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Title

Black Mountain College Community Bulletin College Year 11 Summer Bulletin 8 Monday, August 21, 1944

Date
1944
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
2017.40.166.01a-e
Copyright
In Copyright, Educational Use Permitted
Description

5p. 2 copies, mimeograph on matte off white paper.

BLACK MOUNTAIN COLLEGE COMMUNITY BULLETIN
College Year 11 Summer Bulletin 8
Monday, August 21, 1944

CALENDAR:
This evening Jean Charlot will give his third in a series of informal addresses on “The Life an Times of Old Masters.” He will speak in the College Dining Hall at 8:15 o’clock on the seventeenth century painter Valesquez.
On Wednesday evening Walter Gropius will speak on “Site and Shelter After the War.” Mr Gropius is the founder and director of the famous Bauhaus in Weimar and Dessau in Germany. He is at present Senior Professor and Chairman of the Department of Architecture at Harvard University. He has lectured widely in Europe and America and has published books and articles on modern architecture, prefabrication of buildings, city planning and art education. He is a member of the Advisory Board of Black Mountain College.
J B Neumann will give “An Introduction to Art Appreciation” on Thursday evening at 8:15 o’clock in the College Dining Hall. Mr Neumann has been an art gallery director since 1910 and has arranged many art exhibitions in Europe and America. He was director of Berliner Secession. He has published pamphlets on art, Art Lover, and editions of Leonardo de Vinci, Rembrandt and Van Gogh. He has lectured at the Museum of Modern Art, New School for Social Research, the Art Institute of Chicago, Smith College Museum of Art, the Wadsworth Atheneum, Dartmouth College, Philadelphia Art Alliance, Columbia University, the Modern Art Society of Cincinnati, the Institute of Modern Art in Boston, the Phillips Memorial Gallery and the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Mr Neumann is Director of the New Art Circle in New York City.
Edward Steurmann will play compositions of Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Schubert, and Ludwig Van Beethoven on Saturday evening, August 26, in the College Dining Hall. The program will include Bach’s English Suite Number 6 in D Minor, Mozart’s Rondo in A Minor (K. 511), Schubert’s Quatre Impromptus Opus 90, and Beethoven’s Grand Sonata for the Hammerklavier in B Flat Major, Opus 106. Mr Steurmann, concert pianist, is an interpreter of contemporary music. He appeared with Leopold Stokowski and the NBC Symphony in the world premiere of Schoenberg’s Piano Concerto. He has lectured at the New School for Social Research. He is the editor of Brahm’s piano works.

Scheduled Evening Lectures for Next Week:
Monday, August 28: Second slide-illustrated lecture by Walter Gropius on “Site and Shelter After the War.”
Wednesday, August 30: Fourth slide-illustrated lecture by Jean Charlot Subject: “Abstract Art and Josef Albers”
Thursday, August 31: Second slide-illustrated lecture by JB Neumann Subject: “From Rembrandt to Klee” (Not an historical lecture)

NEWS STORIES FROM LAST WEEK:
In the student election on Wednesday afternoon in the lobby of North Lodge, Charles Forberg was elected moderator to succeed Gwendolyn Currier who had resigned from the office on August 13. Marilyn Bauer, Lorrie Goulet, and Jane Slater were chosen student officers to succeed Mary Brett, Sam Brown, and Ruth Miller.
In his second public lecture at Black Mountain College on Wednesday evening, Amedee Ozenfant, the noted French-born painter and theorist, developed several points of his philosophy of art and life outlined in his previous lecture. He sharply attacked what he called “the rubbish of old romanticism,” the considering of intelligence as the foe of the artist, the considering of material wealth as progress, the considering of industrial, mechanical, technical and scientific knowledge as regrettably antagonistic of art. He also roughly attacked the tendency of certain romanticists of today to regard intelligence as wrong for the artist, and therefore, “simply let their hands draw or write.”

