7p, onesided pages, mimeograph on matte off white paper. 21 horizontal folds, staple in top left corner, envelope printed on the back side of the last page. The bulletin was mailed to Mr and Mrs Theodore Dreier in Cambridge. Marc Oakland came as a visiting member of the music faculty Mentions that the summer institute had gained fame nationwide and had received some 100 applications even before the formal announcement was sent out announces that there would be no music institute this summer announces that the work camp will open at the close of the spring term, June 19th and ended on Sep 28 Vera Baker, Francis Foster, Alexa McLane, Eva Schlein, and Susie Teasdale have been approved to enter the senior division. April visitors: Sue Burton, Mr and Mrs Robert Marden, Fernando S. Leon, Charles Forberg, Layton Noel of Merion; Mrs Leslie R. Schauffler and son David and nephew Manuel; Sue Schauffler, Anna A. Lockwood; Howard Sherman; Howard Rondthaler; Judge and Mrs Robert Walcott, Robert Jr., Daisy Walcott; Miss Frances Miller, Mr and Mrs Alfred N Hulst, Mr and Murs Duncan Scott, and Daughters; Mrs W.F.Gibbs; Mr and Mrs Fred Wale; Mr and Mrs Fred Olsen, and daughter Elizabeth Ann; Don Irish, Janet Haas, Marcia Huntoon; Betty Perinier, Hannah France, Carol Berkley, Sarah Lewis, William Danenburg. Charles Dreyfus, Mrs G K Williams, Edward Lockwood.
COMMUNITY BULLETIN BLACK MOUNTAIN COLLEGE
Spring Quarter, April, 1946 college year
COMMUNITY COUNCIL PLAN by Jack Taylor
At a community meeting held in the dining hall Wednesday, April 17, the new Community Council Plan was made public. This new proposal calls for a body consisting of eight members: three faculty members, three students, one representative elected by faculty wives and employees, and one member from the community as a whole.
This council will have jurisdiction over standards of community conduct, student housing arrangements, provision for guests, campus cleanliness, laundry room regulations and the use the misuse of property, both private and community.
Under present community government these delegations of authority have been given to various committees. It has been ascertained that more efficiency might be obtained under the new Council Plan in such matters as the community as a whole.
Since all ultimate control over school government rests legally with the faculty, the adoption of the Council Plan will provide for greater student participation in local self-government.
Major discussion of the plan at the electorate of the community would vote on all Council members; 2) whether a vote action would be possible on Council legislation. Final decision was reached that the faculty would hold its own election of representatives and the students theirs. In like fashion the non-faculty non-student representatives would be elected from its small but important constituency, while the final member representing the community as a whole would be chosen by the total electorate. It was pointed out that this member could well be a student since students constitute the majority group in the community.
The possibility for vote of Council legislation was provided in an amendment, proposed by Elliott Merrick, whereby two-thirds referendum by the whole community against a Council decision would revoke the unpopular legislation. An alternative was proposed by Molly Gregory that the two-thirds vote refer the legislation back to the Council for “reconsideration” rather than to nullify it.
The meeting closed with the Council Plan referred back to the faculty for consideration of legal means to adopt it, with the addition of either version of the two-thirds referendum amendment that they deem most practicable.
Student body consensus favored the Council Plan as giving them a more real participation in community government, since present Student government has the power only to recommend action to the faculty on any issue of importance.
MARC FAX by Jane Markoff
Marc Oakland Fax has been welcomed this quarter as a visiting member of the music faculty. Mr. Fax recently received his Master’s Degree from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied under Bernard Rogers, Alvin Hanson, Soderland and Royce.
In addition to teaching harmony and piano, Mr. Fax is giving an introductory course in music for students without technical background, as well as assisting with chorus and concerts. He is at present preparing for a solo recital at which he will play a number of modern works, two of his own composition.
Mr. Fax joined the BMC community on relatively short notice in answer to the need created by the death of Dr. Jalowetz. His work up to this time has been primarily in composition and teaching. Since arriving here, he has begun work on a sonata for clarinet and piano. Mr. Fax was Director of Music for eight years at Paine College, Augusta, Georgia. Born in Baltimore in 1911, he received his AB in Music from Syracuse University in 1933.
