Finding Aid of the Theodore and Barbara Loines Dreier Black Mountain College Collection (Dreier BMC Collection), 1925 - 1988, PC.1956
Abstract
Theodore (Ted) Dreier trained as an engineer at Harvard (A.B., 1923; S.B., 1925),
and began working for the General Electric Company (GE). He and Barbara Loines Dreier
(Bryn Mawr, A.B., 1928, Enlish Literature and Art History) were married in 1928 and
initially lived in Schenectady, New York, home of GE headquarters. In 1930, Ted Dreier
changed his career to education and took a faculty position in physics at Rollins
College, Winter Park, Florida. In 1933, John Andrew Rice was fired and a portion of
faculty, including Dreier, either resigned or were dismissed during a controversy
over academic freedom and tenure at the college.
Several of the dissidents agreed to establish a college of their own, in part a response
to poor prospects for employment during the Great Depression. At least equally significant,
the founders, particularly Rice and Dreier, were inspired by the progressive educational
ideals of John Dewey. They envisioned an intimate educational community that would
learn, live, and work together (typically farming and later, building projects). Focus
was on the development of the whole person and the quest for knowledge as part of
a wider aim of learning to use knowledge and of living intelligently. As a reaction
to the founders' experience at Rollins College, there would be no outside control
via an administration or board of trustees. In essence, the creation of the college
was a constructive criticism of higher education based on rigid methods and governance.
Named Black Mountain College (BMC) and located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North
Carolina, the college initially drew a small following of former Rollins students
and a few recruited from the northeast. Early on, the founders decided to stress the
practice, not just the study of the arts and to raise the arts courses to full curricular
status. Into this venture, Dreier brought his supportive wife, Barbara, and two young
sons. (Another son and a daughter were born in 1937 and 1946, respectively.) The Dreiers
remained at BMC until 1949, during which time Dreier taught and served variously as
administrator, fund-raiser, treasurer, rector, and served continuously on the Board
of Fellows, responsible for the finances of the college and hiring and firing of faculty.
The Dreiers possessed and nourished a strong network of family, extended family, and
friends, many of whom were highly influential and supportive in a variety of ways
of the college and its ideals. From the founding of the college in 1933 until 1949,
when the Dreiers departed, Ted Dreier brought to the college a remarkable spirit of
adventure, enthusiasm, dedication, and discipline; and he contributed immeasurably
to the community's tradition of independent thought and idealism.
The Dreier Black Mountain College Collection represents a variety of papers created
by or collected by Theodore and Barbara Loines Dreier during their sixteen years at
Black Mountain College (1933-1949), and for several years prior to and following their
tenure at the college--as early as 1925 and as late as 1988. This collection contains
papers and correspondence and other materials relating to Ted and Barbara Dreier,
their extensive connections and network of family and friends; and it also documents
the educational, administrative, and fund raising activities associated with Dreier's
various positions within the college, including his role as one of the college's founders.
Other than correspondence, the collection includes clippings, programs, and articles;
class notes and papers; files on individuals with Black Mountain College connections
and various topics such as music and art; manuscripts, mostly those of Ted Dreier;
the personal professional files of Dreier as treasurer, Board of Fellows, faculty
member; notes; official correspondence; college publications, and miscellaneous files,
and special items such as Ted Dreier's scrapbook; Barbara Dreier's course notes; printed
materials, from the college and those written about the college; a Gropius-Breuer
portfolio; photographs and negatives of family at BMC, and various students and faculty.
The bulk of the material dates from 1933 to 1949, though there are some papers dating
from the time before and after the Dreier's marriage in 1928; some correspondence
and materials dated during Ted Dreier's tenure as an assistant professor of physics
at Rollins College (1930-1933); and there is some material, including correspondence
during the period of post-Black Mountain College, as late as 1988, from individuals
previously associated with the college. See the container list below for more detailed
information about each series in the collection.
The Dreier Black Mountain College Collection represents a variety of papers created by or collected by Theodore and Barbara Loines Dreier during their sixteen years at Black Mountain College (1933-1949), and for several years prior to and following their tenure at the college--as early as 1925 and as late as 1988.