BMC Community Bulletin Summer Bulletin 8 Page 2
Mr Ozenfant spoke of Leonardo de Vinci, “one of the greatest scientists and thinkers of all times as well as one of the greatest artists who has ever existed. He was a great artist because he was greatly intelligent; and he was a great scientist and thinker because he was a great artist. This implies that he had an exceptionally well-organized sensitivity. Sensitively, regarded often as the only natural gift necessary to make a good artist, has no value if it is not organized. Intelligence is needed as the organizing force.”
Mr Ozenfant spoke of Van Gogh as having “used simultaneously, when he lived and worked, all the superior qualities of cultivated human nature intelligence and organized thought as well as a very acute sensitivity and a very lyrical imagination.” He added that it was a mistake to think of Van Gogh as a man of genius with an unorganized mind. “Because he died mad after a short period of insanity, people forget that before he was an artist full of great passion and intelligence. The reading of Van Gogh’s letters will convince anyone that Van Gogh was interested in science and other branches of human learning.”
In the second part of his lecture, Mr Ozenfant spoke of his philosophy of esthetics.
“Many people come to Western North Carolina,” he explained, “obviously because of the beautiful landscape. No one contradicts these people when they say the ‘forms’ of the Blue Ridges are beautiful; for there is common agreement that they are beautiful. Such common agreement is rare, however, when the ‘forms’ are works of art instead of mountains. Why?”
Mr Ozenfant said that man’s approach to art has been distorted by wrong art literature and by his having had to see since his earliest days so many ugly things labelled as art. “if we eat badly cooked food, read poor literature and see too much bad art too long, we distort the normalities of our nature,” he said. By “normal” he meant “what is basically human,” what has pervaded in human psychology from the man’s beginnings on earth to the present day.
“Man is a collection of needs,” continued Mr Ozenfant, “and it is the mission of the scientist, the musician, the poet, the philosopher, the leader, the prophet, the artist to satisfy these needs. Masterpieces are the works of art that have satisfied many needs of many men for many ages.”
On Saturday afternoon Jean Charlot completed the second of his two frescoes under the Studies Building.
WITH FORMER STUDENTS:
New Addresses:
Shirley Allen
50 Washington Square South
New York City 12
In the Mail:
Private Nell Goldsmith writes from Fort Oglethorpe in Georgia: “I am here..for my basic training which will last another three weeks. We really get just as rigorous a work-out as do the fellows: up at 6:00 AM, making beds in true military style, keeping uniforms in perfect press, attending classes all day- with plenty of ‘hut, 2, 3, 4’ in between. PT and drill and mess and GI this and GI that! But I am far from unhappy. It’s really very fascinating to be part of such a huge mass of uniformed women all ofwhom seem to have a purpose in mind as they go about to their classes in marching order..After this six weeks’ course, I will be sent to Romulus in Michigan….I’m a truck driver in the Air Transport Command, with unusually high hopes of getting overseas…”