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“Black Mountain College,” said our new friend, in a recent interview, “offers a total education, taking place through experience and information. It is unique in this respect. Democracy is lived here, and not taught.”
Mrs. Fax, who is a YWCA secretary in Rochester and studies sociology at the University there, and their two-year old son, Jesse, plan to visit the college during the quarter.
ART NEWS by Joan Maurice
The Black Mountain College Art Institute is gaining wide regognition and appears to be making an important contribution to American art. The fame of previous summer sessions is shown by the fact that over 100 inquiries for this summer were received before even a preliminary announcement had been sent out.
The guest faculty thus far appointed includes many well-known artists and lecturers. Jean Varda, Monterey, California, who was described and praised by Henry Miller in issue number four of Circle Magazine will teach painting as will Jacob Lawrence of New York. Concetta Scaravaglione of Sarah Lawrence College and Leo Amino will give courses in sculpture. Advertising design courses will be taught by Will Burtin of Fortune magazine and Leonard Lionni.
Lecturers announced for the Art Institute include Walter Gropius, who will again speak on architecture and planning; John McAndrew, from Wellesley College, who will discuss the history of architecture; Beaumont Newhall, from the Museum of Modern Art, who will talk on photography, and Balcombe Green, who will speak on modern art.
The regular members of the BMC art faculty will continue to give their popular courses: Josef Albers, Basic Design and Color; Anni Albers, Textile Design; and Molly Gregory, Woodworking.
There will be no Music Institute this year.
The April issue of Design magazine, redesigned from cover to cover by Alvin Lustig, who gave a course in Graphic Design last summer, has been devoted entirely to last summer’s Art Institute. Articles, with accompanying illustrations, have been written by members of the Art Institute guest faculty, including Walter Gropius, Lyonel Feininger, Robert Motherwell, Paul Beidler, Alvin Lustig and Mary Callery. Josef Albers, Anni Albers and Jane Slater of BMC have also contributed artivities. The magazine also included illustrations of the work of Fritz Gore, Ossip Zadkine, and Fannie Hillsmith. Copies may be ordered through the college store for 35c. (4c covers mailing for persons not at the college.)
SUMMER WORK CAMP by Hannelore Hahn
The work camp will open at the close of the spring term, June 19th, and end on September 28th, the beginning of the fall term.
A work camper may apply for a minimum period of one month’s stay, the numer of workers being limited to about fifteen in number, approximately ten of whom will include present BMC students. Members of the work camp will form a nucleus to provide continuity of work and responsibility for planning and helping in major projects undertaken during the summer. All members of the Community will participate in the general work program.
All camp members will work 5 hours a day; skilled workers who can help organize the community work program will obtain room and board for their work, while unskilled members will be charged $14.00 per week.
Norman Fletcher, of the Architects Collaborative, Cambridge, Mass., worked for three weeks, determining sites and specifications for a proposed dormitory. If adequate funds and materials
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Are available, work campers and other community members will help erect a new dormitory. Construction this summer will be directed by a commercial contractor.
Other work camp projects will be divided into two groups: 1) farm work, such as harvesting of silage, hay, corn and potatoes; 2) operational jobs, such as the hauling of wood and trash, and general repair projects.
Work campers will be regular community members; they will be able to take one class and participate in all other community activities, such as lectures, dances and concerts.
ALUMNI NEWS by Thomas Cutshaw
Greetings were received at Easter from Ray, Dottie and Susan Trayer (Dottie was a College secretary in 1942-43), with a gift to the building fund: “A reading of the winter quarter community bulletin brings back fond memories of BMC....Warmest regards to all.” the Trayers are living in Pendle Hill, Wallingford, Pennsylvania.
Marite Pevsner writes from Washington “Remembering with nostalgia the two years at BMC, I will speak of the College with great enthusiasm to a large group of people....the prospect of a visit to Lake Eden is very tempting, but, quite unfortunately put of the question at the moment...in the meantime I would be glad to meet any of the new or old students who will be spending time in Washington...best wishes for a successful spring quarter, and good luck on the fund raising campaign.”