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Theodore and Barbara Loines Dreier Black Mountain College Collection (Dreier BMC Collection)
- Call Number
- PC.1956
- Creator
- Dreier, Theodore, 1902-1997
- Date
- 1925 - 1988
- Extent
- 77.000 boxes, 1.000 fibredex boxes, 1.000 folders, 78.980 cubic feet, 68.300 gigabytes
- Language
- English
- Repository
- Western Regional Archives, State Archives of North Carolina
Series Quick Links
- Theodore and Barbara Loines Dreier Correspondence, 1930 - 1949; undated
- Barbara Loines Dreier Correspondence and Papers, 1927 - 1984
- Theodore Dreier Correspondence and Papers, 1925 - 1988
- Photographs and Negatives, 1930 - 1949; undated
- Black Mountain College Publications and Printed Materials, 1933- 1978
- Oversized Materials, 1938 - 1940
Restrictions on Access & Use
Access Restrictions
Available for research.
Use Restrictions
Copyright is retained by the authors of these materials, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law (Title 17 US Code). Individual researchers are responsible for using these materials in conformance with copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying the materials.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], PC.1956, The Theodore and Barbara Loines Dreier Black Mountain College Collection (Dreier BMC Collection), State Archives of North Carolina, Western Regional Archives, Asheville, NC, USA.
Arrangement Note
The collection is arranged in the following series:
Biographical Note on the Dreie
Born in 1902 in Brooklyn, New York, Theodore was part of a prominent family who were leaders in the arts, and in cultural, social, and civic affairs. Theodore's mother, Ethel Eyre Valentine Dreier, served for many years as president of the Women's City Club of New York; was head of the Women's Suffrage Party of Brooklyn; and was appointed to Advisory Council for BMC in 1933 and continued in that position into the 1940s. Her husband, Henry Edward Dreier, known as Edward, was a successful businessman with various commercial interests, including presidency of his father's iron import business and of the Lock Stub Company. In accord with his wife and sisters, Edward Dreier was a supporter of women's suffrage and was active in education and social reform.
Theodore's Dreier aunts and an uncle were notable leaders and philanthropists in their own right. Margaret Dreier Robins and Mary Elizabeth Dreier fought for women's suffrage and for improved conditions for the mentally ill, and were active in the Women's Trade Union League of New York. Margaret emerged as an international leader in the movement to improve the condition of women and children in industry during the first decades of the 20th century. Her husband was Colonel Raymond Robins, who had led the American Red Cross mission to Russia during the Russian Revolution of 1917-1918. Subsequently, the couple moved to Robin's 2,000-acre estate in Florida, Chinsegut Hill. In 1932 they gave their property to the Federal Government as a Wildlife Refuge, Forest Preserve and Agricultural Experiment Station. Edward's two other sisters, Dorothea and Katherine Sophie Dreier, also championed women's sufferage and were active in settlement houses. They both studied painting in Europe in the early part of the 20th century, with Katherine eventually credited with bringing modern art to America. Along with Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray she founded the Societe Anonyme, which promoted much of the progressive artistic experimentation in the United States at that time.
Barbara Loines Dreier, like her husband, was part of an affluent and protective family that also nourished independent, idealistic, and adventurous spirits. Born in New York City in 1907, Barbara spent her summers from infancy on at Martha's Vineyard. Her father, Russell Hillard Loines (1874-1922), a lawyer, helped start Dongan Hall, a girls' school on Staten Island. Devoted to poetry, he was involved in a number of publication projects and a prize for poetry was established in his name at the National Institute of Arts and Letters. Barbara's mother, Katherine Hillard Loines, and her aunt, Elma Loines, wrote books based on family adventures stemming from travel to and life in China from 1829 to 1834. Barbara's grandmother, Mary Hillard Loines (1844-1944) was appointed as a teacher for the National Freedmen's Relief Association and later became a suffragette. As a student at Bryn Mawr, Barbara carried on the tradition of social service and independent thinking by changing the faltering Christian Association into a broader-based, more active social service organization. Barbara's younger sister, Margot performed in various off-Broadway and summer stock roles, and married Dwight Morrow, the brother of Anne Morrow (1906-2001) or Mrs. Charles Lindbergh. Within that family, Barbara developed a particularly strong relationship and a spiritual affinity with Anne Morrow Lindbergh.
