth it.
In philosophy I am a bit of a cynic. Perhaps it is youth. I don’t know. I’m also at times roaring with ambition. Perhaps that is youth too. And there are times when I can sit around and let the world go happily to pot. Blame that on youth, Or could it be a virus.
In manner… I’m tartly-tongued. I love nothing better than a quip and I love sunsets too. I like to see that pattern of humor blend into laughter and I like to see people smile at each other. Black that on youth.
I type quite badly and am proud of it. I use the one-fingered system and pound away my literary efforts at 25 or 35 words per minute. I am extremely fond of walking and will wear anyone down to a frazzle. I love the past… the immediate past… the fancy dreamy past. Nostalgic.
There I am… I have poured a section of my heart out to you. Will you give me a chance to dream on your stoop… (Not for nothing, of course. Indeed I should have some money by the time I win the war!) May I?
Yours quite sincerely, (signed) Dick Perry
PPC Richard S Perry
H&S Battery, 2nd Battalion, 14th Marines
Camp Joseph Pendleton
Oceanside, California
P.S. By the way… I’d sorta like an immediate reply. The outfit won’t be here long and your letter would make nice reading. And did I tell you I was from Cincinnati, Ohio… and proud of it!
REPORT OF THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN EDUCATION COMMITTEE
The following summary on Black Mountain College was written by Kenneth Kurtz after suggestions from the other members of the Committee (Anni Albers, Cynthia Carr, Erwin Straus and Robert Wunsch)
Black Mountain College
The crisis of education reflects the general crisis of civilization. As all education is a preparation for the future, the
BMC COMMUNITY BULLETIN, Monday, April 26, 1943- page 4
REPORT OF THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN EDUCATION COMMITTEE (continued)
Pedagogical philosophy will shape its methods according to its end. Methods will depend on the interpretation of the human world as it will be or should be in the coming age. Black Mountain College, which came into existence as one of the many attempts to meet the crisis of education, has during the ten years of its existence become more and more clear and certain about the road to follow.
Modern life has been singularly disharmonious and fragmentary. We are confronted with an interpretation of the universe which meaningless detail in the huge void of modern production-consumption, which is too vast to have graspable meaning. The generations are set apart by diverging social, religious, and intellectual concepts. Even our sense of man’s potentialities is fast fading in a world of broken forms, and we see life not as a structure but as a series of meaningless moments in an endless chain. Thus, behind the fact of the war lies frustration of the deepest kind: of man’s need for significance and hope in life.
Education in general has had a few means to help students grow toward a life that is personally satisfactory because it makes sense. In a century of social revolution they need a broad background of facts, and they must become capable of arriving at intelligent decisions in complex social questions. This means that they must be treated as adults while in college and be given experience and responsibilities in the social and practical problems of adult life. But life is more than citizenship. The intellectual, religious, and aesthetic problems are the background to all problems, and personal integration of one’s world is the most significant private accomplishment. Education may be defined as the cultivation of the highest potentialities of a human being, social and personal, to the end that he may discover the meaning of life for himself. Only when he has become conscious of what life is can he make decisions about society.
Black Mountain College emphasizes the importance of living and working in a community as a significant part of education. People come to know themselves through conflict and cooperation with other personalities. One comes to know the problems of society at large from intensified experience of them in a small, personally known community. Real community living is hard; it involves tensions, compromises, responsibilities, and the discovery of common bases. But real experiences in a community, as a framework to serious collegiate study, can be a source of profound self-knowledge, self mastery, and genuine civic effectiveness.
Black Mountain College is kept small (a hundred and twenty) so that all relations remain personal); it is representative of modern life and is cosmopolitan. The students- both men and women- come from all parts of the United States, with a few from Europe. The faculty are drawn from a number of European countries as well as America. The typical activities of a community are carried on in work, play, self-government, and community planning. In these each student plays an organic part, for he comes to have his unique place, as in any true community. The college is his home and his village during his years in it, and in this microcosm he is confronted with the major phenomena of human society.