On April 15, Mr. And Mrs. Lawrence Katz (Nancy Brager) of Woodholme Avenue, Pikesville, Maryland, visited for the day.
From Gisela Kronenberg in Chicago: “I am still at the IMI pushing back the frontiers of Science, only sometimes it seems as though they won’t budge one iota. Every once in a while we make a small dent. One of these dents is going to be published in the not too distant future in the form of a paper by my boss, another scientist, and myself. I guess that some people consider me an up and coming young scientist or something along that line. Anyway the Society of Sigma Xi made me a full member...Recently, I saw Leslie Paul who is understudying in the ‘Late George Apley’ currently playing in Chicago. Henry Adams’ cousin, too, is in Chicago in ‘Dark of the Moon’.”
NEW STUDENTS by Joan Couch
LARRY FOX, who attended BMC for two quarters in 1943, is back after two years in the Seabase, absorbed now in ‘Just getting back to school and studying’.
SYLVIA ROSENFELD, New York, formerly worked with semi-professional, labor union, adult education, and children groups teaching, directing and writing drama. Writing and directing drama are her main interests now. She is utilizing her former experience to benefit BMC having organized a large drama class which is now working on a community program, consisting of demonstrations of acting techniques, scenes from various plays, and an act from ‘Deep are the Roots’.
DAVE RESNIK, Ramsey, New Jersey, came here after 35 months in the Army. Now he wants to get a general background for his main interest, newspaper writing.
IRV KREMEN, Chicago, spent three years at Northwestern University, studying journalism, after which he worked on the Chicago Journal of Commerce as a by-line reporter and wrote a weekly-review-of-the-news column. The five months before BMC were spent in New York ‘gathering experience’.
BEATRICE MYERS and FLORENCE WILLIAMS, here on a quarter’s leave of absence from Temple University, both had two and a half years there, Bea a major in social studies and Flossie in math. Interested in teaching, they both did practice work in a New Jersey High School last summer.
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KEN COX, Winnetka, Illinois, just finished 2 ½ years in the Signal Corps, plans to concentrate on architecture, and is here for a general liberal arts background and art training.
LEONARD SCHWARTZ, Interested in sculpture since high school, worked at it alone for a while, then studied for a year with Sam Cashwan, a modern sculptor, in Detroit. He attended Wayne University for two years, majoring in philosophy and art, and spent 2 ½ years in the Navy. After his discharge, he had his own studio in Taos, New Mexico, in New York, and at Oberlin, where he studied philosophy and art, until coming to BMC. While there he held a one-man exhibition at the Oberlin Museum; he now has an open-air studio on the terrace below the studios building.
NIC MUZENIC, New York, studied at the Art Center School in California for two years, after which he did engineering illustration in an aircraft factory, until he went into the Navy in May 1945. After his release, he spent most of his time painting ‘unlearning his two years at the Art Center School’ until coming to BMC.
NEIL ALBRIGHT can be found of a Sunday flying about the campus in one of those yellow cub planes available at the local airfield. He comes to BMC from 3 ½ years of flying duty with the Navy. Originally from Sunbury, Pennsylvania.
APRIL STUDENT MEETINGS by Jack Taylor
Judy Chernoff, newly elected student moderator, has been steering student meetings efficiently through the recurrent business of nominations, elections, announcements alarms and excursions. Jack Bailey, new work coordinator extra-ordinar, has taken over the role of surveying the situation, asking for suggestions and encouraging cooperation.
New business this month has included what term student members of the proposed Community Council should serve. After a free discussion of a one-year or a six-month term, the latter was approved by a majority show of hands. Tentative dates for elections, previously set at May and December, are yet to be considered; also clarification of voter eligibility. Under the new plan, student meetings may be more closely devoted to matters solely concerning students.
NOTES ON BOARD MEETINGS
The Board of Fellows has voted to extend the appointments of the following members of the faculty whose contracts were due to be reconsidered this year: Albert William Levi, Elliott Merrick, Herbert Miller, Mary Caroline Richards, Theodore Rondthaler, and John Wallen. Robert Walcott has accepted a position at Weester College in Ohio for next year.
