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Unknown BMC (Primary)
Title

Black Mountain College Community Bulletin College Year 13 First November Edition, 1945

Date
1945
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
2017.40.213a-d
Copyright
In Copyright, Educational Use Permitted
Description

4p, onesided pages, mimeograph on matte off white paper. 12 horizontal folds, staple in top left corner. Envelope printed on the back side of the 4th page. The bulletin was mailed to Mr and Mrs Theodore Dreier in Cambridge. Members of the Advisory Council listened to the report on the College's financial situations on Nov 2. The second Advisory Council meeting held on Nov 3. Annual Meeting of the Faculty on Nov 4. Theodore Dreier was elected rector. A former BMC student Harriott Engelhardt was killed in a jeep which overturned near Munich on Oct 26. Visitors present- Nov 1: Dr Robert Ulich Story-writer I A R Wylio on Oct 26.

BLACK MOUNTAIN COLLEGE
First November edition college year 13
EVENTS:
Oct. 26 Authoress IAR Wylie spoke informally on “Writing as a Profession.”
Oct. 27 The community enjoyed an old-fashioned Halloween party with square dancing, apple ducking musical chairs, pretzels and beer.
Nov. 1 Dr Robert Ulich, Professor of Edication at Harvard University and a member of our Advisory Council, spoke on “The Dilemma in Modern Education.”
Nov. 2 Members of the Advisory Council, Mrs Anna Jamieson, Dr Robert Ulich, Professor John Burchard and Mr Fred Wale, met with the faculty, student officers and a number of students to hear reports of the standing College committees and Professor William Cole’s tentative report on the financial status of the College.
In the evening, Professor Burchard, architect and Head of Libraries at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, spoke about “The Reconstruction of Europe.” Professor Burchard was active during the war in scientific warfare.
Nov. 3 The second Advisory Council meeting was held.
Edward Lowinsky gave the second of his informal recitals, playing music by Bach and Beethoven.
Nov. 4 At the Annual Meeting of the Faculty, Theodore Dreier and Mary Gregory were elected three-year members, and Albert W Levi and Theodore Rondthaler were elected one-year members of the Board of Fellows. Herbert A Miller was elected to serve as Chairman of the Faculty during the Rector’s absence.
The Board of Fellows, at its Annual Meeting, elected Theodore Dreier as Rector, Theodore Rondthaler as Treasurer, and Mary Gregory as Secretary of the Corporation. Josef Albers was elected to serve as Chairman of the Board during the Rector’s absence.
Nov. 8 Students and faculty participated in the forum on “World Organization.” A discussion technique which had been suggested by John Wallen was followed. Vera Baker, Irma Ehrman, Tek Koneberg and Joan Maurice presented summaries of phases of the United Nations Charter and the leading objections to it. The group then divided into smaller groups, in which the mentioned students acted as chairmen. At the end of an hour, all came together again and summations of the smaller group discussions were read. These statements were posted in Dining Hall. Another meeting on the subject may be held.
Nov. 9 Miss Constance Warren, former president of Sarah Lawrence College, talked about “The Differences between Sarah Lawrence and Black Mountain.” Miss Warren visited with her nephew, Dick Andrews, a graduate of Black Mountain, and his wife, who worked at the Black Mountain College Inn one summer. The Andrews are going north, and Dick will continue his work and studies in art.
Nov. 10 Dr Rudolph Moses, Dean of Dillard University, lectured on “A Ful, Vicious Man,” including a reading of “The Pardoner’s Tale” from “The Canterbury Tales.”
BLACK MOUNTAIN COLLEGE NOTES
First November edition page two
ADVISORY COUNCIL:
Theodore Dreier presided as Rector at the two sessions of the Council which met in the Round House on November 2 and 3 with faculty, student officers and several students.
The first session was devoted to reports. Dr Herbert Miller, speaking for the Admissions Committee, gave the geographical distribution of current students and the prospects for futures students. Bill McLaughlin outlined the working of the studentgovernment. Sue Schauffler and Suzanne Teasdale explained the jobs which the Work Program had completed and planned to complete this year.
In a discussion of the Music and Art Institutes, Theodore Rondthaler presented the costs of the Institutes, and Edward Lowinsky and Josef Albers talked about their value and mentioned future housing needs.
Professor William Cole, the College auditee, reported on the general financial condition of the College. Theodore Rondthaler spoke for the Money Raising Committee, and John Burchard suggested new sources for money and talked about the planning of drives.
Meeting again on November 3, longer range problems were discussed: The vital need for space, the possible establishment of an alumni fund, general versus specialized education, the availability of stating some principles of education arrived at from the College’s twelve years of experience, inter-relating of classes and coherence in the curriculum.
VISITORS:
On November 1, Dr Robert Ulich spoke on “The Dilemma in Modern Education”:
“We have trained young people,” he said, “and we have no better civilization. We must admit that we have never been closer to universal barbarism than we are today. The great dream, the establishment of universal education, has been realized institutionally but has not achieved the deeper moral results expected....