BMC Community Bulletin Summer Bulletin 8 Page 3
Private Bob Marden wrote, en route to England: “We are ploughing through a slick sea, encompassed by fog so thick no sub could see us unless it were less than a hundred yards away…It is a trifle disconcerting to take a step in one direction and find one’s center of gravity suddenly shifted by the roll of the ship, with a resulting carom into the next guy. This contact is fortunately cushioned by the “Mae Wests” which we all wear constantly, but progress is somewhat hesitant and another minor source of irritation. By now we are settling down to the routine of shipboard life, and most of us are accustomed to the new and lowered scale of the comforts of living. It isn’t too bad. Fortunately, our sleeping quarters are cooler than when we were in port….There is much reading aboard, partly because there are so many Pocket Books of all types available. (One is included in the Red Cross kit which each one receives; and there are many copies of more or less modern novels in the Armed Forces Edition, 4” X 6”, around.)”
WITH FORMER MEMBERS OF THE STAFF:
In the Mail:
Sergeant John Evarts writes from somewhere in France on August 11: “I’m sitting on a blanket in a recently-cut oatfield. Sun’s low. And behind me is a row of pup-tents. That oriental bazaar one, that Barnum and Bailey one, made of five halves, belongs to four of my friends and me. Very nifty. Very roomy. Straw under the blankets. Good sleeping. And it’s France. Our trip over was interesting…. It’s clear weather now and fairly hot. We’re in good fields- apple trees around….A loud speaker has been set up which carries well to us- American special radio programs and news broadcasts. Funny to hear them out here with heavy thunder in the distance….We’re not allowed to move off of our area, unfortunately- but soon after we arrived, Alfred, 14, and Claude, 12, in a blue beret, arrived to visit us with their bicycles. They can become sort of mascots. The rust on my French is getting worn off a little. The boys brough over some apples. And soon our men were asking them for souvenirs. And getting a few. And the little boys re getting shoes for their families, and candy, sugar, cookies and other things. And Alfred brough me a small bottle of cognac, enough for a swallow for my four roommates and me….Today I was out of the area in a car to help interpret. Little roads, stone houses, old farms- not badly shot up by the Germans but left very messily after their occupation. They used all the food, all the wine they could; and what they couldn’t use, they destroyed. We went to find better bathing facilities and a good place to wash clothes; we found one- near a small town; a brook with a pool formed where a bomb had fallen. Clear, flowing water…Many pleasant and interesting conversations. People are very friendly. We had with us young Pierre Gosselin, 12, (who intends to become a cure), as a guide. There were five of us. When we returned to his home- a farm occupied until recently by the Germans- his mother and father insisted upon our coming in for pancakes. Each of us had two enormous ones- buckwheat, flour made by them, homemade butter, and cool, old bottled cider. Six children, four boys and two girls. We talked quite a lot. Drank a final toast of a little cognac with them to France and victory. Upstairs there was a piano. I played ‘Claire de Lune’, ‘Sur le Pont d’Avignon’, and they all sang- and a few other things. They asked for the Star Spangled Banner. I can play it. But the words still escape me- they escaped my companions, too. To cover our embarrassment a little, I ended up with ‘Tea for Two’ and the little girls giggled at a few modestly fancy parts! Then we left. Charming people!....My neighbor has discovered a shy field mouse in the bush. ‘Come, come’, says he dramatically, ‘We are your liberators! Don’t be scared!’ Then he adds: ‘Hey, John, we’ve got a member of the French underground here!. The radio carries on with ‘I’ll Get By’. The sun has gotten yellower and the sky is clear…”
Bob Kumabe writes from New York City: “New York is getting to be familiar and friendly…At present, I am working for the Greek War Relief Association, and I am enjoying it. I had a job with a paper wholesaler, but my objective is to get acquainted with the practical business world, so I am moving around…”

B M C Community Bulletin Summer Bulletin 8 Page 4
News:
Private Isaac Nakata is in southern Italy where he is “resting” until September, when he will go back to his outfit. Recently he visited in Naples the home of the Italian KP whom he met in the hospital where he was confined for a while.
Don Page is now in North Africa. Before he left the United States, he was promoted to a First Lieutenancy.

COMMUNITY WORK REPORT:
(August 7- August 19)
During the week of August 7-12 the road was reditched; and its ruts, from the little Cottage to the Studies Building, were filled. It was then dragged in an abortive manner until the Dump Truck gave in with a sickening sigh!
The lawns received some attention and the new College sign was put up on the new and the now-painted entrance fence.
At the Farm weeds were cut, fences were repaired, and a long and tedious ditch was dug from the Milk House to below the road.
Becky had a heifer calf. More impressive still, however, the new road was started that will make it possible to fill the silos and the Beef Shed Loft from an upper level without turning, backing, and getting jammed in the front yard.
Vegetables were picked and hoed at frequent intervals.
During the week of August 14-19 the work time was taken up mainly in hauling a carload of coal from Grovestone.
The trim on the magnesium laboratory was painted.
A new truck bed was completed for the International Truck, and the roof of the College station wagon was repainted.
The Lodge roof was patched, and a lattice was started under the porch of North Lodge to hide the debris which collect there. (Slightly immoral, but easier on the eyes!)
Work on the new road at the Farm was continued. A last planting of beans was put in at the corner of the curved field.
The Milk House Ditch was finished and is now ready to be tiled.
Shoots have been cut on the new ground.
A crop of alfalfa was cut and harvested on the Farm House field.
The terrace under the Studies Building is now entirely graded and gravelled and smooth- which is only fitting when one thinks of the murals.
--Mary Gregory