Such a community life is perpetually educational. It forms the constant background to the central activity- study. It brings faculty and student members into a close, friendly relationship based on the sharing of responsibilities and problems. Together they have constructed a large modern study building. They work together cutting timber, operating a farm, or doing the office work of the college. A student is thus initiated into he discipline of labor, and perforce learns something of the way most of the American people have to make their living. He discovers how even routine work can become meaningful. He learns to use the basic tools, to handle simple machinery, and he gains some experience in administration and planning.
BMC COMMUNITY BULLETIN, Monday, April 26, 1943- page 5
REPORT OF THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN EDUCATION COMMITTEE (continued)
The union of learning with living emerges in community self-government. Problems affecting the entire community are discussed in general meetings, where all members are present and active. Here and in the meetings of the study body as such students experience the difficulties and responsibilities of democracy. They are represented on almost all committees, with the exception of some that have a strictly academic function. Their chief officer is a member of the Board of Fellows, which administers the finances of the college and makes faculty appointments. They govern their own affairs of the community.
Black Mountain is a college, not merely a community, and the center of life is study. High School graduation the standards of the better eastern colleges are maintained. The academic procedures are calculated to make learning a permanent habit and to help the student integrate the fields of study. The fine arts, languages and literature, the social studies, and the sciences are treated as of equal importance and the student is expected to study in all fields during his first two years. To specialize in one field. Graduation is based on faculty review of a student’s total accomplishment and upon the recommendation of an examiner from outside the college, who gives a comprehensive written and oral examination in the student’s field of specialization.
The college is owned and administered by members of the faculty, entirely independent of outside control and endowment. This permits complete academic freedom: classes usually take the form of small discussion groups, with intensive private tutorials for advanced students. The faculty-student ratio is about one to four.
Aesthetic and intellectual activity goes beyond the classroom. Students and faculty contribute weekly concerts of choral and instrumental music. There are periodic art exhibits and plays. Lectures on subjects of general interest are given by faculty members and guest lecturers, and regular radio programs are broadcast. In these creative activities and in the art classes flexibility and imaginativeness in meeting situations are developed.
Faculty members are chosen for the breadth of their knowledge and interests as well as for competence in their own fields, in the expectation that they will help the student integrate diverse knowledge through their own breadth of view. The faculty periodically discusses together the progress of each student and reviews the several comprehensive examinations, so that all members of the faculty are constantly aware of the work of all students.
Black Mountain College is perhaps unique in its fusion of higher learning with normal adult civic life and its treatment of learning as a way of living. This gives an unusual possibility for the intellectual and personal integrations which the modern world needs to much.
Kenneth Kurtz
COLLEGE VISITORS
Mr and Mrs Alexander Kopp, of New York City, the parents of Anatole.
Nils Haugaard, of the University of Philadelphia, the brother of Erik.
Miss Agnes Tweedie, head of the College Bureau at the Anacostia High School in Washington, DC and lecturer in education at George Washington University.
Homer Bobilin for a week’s visit before being send to an army camp for basic training. He has just completed a course at Code School in New York City.
BMC COMMUNITY BULLETIN, Monday April 26, 1943- page 6
REQUEST
Each teacher is urged to hand in to the Registrar a list of the courses he will be willing to teach the Summer Quarter.
NOTE TO ALUMNI WHO RECEIVE THE COMMUNITY BULLETIN
Drop us a postal card telling us:
1] if you read the bulletin
2] if you want us to contribute to send it to you
3] what features you enjoy most
4] what you would like to have us add to the bulletin
5] some news about yourself
6] some Black Mountain College people who do not now get the bulletin but would like to get it.
6p, one sided. Mimeograph on matte off white paper. Visitors listed- Mr and Mrs Alexander Kopp (parents of Anatole), Nils Haugaard (brother of Erik), Miss Agness Tweedie, Homer Bobilin. Staple in top left corner, three horizontal folds, some brown stains on the pages.