Contents of the Collection
1. Theodore and Barbara Loines Dreier Correspondence, 1930 - 1949; undated
Collection Overview:
Collection Arrangement:
Arranged chronologically within each subseries.
Access Restrictions:
Available for research.
Processing Information:
Processed by Fran Tracy-Walls, June, 2008
Encoded by Fran Tracy-Walls, July, 2008
Consultation by Mary Emma Harris as part of agreement with donors.
Correspondence from Theodore Dreier to Barbara Loines Dreier, 1930 - 1949, Undated, 1930-1949
Correspondence from Barbara Loines Dreier to Theodore Dreier, 1930 - 1949, undated, 1930-1949
2. Barbara Loines Dreier Correspondence and Papers, 1927 - 1984
scopecontent:
Collection Arrangement:
Arranged chronologically within each subseries and sub-subseries.
Access Restrictions:
Available for research.
Processing Information:
Processed by Fran Tracy-Walls, 2008, with the assistance of interns Jennifer Davis and Terri Jones
Encoded by Fran Tracy-Walls, 2008, with the assistance of Lindsay Matson.
Consultation by Mary Emma Harris as part of agreement with donors.
Family Correspondence of Barbara Loines Dreier 1927 - 1949, undated, 1927-1949
scopecontent:
This subseries consists of family correspondence, arranged with Barbara Loines Dreier's (BLD's) letters in chronological order to a family correspondent; followed by the correspondent's letters arranged in chronological order. The primary correspondents are arranged in the following sequence: Mary Hillard Loines, BLD's paternal grandmother; Katherine Conger Loines, BLD's mother; Sylvia Loines Dalton, and Hilda and Elma Loines, BLD's paternal aunts; a small quantity from other aunts, including those with the surnames Conger and Williams; to Margot Loines Morrow [later Wilkie], BLD's sister, and a small quantity from Margot and her husband, Dwight Whitney Morrow, Jr., and a small quantity to and from Dwight's sister, Anne Morrow Lindbergh; Ethel Eyre Dreier and Henry Edward Dreier, Theodore Dreier's (TD's) parents; Katherine Sophie Dreier; Margaret Dreier Robins; Raymond Robins, TD's aunts and his uncle by marriage; Lisa von Borowsky, who lived with the Robins and they regarded as a daughter, and also the manager of their Chinsegut Hill Sanctuary and estate near Brooksville, Florida; Mary Elisabeth Dreier, TD's aunt; John Caspar Dreier, TD's brother, and John's wife, Louisa Richardson Dreier; Antoinette (Nan) Dreier Stearly, TD's sister; and one of BLD's maternal aunts, Mary () Conger Vanamee.
Note that this subseries is described to the item level, with a listing of letters by date and when available, the address of the correspondent and/or recipient. With the intent of making the reading of a computer screen easier, the online version of the finding aid displays initials of names that are frequently repeated, particuarly Barbara Loines Dreier (BLD), Theodore Dreier (TD), and Black Mountain College (BMC).
Correspondence of Barbara Loines Dreier with Black Mountain College (BMC) Faculty, Faculty Spouses, Students, and with Friends, BMC Era,1933-1949
scopecontent:
Subseries description: Contains the personal correspondence between Barbara Loines Dreier(BLD) and various friends, primarily those who were faculty, spouses of faculty, and students, college visitors, during the Dreier's tenure at Black Mountain College years, until their departure from the college in 1949. The majority of the correspondence consists of letters addressed to Barbara Loines Dreier. Her own letters to the non-family correspondents appear to have been always been handwritten, usually with no copies or drafts made. One outstanding exception is a set of drafts of letters from Alexander Reed, to whom BLD was close, particulary in the aftermath of the tragic death of her young son, Mark, when Bill was instrumental in the designing and building of a memorial to him, the Quiet House. Another notable exception is BLD's draft of a five page letter in 1949 to John Evarts with her perspective of personalities and events, in the latest college crisis, from September of 1948, to the Dreier's departure from the college, mid-semester early in 1949.