Norman Fletcher will send large-scale drawings of the proposed dormitory for community comments and suggestions, also sketches for use in a money raising leaflet.
NOTES ON FACULTY MEETINGS by Sherman
After revising and completing discussion on the Community Council, and referring it to the total community, the faculty voted to accept the Community Council Plan.
The Faculty agreed to send Dr. Miller to the annual conference of the Western Division, North Carolina Education Association, as a representative of the College.
Eddy Lowinsky was elected to become a member of the Board of Fellows in place of Dave Corkran, who resigned due to his leave of absence.
M.C. Richards was elected to the admissions committee.
For the past three weeks the faculty has been considering Senior Division examinations: Vera Baker, Francis, Foster, Alexa McLane, Eva Schlein and Susie Teasdale have been approved.
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GUGGENHEIM FELLOWSHIP
Exciting news recently received announced that Edward Lowinsky had been granted a Guggenheim Fellowship for 1946. Out of concern for the problems facing the music department here owing to Jalo’s death, Eddy appealed for a year’s postponement of the grant, which was approved by half. The Lowinskys will begin their leave in February 1947.
This fellowship will permit “the North Carolinian” (as he was called in an account by the Asheville Citizen) to write a history of the Motet from Ockeghem to Orlando Di Lassus, covering the period from 1460 to 1560.
Eddy and Gretel have been invited to Duke University the week-end of May 4-6, where they will appear in a chamber concert, and where Eddy will be guest speaker at the final meeting of the Erasmus Club, devoted to the humanities.
OVATION
An unusually large audience was delighted by the performance of Sylvesta Morgan (neo Martin), Florence Fogelson, and Richard Lockwood, voice students of Johanna Jalowetz, who were introduced in a concert Saturday night, April 27. They were accompanied by Marc Fax.
Vesta sang an aria and a canzona from “The Marriage of Figaro” both from the role of Chorubine, the handsom page, which was originally sung by a young boy. Flossie presented “The Violet” and the soprano aria which opens the second act of “Figaro”. Together they lifted through the Mendelssohn duets, the lyrics of which were translated from the German by Trudi Straus. Three Brahms lieder were sensitively interpreted by Dick Lockwood.
In addition, a Haydn and a Beethoven trio were played by Gretel and Eddy Lowinsky and Bah Lockwood. It was a great night!
CONFERENCE OF SOUTHERN STUDENTS by Jack Taylor
At the second annual Conference of Southern Studies, held at Hampton Institute, Hampton, Virginia, April 12-13, Black Mountain was represented by Jack Taylor, who was sent by funds contributed by the community. The purpose of the conference was to establish a liberal action organization among the progressive-minded students of southern colleges that would serve to promote and activate the principles set forth in our National Constitution and Bill of Rights, and covered generally by the Four Freedoms outlined in the Atlantic Charter.
The scope of the organization’s future activities includes international, national, and regional social and political information to the various school chapters, concerning liberal legislation, reforms needed, or violations of the democratic principles for which the conference stands, it is the aim of the organization to find means of becoming a potent and active force in bringing about much needed social reforms and acting as a cohesive petitioning body in all spheres where democratic action is possible.
Schools represented were: Black Mountain, Duke, U.N.C., W.C.U. N.C., Bonnet, Union, Bethune-Cookman, Berea, Tusculum and Rollins. The Fiske representative was unable to attend.
The most ambitious immediate undertaking of the Conference was to nominate two members to represent the C.S.S. at a Student Conference to be held in Prague this coming August. The necessary $1400 for expenses will be raised through contributions from social-minded philanthropic organizations and the various school chapter drives.
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NEGRO NURSERY PROJECT
At a recent student meeting, we learned from Eddy Lowinsky of the plight of the Tiny Tot Negro Day Nursery in Asheville, which, despite over-whelming odds, has been providing excellent care to 30 children of working parents.
