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Artist
Unknown BMC (Primary)
Title

Black Mountain College Community Bulletin College Year 10 Summer Bulletin 3 Monday, June 28, 1943

Date
1943
Century
20th century
Medium & Support
Ink on paper
Object Type
Archival Documents
Credit Line
Black Mountain College Collection, gift of Barbara Beate Dreier and Theodore Dreier, Jr. on behalf of all generations of Dreier family
Accession Number
2017.40.112a-c
Copyright
In Copyright, Educational Use Permitted
Courtesy of the Theodore Dreier Sr. Document Collection, Asheville Art Museum
Description

3p, one sided pages, mimeograph on matte off white paper. Mentions former students- Maudo Dabbs, Carlos Forborgg, 1943 Summer School Student: John J Gifford, Mr and Mrs Charles R Nagle and son, Major Sturgeon and his wife and daughter, Billie Barbara a prospective student. Mr and Mrs Norman. Staple in top left corner, one horizontal fold.

BLACK MOUNTAIN COLLEGE COMMUNITY BULLETIN
College Year 10 Summer Bulletin 3
Monday, June 28, 1943
CALENDAR
The members of the American Seminar will arrive on Thursday morning.
The first meeting will be held at 4:30 o’clock in the afternoon.
There will be a Community Tea in the evening.
Three mornings a week, beginning at 9:30 o’clock, Dr Miller will lecture on the Sociology of America, on the other three mornings, beginning at the same time Kenneth Kurtz will lecture on American Life and Letters.
English tutoring will be given during mornings and afternoons, by special arrangement.
On Friday evening, Bob Wunsch will talk informally to the American Seminar group on Black Mountain College.
On Sunday evening at 7:00 o’clock there will be a Fourth of July program.
Ordinarily Seminar meetings will be held in the lobby or on the porch of the North Lodge.
Scheduled events may be changed to suit the convenience of the largest group of people.
THE AMERICAN SEMINAR
Additional members:
Karl Obermann, journalist. German-born.
Catherine Rubinov, secretary. Born in Russia; educated in Germany; was seven years in France; came to the United States in 1941.
Felix Wassermann, teacher, principally in the fields of Greek tragedy, history, and comparative religion. German-born. (Will arrive a week late.)
b) Additional tutor:
Ann Kurtz, a graduate of Colorado State Teachers College.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Gorman Mattison will leave for the East sometime this week to assist Ted Dreier with money-raising.
Three hundred soldiers from the Moore General Hospital will have a picnic on the banks of Lake Eden on Wednesday afternoon, June 30.
WITH FORMER STUDENTS
New Addresses:
Corporal Pete Hill
ASN 31315352
Company E
544 EB and SR
Camp Edwards, Massachusetts

Notes:
Maude Dabbs will be Drama and Music Counsellor at Camp Tree Tops on Lake Placid in New York on July 1. She will return to continue her teaching of music.
Maude and “Chuck” Forberg are now visiting Lake Eden.
Excerpts from letters:
Harriet Engelhardt writes from Montgomery, Alabama: “I continue changing carbuertors, fixing landing gear struts, and tightening wing bolts. After work, laden with grease and oil, I have seen and enjoyed very much, an exhibit of fourteen Van Gogh originals, which by some strange chance, are at our museum for four weeks. It has been most refreshing.