In this subseries, the letters include a range of topics, including college events, people, travel. Of particular interest are Barbara Loines Dreier's letters from John Evarts. Noted as an improvisational pianist, Evarts had been on the BMC music faculty from 1933 until his departure in 1942 for active duty in the U.S. Army. Instead of returning to BMC as expected, Evarts remained in Europe many years beyond the war, maintaining a longterm friendship and correspondence with Barbara and also with Theodore Dreier. Other correspondents include such Black Mountain College standouts as Mary Caroline Richards (known as M.C. and married during most of her BMC years to another faculty member, Albert William Levi); Mary Gregory (); and R. Buckminster Fuller (Richard Buckminster) (), acclaimed inventor and visionary who served as guest faculty during the summer sessions of 1948 and 1949. Also of possible interest, are a small quantity of letters to BLD from Carol Hemingway Gardner, a former student at Rollins College and sister of Ernest Hemingway and Leicester Hemingway (Clarence).
Note that this subseries is described to the item level with each correspondent being given one or more folders in the collection. With the intent of making the reading of a computer screen easier, the online version of the finding aid displays initials of names that are frequently repeated, particuarly Barbara Loines Dreier (BLD), Theodore Dreier (TD), and Black Mountain College (BMC).
Access Restrictions:
MIA
Barbara Loines Dreier: Black Mountain College Era and Other Miscellaneous Papers,1931-1977
scopecontent:
This subseries contains miscellaneous papers and notes of Barbara Loines Dreier (BLD), most of which were written during the Dreier's Black Mountain College (BMC) era, 1933-1949, though a few items date from years just before and after that time. Of particular interest are notes made by BLD during the Black Mountain College era, reflecting some of her interests and college involvements. These include dressmaking, taught by Irene Schawinsky; photography, July and August, 1944; weaving, 1944, taught by Anni Albers; Color, undated, taught by Josef Albers. There are various clippings relating to BMC or to former college faculty. There is also an obituary and memorial address following the death of Gertrude Lukashik Straus () in 1977; a copy of poem written by Trudi Straus in 1939 and its English translation, as well as a letter by a neighbor, Tony Zappone, addressed to Mrs. Mangold [Anne Gilbert?] regarding Mrs. Straus' condition before her death. There are a few items relating to period before BMC, when the Dreiers were at Rollins College, 1930-1933 and visited the nearby , a coastal property owned by Ted Dreier's aunt Margaret Dreier () Robins and her husband Raymond; and a few items relating to BLD's alma maters, Dongan Hall and Bryn Mawr.
Correspondence of Barbara Loines Dreier with Black Mountain College Faculty and Students and with Friends,1950-1984
scopecontent:
This subseries includes primarily letters to Barbara Loines Dreier (BLD) from Black Mountain College-affiliated faculty, faculty spouses, students, and other friends who maintained contact after the time of the Dreier's active association with Black Mountain College, 1933-1949. The correspondence includes a variety of topics, including college events, people, travels, and the lives and careers of the correspondents.
Of particular interest is Barbara Loines Dreier's correspondence from John Evarts, whose letters to her and also Theodore Dreier began as early as 1934. Noted as an improvisational pianist, Evarts had been on the BMC music faculty from 1933 until his departure in 1942 for active duty in the U.S. Army. Instead of returning to BMC as expected, Evarts remained in Europe past the war, maintaining a longterm friendship with the Dreiers. There is a large quantity of correspondence from Alexander Reed, to whom BLD was close, particulary in the aftermath of the tragic death of her young son, Mark, when Bill was instrumental in the designing and building of a memorial to him, known as the Quiet House. There is one letter from Charles Olson, noted poet and faculty member who wrote BLD regarding repairs to the Quiet House. There is also an announcment of a printing of Olson's , a volume published by Jonathan Williams, 1953.