“We have an education going on in a society which in itself is in a state of transition... The age of nationalism is giving way to an age of some kind of organization which we cannot yet see... Unless we see clearly that everybody in society- the industrialist, broker, politician- feels that he is just as responsible as anyone else, we fail to clarify what education can do and what it cannot do...”
Dr Ulrich went on to present his idea of a campus on which all students would receive the kind of education most adequate for their particular needs, potentialities, talents- some to receive, for example, training in management or in craftsmanship; some to spend time acquiring theoretical knowledge and performing experiments; some to work in the arts- to avoid adjusting all education to the intellectual type, which is what we find education doing today.
Story-writer IAR Wylie spoke in the lobby of South Lodge on the morning of October 26. Basing her talk on years of experience as author of magazine serials, novels and scenarios, she chose for her topic, “Writing as a Profession.” Miss Wylie said she was not interested in authoritarian forms of education, and it is her belief that she would not have become a writer had she, during her British youth,
BLACK MOUNTAIN COLLEGE NOTES
First November edition page 3
Spent four years at Oxford or Cambridge comparing herself with Shakespear and milton.
“To grow up quickly and then stay young a long time,” she quoted as one of her maxims. She said that she had been earning her living by her pen since she was eighteen years old. Her advice to students with a flair for story-telling was to follow their own beat and write what appeals to them. In support of this, she stated that during many years of writing successfully for the “Saturday Evening Post”, “Colliers” and other magazines, she had experienced conspicuous failures whenever she acceded to pressure from editors or agents and wrote the stories they asked her to write. “It must come from within and not from without,” she said.
She closed her talk with descriptions of the difficulties besetting a writer in Hollywood, “where three hundred people usually have a finger in each story-pie.” she said she hoped the movies would one day realize their great potentialities as a medium of art.
IN THE MAIL:
From Emil Willimetz, writing about Tommy Wentworth from France:
“...The following is from a letter written by the chaplain of his outfit: ‘...Tom was acting as squad leader in the platoon which had the mission to take part of Fort Korenreaux, near Brest, and set up a defensive position. Tom was selecting positions for field of fire when a sniper shot him in the head. He died almost instantly...
“’His friends who were there with him on the day he died will testify that he was a brave man. Futhermore, he was awarded the Bronze Star medal for his actions on that day.’
“I wonder whether or not you can realize what strides Tommy made toward maturity and self-realization in the short time he was a solider. For such a young, shy, inward searching boy to bring himself to the point where he can lead a twelve-man squad into battle, when he himself had only a few weeks of combat experience, to me represents a tremendous achievement. He was not only able to conquer the terrible fear and confusion of a young infantryman going into battle, but was able at the same time to master himself.”
John Evarts writes from Munich on October 19:
“Though I am still in the Army I have begun my new and very interesting work in Munich. DISCC means District Information Services Control Command. And that means: a unit which has control over music, film, theatre publications, activities in the eastern part of the American zone. It is concerned with helping the Germans begin activities in these fields and with de-Nazifying these fields. No former Party Member may take part for the present. The background of every participant- whether a manager or a performer- is very carefully examined. I will, of course, be in the music section….
“In a week or so I hope to receive my discharge from the Army and to continue my work here as a civilian. It will probably be a long time though before the various complications are ironed out…”
BLACK MOUNTAIN COLLEGE NOTES
First November edition page four
Mrs LS Berry writes to Dr Miller from Portage, Wisconsin:
“Thank you for your interest in inquiring about my son William. We had an official report from the War Department stating that ‘Lt William C Berry has been reported missing in action May 19, 1945 during an air attack on the Kurile Islands.’ During that attack he was flying a Mitchell B-25.”
From Don Page in Denver, writing on November 9:
“Got back in the US last week and was put on a troop train and sent to Fort Logan near Denver before I had time to turn around. I had hoped to be released in New York and make my way down to BMC, but they wouldn’t even let us out of camp for one hour.
“My discharge becomes final, or rather, I go on inactive status, on December 26, 1945. I will then be a full-fledged civilian again. Happy day.
“It’s good to see the States again, very good, and it’s nice to think about getting back to work again. I’ve decided to go to Harvard or some work in Architecture. I’ve been accepted there and hope to be able to start next February…”
SPECIAL:
The American Red Cross, in Washington DC, has been informed that Harriett Engelhardt, a clubmobile worker, was killed in a jeep which overturned near Munich on October 26. Harriett was a student at the College during the years 1939 to 1942.

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