BMC COMMUNITY BULLETIN- Summer Bulletin #3- page 2
Pete Hill writes: “I’m in the Amphibian Engineers. Our job is to land troops for invasion, build roads across the beaches, and in other ways prepare for them. I find that my particular job is a fairly interesting one that allows me to get a good idea of the landing as it progresses, which makes one feel more a part of it and that perhaps it matters, which is hard to realize when you are a pretty small cog in an elaborate machine.
“A couple of weeks ago I walked into the Headquarters of the outfit to which I’m temporarily assigned. I was to report to the Sergeant Major, and, lo and behold; the Sergeant Major was George Randall! I won’t say how tiny the world seems, but it does sometimes surprise one.”
Bella Martin writes from “Island No.3” in the Pacific: “Most touching in the bulletins were the letters from various people in the service who had heard about the college and hope that it will always continue. Sometimes fellows stop for a moment from thoughts of war to become very philosophical and idealistic about the future when they get out of here; I’ve seen it many times. Their reflectings are not sentimental, but the occasion seems to draw something out of their very depths, a desire for a new kind of life and an enjoyment of simple things. It’s very surprising at times. Some artists segregate themselves at times better to reflect on the society they left behind; men on the fighting front seem to be able to draw certain healthy conclusions and dreams by the separation from the civilized word…..
“Censorship regulations prevent me from writing many things, especially about my work….. Today was my day off to find time for washing clothes which have been accumulating. I boiled them in a large can over a gasoline fire, the can being supported on four cylinders from a wrecked plane….
“Of late we have had some movies outdoors in the evening… They have been third rate shows, now and then, however, a good one comes along. Regardless, its good to see a show now and then. Seats are coconut logs, boxes, or anything else one can find. The show is split up into about ten reels, so one gets a chance to get up, stretch between reels. A little homespun orchestra usually provides music before the movies begin…”
On the Soldiers Saving Plan:
Pete Hill writes: “I’ve been thinking about the Student Savings Plan, and somehow I don’t think much of it. It is much easier for a soldier to buy War Bonds, as he can have any amount of money taken from his pay each month, and he doesn’t have to go to any trouble depositing- the money is set aside by the Government, and the bonds are sent to a person designated by the soldier. Then after the war one can do with the bonds as he sees fit, using them for his education, or saving them and collecting the interest as they mature.”
George Randall writes: “It was with a great deal of interest and I must confess, some surprise that I read the letter from College regarding the plan presented for Post-War Education. I think that a good percentage of us who are in the Armed Forces look somewhat askance at the many plans and formulas for what will or can be done after the Victory is won…. Go ahead and dream about small cottages and bid ideas if you must to survive, but after it’s over, after we have been through it, it will be us who decide what education we want and how we shall get it, not the war time dreamers.”
THE 1942-43 STUDENTS
Renate Benfey writes from Groton, Massachusetts: “I think I’ll be at the Kickox School in Boston in the fall…. I stopped a day in Philadelphia on my way up an went out to Pendle Hill. That seems to be a community quite similar to Black Mountain. They have the same kind of people with the same informality and freedom that we have.”
Will Hamlin writes from New York City: “Leslie Katz will be drafted next Thursday….; Jane does not know what she wants to do. They’re going, for his two-week furlough, to Ruth Herschberger’s place. I think it’s called Island Lakes. Jane is on the editorial board of a ‘little magazine’ called The Chimera and they are both doing much writing all the time.

BMC COMMUNITY BULLETIN- Summer Bulletin #3- page 3
“Mendez has a new apartment, just upstairs from City and County School, and very wonderful. A great big room, with a good kitchen, nice bath, and a second bedroom upstairs; a roof all to the apartment, and good furniture…. A nice party last Friday night; all sorts of people- Peggy Clapp, Mary Roso, three Leons, Jay Nelson, Albers, Jalowetz, Cohen, and Kahl, Kopps, Slats, Brott… nice to see them all together again.”
Irene Sagan writes from Forest Hills, Long Island: “AS the zoology courses offered in Columbia have bene withdrawn and only given to Navy men stationed there, I am taking a course in general physiology at NYU and one in integral calculus at Columbia, as that was the only way to arrange courses that would start and end at approximately the same time. I’ll be through sometime in the line of chemistry.
“The part that Mendez gave last week in the Village was lots of fun.”
Junelaine Smith writes from New Orleans: “I went back to Higgins to see if they would put me on again and was very much surprised at the nice welcome they gave me. They… offered me two jobs, gave orders that I was to be asked no questions, and put their signatures on the applications. I took the one way out at the Industrial Canal (the other offices are being moved there) and start as stock clerk for a few days and then stenographer. The hours are long, the work is every day, the pay is good, and I can wear slacks. As before, I don’t expect to be happy there, but I want the money and it will only be for a couple of months.
“I have been sick all week with an infected throat. I haven’t been able to talk, but was saved by the wonderful sulfathizole treatment. I did get out of bed to attend Dody’s wedding.”
WITH THE TEACHERS
Frances de Graaff writes from 16 Langdon Street, in Madison, Wisconsin: “I’m living in a sorority house with about sixteen girls. Every Black Mountaineer should do this sometime just to see what typical coeds are like (How glad I am that our students are not too typical). There is no other subject of conversation but dates….. The Polish course is very good. The professor uses exactly the same teaching method as we do in Black Mountain, and it’s amusing to see someone else forming questions and trying to pull the answers out of students….. How refreshing to work in a big library!”
ALSO IN THE MAIL
Dr Donald W MacKinnon, Gisela Kronenberg’s examiner, writes from Gaunt Neck, Pleasant Point, Maine: “I enjoyed my few days at Black Mountain College. It was a great pleasure to see Black Mountain and to be for a short while a part of your community. I was impressed by your way of life; seldom in so short a visit have I felt myself so comfortably absorbed into a group. I came away with a real affection for Black Mountain College and for all whom I met there. I shall not soon forget my visit among you.”
VISITORS
Former Students:
Maude Dabbs of Mayesville, South Carolina
Charles Forberg
1943 Summer School Student:
John J Gifford of Washington DC, a discharged marine, cousin of Henry Adams.
Others:
Mr and Mrs Charles R Nagle and son, friends of the Bob Orrs.
Major Sturgeen from the AAFTTC in Greensboro, North Carolina and his wife and daughter, Billie Barbara. The daughter Is a prospective student.
Mr and Mrs Norman, friends of the Champney. Mr Norman is Director of the Children’s Home in Savannah, Georgia.

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