Other correspondents include such Black Mountain College standouts as Ruth Asawa, a former BMC student and artist, and her husband Albert Lanier, an architect, also a former BMC student, and their six children; Mary Gregory, former faculty member and artist, also known as ); Mary Caroline Richards, former faculty member, artist and writer, known as M.C. and (married during most of her BMC years to another faculty member, Albert William Levi). There is a small quanity of correspondence from Walter Gropius, founder of the Bauhaus and The Architects Collaborative, during BLD's Black Mountain College tenure, and more correspondence from Gropius' wife, Ise, during the post-college period. There is also a small quantity of correspondence from famed inventor and thinker/visionary R. Buckminster Fuller (Richard Buckminster) (), who served as guest faculty during the summer sessions of 1948 and 1949.
Note that this subseries is described to the item level with each correspondent being given one or more folders in the collection. With the intent of making the reading of a computer screen easier, the online version of the finding aid displays initials of names that are frequently repeated, particuarly Barbara Loines Dreier (BLD), Theodore Dreier (TD), and Black Mountain College (BMC).
3. Theodore Dreier Correspondence and Papers, 1925 - 1988
Collection Overview Collection Overview:
Series description: Consisting of ten subseries, this series contains the correspondence and papers of Theodore Dreier, with the earliest material, a scrapbook, dating as early as 1925; followed by printed material, correspondence, memoranda and minutes from Dreier's years as assistant professor at Rollins College, 1930-1933, just preceding and influencing his Black Mountain College venture beginning in the summer of 1933. Correspondence in the collection from and to his parents, Ethel Eyre Dreier, and Henry Edward Dreier, dates from 1930 to 1949; correspondence with other family and extended family are within that date range. The bulk of the materials in this series fall during the period of Dreier's active involvement with Black Mountain College (BMC), from 1933 to 1949, with late February of that year marking the official end of his duties. Overall, the series relects Dreier's strong commitment to the college, his optimism, and his ongoing efforts to articulate and promote its ideals, beginning in 1933 when he and John Andrew Rice and others founded the college without the benefit of endowment or any assurance of stable outside funding. However, this experimental college beat the odds and attracted numerous artistic, musical, and intellectual luminaries and leaders of the time, from Josef Albers, refugee of Nazi Germany and a leading figure in the Bauhaus artistic movement, to Thomas Whitney Surette, influential music educator, to R. Buckminster Fuller Fuller, inventor of the geodesic dome. Letters to and from these individuals and a host of others are part of the BMC Correspondence subseries, with some correspondence from key individuals also found in the College Related Correspondence, Post BMC Era, subseries.
Overall the series documents important ingredients in the college's success for a number of years, including Theodore Dreier's idealism along with his ongoing efforts to bring financial stability to the college. Throughout the correspondence in the series, Dreier showed his dedication in using his numerous contacts and those of his family and friends to raise money for the college, to elevate its profile, and to ensure its continuation as long as possible. Family news was often interspersed in the college correspondence, and college news interlaced with his family correspondence. The post-Black Mountain College correspondence and the Writings subseries indicate that Dreier continued to reflect on the Black Mountain College experience, from late 1949 to 1979, long after he had moved on to other pursuits. The Black Mountain College Miscellaneous Materials, 1934-1980 and undated do not relate directly to Dreier, yet suggest his interest in preserving a variety of materials reflecting the college's history. These range from class papers written for John Andrew Rice's Plato class, 1936, to two audio cassettes of John Evart's performance at the Bauhaus Archive in Berlin, September 18, 1980. One featured two songs sung at BMC's Thanksgiving program, 1939, prompting Evarts to write on the program, In addition to correspondence, and other materials previously mentioned, the series includes telegrams, administrative files, notes, drafts, writings, reports, proposals, programs, articles, lectures, audio cassette tapes, and drawings.