When Federal appropriation was withdrawn from public nursery schools following the war’s end, many of those dependent social service organizations were forced either to close their doors, or to send out an urgent appeal for funds with which to continue their existence. The Tiny Tots Play School requires additional money to purchase food and to pay rent and salaries to the staff, consisting of two teachers, a nurse and a cook; other needs include curtains, folding cots, small cupboards and furniture, and a variety of portable playground toys, we were informed.
Hearing this, a large proportion of the student body offered their skills and part of their spare time to the satisfaction of some of these needs.
The following Sunday afternoon, a delegation of 12 students, together with Eddy Lowinsky, attended an open house program at the invitation of Mr. Vernon D. Cowan, teacher at Stevens Lee High School and founder-business manager of the day nursery. Mr. Cowan conducted us through the school rooms, which comprise the entire basement of the Calvary Presbyterian Church and pointed out that the children, ranging from 1 ½ to 6 years of age, are inspected by the nurse upon their arrival at 8:00 each morning. Then they are free to play until lunchtime after which they retire to individual cots for afternoon naps. Refreshed, they resume their play until 5:00 PM, when they are again fed and then called for by their parents. Tuition is $2.50 per week per child. A few children of needier families have been granted “scholarships” with the aid of funds donated by friends and acquaintances of the nursery school project, Mr. Cowan said.
One of the most pressing needs we noticed is that a small fence be erected to prevent the children from accidentally falling down the stoop embankment at one end of the playground.
At present BMC students plan to raise money through contributions, and to construct as much of the needed material as possible in the college workshop.
FIELD WORK IN SOCIAL STUDIES
John Wallen’s class in “Pedagogical Psychology” got a new title and method of working this quarter. It is conducting a series of discussions with a group of Black Mountain High School students, and is now called “Field Work in Social Studies.”
Following the technique and outline of Baker Brownell’s “The Montana Study”, the group has been centering its bi-weekly meetings in the high school around North Carolina and the Black Mountain Community. At each meeting a different student in the class, who has also done research for the material discussed, lends the group. Thus far the discussions have been led by John Wallen, Jose Yglesias, Anne Banks, Stuart Atkinson and Dorothy Cole.
VISITORS DURING APRIL by Alice Rondthaler
April brought a stream of visitors, some of whom were guests on the campus, others of whom stayed in nearby Black Mountain and spent day times at the College. Among these were several former students: Sue Burton of New York City; Mr. And Mrs. Robert Marden (Helsie Wright) of Boston; Fernando S. Leon of USN Baltimore; Charles Forberg of Cambridge; and Layton Noel of Merion, Pennsylvania.
Others were relatives of students: Mrs. Leslie R. Schauffler and son, David, and nephew, Manuel, of Prairie View, Illinois, visiting daughters Sue Schauffler and Anna A. Lockwood; Howard Sherman of Chicago, visiting brother Dick; Howard
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Rondthaler, USNR of Norman, Oklahoma, visiting the parent Rondthalers; Judge and Mrs. Robert Walcott, Sr. Of Cambridge, visiting Robert, Jr., Daisy Walcott and the grandchildren.
Others were: Miss Frances Miller of Walter Mil, L.I., visiting Anni Albers; Mr. And Mrs. Alfred N. Hulst of Westport, Mass., visiting Molly Gregory; Mr. And Mrs. Duncan Scott and daughters, of Philadelphia, visiting M.C. and Bill Levy; Mrs. W.F. Gibbs of New York City, visiting Dr. And Mrs. Herbert Miller; Mr. And Mrs. Fred Wale of Chicago; Mr. And Mrs. Fred Olsen and daughter Elizabeth Ann of Alton, Illinois; Don Irish of the Meredith Country School, New Hampshire, with eleven hostelers; Janet Haas, Marela Kuntoon, Betty Perinier, Hannah France, and Carol Berkley of Rollins College; and Sarah Lewis and Wiliam Dannenburg of Guilford College.
Editing: Irwin Krenen, M.C. Richards
Publishing: Judith Chernoff, Flossie Fogelson and BJ Osbourne
PS—Additions to VISITORS-
Charles Dreyfus, Sn of Paris, France, visited son Charles; Mrs GK Williams of Winnetka, visited son Paul; and Edward Lockwood of Claremont, Calif., visited son Dick.