ROSTER OF PEOPLE IN THE COLLEGE COMMUNITY
As of August 21, 1944
Students:
A Richard Albany
S Adele Albert
M Eugenia Avery
A Kathryn Baldock
W Barbara Banks
M Abby Barnett
S Marilyn Bauer
M Lillian Berger
A Roberta Blair
A Jane Bland
W Jagna Braunthal
M Mrs Breeskin
M Dorothy Breeskin
M Gloria Breeskin
S Mary Brett
S Sam Brown
A Kathryn Burnside
A Ernest Costa
A Irene Cullis
S Gwen Currier
A Mary Lou Derryberry
S Roxane Dinkowitz
M Abelle Dinkowitz
S Dan Dixon
A Paula Eicke
S Charles Forberg
W Emily Frey
M Clara Gerschkow
M Ruby Gevertz
A Denver Gillen
A Elizabeth Gittlen
S Lorrie Goulet
W Ati Gropius
M Phyllis Gross
M Alberta Halstead
A Hazel Harris
A Ruth Highland
M Robert Isaacson
A Florence Kawa
S Betty Kelley
A Margaret Kennard
M Ada Kopetz
S Mary Kriger
S Liese Kulka
A Hazel Larsen
M Paula Lenchner
M Ursula Lewis
S Harriette Lyford
A Mary Ruth Lyford
S Patsy Lunch
M Monika Lanyi-Mann
S Helsie Wright Marden
W Joan Martinson
A Mrs H Maser
M Jane Mayhall
A Marie McCall
S Arlyn McKenna
S Archie McWilliams
S Ruth Miller
S Faith Murray
S Neal Nathanson
A Lillian Nunn
S Ruth O’Neill
M Iris Okun
S Ginger Osbourne
S Carol Ostrow
A Virginia Parker
M Josephine Pater
Sec Viera Pevsner
M Jenny Pitcoff
S Barbara Pollet
Sec Janet Rees
A John Reiss
A Dorothy Rossen
S Gloria Rosenfield
M Simon Sadoff
S Laille Schutz
M Louise Schmidt
W Harold Schuyler
M Jeanette Siegel
M Clara Silvers
A Irene Simon
Sec Olga Schwartz
S Jane Slater
A Nancy Smith
S Tanya Sprager
A Joan Stack
M Alma Stone
M Jane R Stone
S Margaret Strauss
A Kathryn Swartzbaugh
M Jean Swanson
A Mrs Sussman
A Mr Sussman
A Hilda Terry
M Mary Van Deman
M Muffie Vaughn
S Jeanne Wacker
A Edna Way
M Jane Woodruff
Staff:
Henrietta Barth
Mrs Billig
Peggy Emery
Mimi French
Gerda Hagendorn
Nell Rice
Mrs AD Stone
*H McGuire Wood
Esther Coppock
Faculty:
Anni Albers
Josef Albers
Eric Bentley
Fred Cohen
Frances de Graaff
Theodore Dreier
Molly Gregory
Fritz Hansgirg
Heinrich Jalowetz
Elsa Kahl
Marianne Kopp
Kenneth Kurtz
Erwin Straus
Trudi Straus
Robert Wunsch
Music Faculty:
Marcel Dick
Lorna Freedman
Nikolai Graudan
Joanna Graudan
Rudolf Kolisch
Ernst Krenek (8-22)
Lotte Leonard
Art Faculty:
Victor d’Amico
Jean Charlot
Belle Boas
Jose de Creeft
Walter Gropius
JB Neumann
James Prestini
Families:
Maja Bentley
Mrs Charlot
Ann Charlot
Johnny Charlot
Martin Charlot
Ann Dick
Suzie Dick
Barbara Dreier
Edward Dreier
Ted Dreier, Jr
Mrs Walter Gropius
Maria Hansgirg
Mrs Krenek (8-22)
Johanna Jalowetz
Helene Kopp
Henry Leonard
Gretel Lowinsky
Naomi Ruth Lowinsky
Kitchen and Maids:
Margaret Dougherty
Malony Jones
Kathleen Gardner
Willie Gardner
Jack Lipsey
Gertrude Lytle
Jessie Lytle
Maude Roundtree
Will Smith
*Not living on campus

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