The series consists of ten subseries of Theodore Dreier's correspondence and papers: Family Correspondence, 1930-1974 (Bulk: 1930-1948) and undated; Personal Materials, 1925-1932; Rollins College Materials, 1930-1934; Black Mountain College Founders and Founding Documents, 1933-1939; Black Mountain College Administrative and Subject Files, 1933-1948 and undated; Black Mountain College Correspondence, 1933 - 1949 and undated, primarily with Black Mountain College prospective faculty, permanent and visiting faculty, advisory council, students, and college supporters, 1933-1949 (BMC Era); Black Mountain College Related Correspondence, Post BMC Era, 1949 - 1979 and undated; Black Mountain College Miscellaneous Materials, 1934-1980 and undated; Theodore Dreier Writings, Notes, Interviews, on Black Mountain College, Education, and Other Topics, 1935-1979 and undated; and Black Mountain College Related Clippings File, 1932-1979 and undated. More detailed descriptions can be found at the subseries level.
Note: the majority of Theodore Dreier's letters are carbon copies that he maintained in the office filing system. Typical of that era's business copy papers, these are of poor quality and hasten the deterioration of better quality papers adjacent to them. As a preservation measure, the staff has placed acid free barrier papers as needed.
Collection Arrangement:
The series is arranged in the following subseries:
Access Restrictions:
Available for research.
Processing Information:
Processed by Fran Tracy-Walls, 2008
Encoded by Fran Tracy-Walls, January 2009
Consultation by Mary Emma Harris as part of agreement with donors.
Theodore Dreier Family Correspondence, Bulk: 1930-1948 1930-1948
Collection Overview Collection Overview:
Subseries description: Contains chiefly correspondence between Theodore Dreier and family members during the Dreier's tenure at Black Mountain College, beginning in 1933. Most family letters discuss the activities of family members, and in many cases life, events, and conditions at Black Mountain College. Some but not all of the family letters during the latter part of 1948 relate to stressful circumstances such as the possibility that Dreier might leave the college; his resignation as rector in August, but subsequent desire to stay on through the college's attempt at reorganization. Overall, the letters convey Dreier's and his family's vital interest in the college's ideals, its struggles and their overarching support. The letters also strongly convey the loving and affectionate connection shared among the Dreier family members, the Loines family members, and also extended family. The majority of the letters are to and from Dreier's parents, Henry Edward Dreier and Ethel Eyre Dreier, and to his brother, John Caspar Dreier. Other correspondents in the Dreier family include his sisters, Dorothea and Antoinette (Nan); aunts, Katherine Sophie Dreier (1877-1952); Margaret Dreier Robins (1868-1945) and her husband, Raymond Robins; and small quantities of correspondence with other family members, notably his sons Eddy and Theodore Dreier, Jr. Theodore Dreier's correspondence with members of Barbara Loines Dreier's family include her mother, Katherine Conger Loines; grandmother, Mary Hillard Loines; paternal aunt, Sylvia Loines Dalton, husband William Dalton, and stepson, John Dalton, who also worked as an engineer for Black Mountain College, 1938-1939; Margot Loines Morrow [Wilkie], and her husband Dwight W. Morrow, Jr. Extended family members in this subseries include the mother of Dwight Morrow, Jr. Elizabeth Morrow. Her letters indicate financial assistance through the foundation in a daughter's name, Elisabeth Reeve Morrow Morgan Foundation, during the financially strained period of the World War II years. At that time Dreier family members along with Elizabeth C. Morrow underwrote a second mortgage on the college property. There are a small number of letters also from Theodore Dreier to Mrs. Morrow's daughter, Anne Morrow Lindbergh and her husband, Charles Lindbergh, that date from 1955-1974, the only dates falling outside the bulk time span of this subseries. There are a few items relating to Katherine S. Dreier and to the designation of Yale University as the custodian of the Société Anonyme's collection (founded by artists Katherine S. Dreier, Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray in 1920), and also an eye witness account of the Bogota Revolution of April 1948, by John Caspar Dreier, then a diplomat in the United States Department of State, and director of the Office of Regional American Affairs.
Collection Arrangement:
Arranged chronologically within each subseries and sub-subseries.
Access Restrictions:
Available for research.
Processing Information:
Processed by Fran Tracy-Walls, 2008
Encoded by Fran Tracy-Walls, January, 2009
Consultation by Mary Emma Harris as part of agreement with donors.
Family Correspondence of Theodore Dreier, Bulk: 1930-1948, undated, 1930-1974 Bulk: 1930-1948
Theodore Dreier Personal Materials, 1925-1932
Collection Overview Collection Overview:
Subseries description: Contains early personal papers of Theodore Dreier including: a 1925-1926 Scrapbook and loose items dated as late as 1930; and two documents reflecting scientific work accomplished during his first employment with the General Electric Company, ending in 1930. The scrapbook and loose items indicate some of Dreier's intellectual interests as a young man and his sense of adventure and appreciation of natural beauty, as evidenced by a few pieces describing camping trips in the Great Smoky Mountains and deserts of the American West.
Collection Arrangement:
Arranged chronologically.
Access Restrictions:
Available for research.
Processing Information:
Processed by Fran Tracy-Walls, 2009.
Encoded by Fran Tracy-Walls, January, 2009
Consultation by Mary Emma Harris as part of agreement with donors.
Theodore Dreier Scrapbook and Loose Items,ca. 1925-1930
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Theodore Dreier Scrapbook and loose items reflect some of his intellectual interests as a young man and his sense of adventure and appreciation of natural landscape beauty, as evidenced by a few items describing camping trips in the Great Smokey Mountains and deserts of the American West.
Theodore Dreier Report and Patent Application,1930-1932
scopecontent:
Research for the report and the patent application were conducted during the first period of Dreier's employment at the General Electric Company, ending in 1930. According to the title page of the patent application, the work was done in collaboration with Charles E. Kilbourne. The application was submitted after Dreier's move to become an assistant professor of physics at Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida.
Black Mountain College Founders and Founding Documents, 1933 - 1939
Collection Overview Collection Overview:
Subseries description: Includes documents, minutes, bylaws, correspondence, some writings, statements, and notes, lists, primarily from 1933 to 1939. Together these provide a view of the developing organizational structure of the Black Mountain College, early challenges, and the broad cooperative effort exerted by the college founders, primarily Theodore Dreier and John Andrew Rice, and also other faculty and outside supporters of the college. Much of the correspondence in this series shows the early involvement, financial contributions, and strong interest of Dreier's parents, Henry Edward Dreier and Ethel Eyre Dreier, and also that of his paternal aunt, Margaret Dreier Robins. Additionally, Theodore Dreier's brother, John Caspar Dreier was involved early on, having been appointed to the first Board of Fellows, while Mrs. Dreier was elected to the college Advisory Council in late 1933, and served actively in that position into the 1940s. Some correspondence of Barbara Loines Dreier gives glimpses of the early months of the college, including impressions of Josef and Anni Albers as they arrived at thc college and attended their first Thanksgiving party on December 1, 1933. A sampling of the founders' educational ideas and vision is reflected in a small quantity of writings, Rice's , reprint of article in , May 1937, and Theodore Dreier's address, , May 1939.
Collection Arrangement:
Folders within each sub-subseries are arranged chronologically and materials are arranged chronologically within each folder.
Access Restrictions:
Available for research.
Processing Information:
Processed by Fran Tracy-Walls, 2008
Encoded by Fran Tracy-Walls, January, 2009
Consultation by Mary Emma Harris as part of agreement with donors.
Founding Documents and Notes, undated, 1933-1935
Family and Other Correspondence Regarding Founding and Funding of Black Mountain College, and undated, 1933-1935
scopecontent:
Theodore Dreier benefitted from a strong, supportive family network, as evidenced in these letters during the beginnings of the founding of Black Mountain College. Correspondents include his paternal aunt, Margaret Dreier Robins, his parents, Henry Edward Dreier and Ethel Eyre Dreier, his brother, John Caspar Dreier, and his wife, Barbara Loines Dreier, who shared his commitment to the risky venture of founding an experimental college with no predictable financial underpinnings. This group also contains two letters to Ethel Eyre Dreier from John Andrew Rice and Frederick R. Georgia, together constituting her official invitation to serve as a member of the college Advisory Council, a position in which she served actively into the 1940s.
Founders' Writings and Notes, and undated, 1937-1939
scopecontent:
John Andrew Rice, like Theodore Dreier, was a primary force in the creation of Black Mountain College and the attempt to articulate its ideas and aims. These writings, consisting of an articles, statement, address, notes, and reference material, constitute a glimpse of the educational ideas and concerns of the college leaders, and environment of the college during the first six years.
Miscellaneous Legal and Other Materials Consulted in the Founding of Black Mountain College,, undated, 1929-1933
scopecontent:
These materials apparently were consulted as the college's founders, Theodore Dreier, John Andrew Rice, Ralph Reed Lounsbury, also an attorney and professor of government and political science, all worked on basic structural documents, requirements, and standards of the college, including a certificate of incorporation in compliance with state law.
Theodore Dreier Black Mountain College Administrative and Subject Files, 1933 - 1949; undated
Collection Overview Collection Overview:
Subseries description: The Theodore Dreier Black Mountain College Administrative and Subject Files, 1933 - 1948, and undated, (subseries 5) ) are the personal professional files of Dreier as treasurer and rector of and faculty member at Black Mountain College and include materials relating directly to the administration and operations of the college. These consist of minutes of meetings of the faculty and Board of Fellows, college financial files, and subject files on various topics. The subseries also documents and references fundraising, contributions and gifts, financial data, the Blue Ridge property and the Lake Eden property and development, housing plans, the Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer plans, the Kocher model, farm administration, the college work program, community meetings, the year-round college plan, the various college committees, etc. Issues considered included the 1944 Summer Resignations, otherwise known as the 1944 Crisis, and the Integration of Black Mountain College, which began during the 1944 and 1945 summer sessions, and became part of the regular academic year in the fall of 1945. There is also material concerning the college crises of 1947, 1948, efforts to reorganize the college, and Dreier's resignation and that of others, effective February 18, 1949.
Collection Arrangement:
Arranged by subject and arranged chronologically thereunder.
Access Restrictions:
Available for research.
Processing Information:
Processed by James Sorrell, 2009
Encoded by Fran Tracy-Walls, March, 2009
Consultation by Mary Emma Harris as part of agreement with donors.
Personal Professional Files of Theodore Dreier in Various Administrative and Faculty Roles
Theodore Dreier College Correspondence, 1933-1949; undated
Subseries Overview Subseries Overview:
This subseries contains correspondence to and from Theodore Dreier during his tenure at Black Mountain College, 1933 to 1948, with a scant amount in 1949, and some undated. This subseries includes Theodore Dreier's (TD) college correspondence to and from a variety of individuals Dreier communicated with in the course of his various administrative activities and duties. These included recruiting faculty, and serving variously as fund-raiser, treasurer, rector, and recruiting, communicating with, and meeting with the Board of Advisors and various organizations and institutions. During the course of the Theodore Dreier's time at BMC, from 1933 to 1949 (ending officially on February 28 of that year) he wrote many hundreds of letters to potential donors, including family, to friends, and even to critics stating and explaining the college's goals, and at times dispelling rumors and misperceptions. Dreier also wrote many letters to faculty, prospective faculty, summer faculty, visiting scholars, lecturers, performers, and other visitors.
In the latter categories there is a small quantity of correspondence from notables of that period, including the following: Charles Austin Beard, constitutional historian and political scientist; Philip Lippincott Goodwin, one of the architects of the Museum of Modern Art, and on its board of directors, along with other architects and designers, John Burchard, Anatole Kopp, Walter Gropius, A. Lawrence Kocher, Jose Luis Sert; Frank Porter Graham, president of the University of North Carolina; Alfred Kazin, writer and critic; Paul Hindemith, composer; Langston Hughes, writer, poet, and thinker of the Harlem Renaissance; Yella Pessl, harpsichordist and summer faculty, 1944-45; Arnold Schoenberg, noted composer and teacher, whose work in the early part of the twentieth century transformed music history; Lillian Smith, southern writer and social critic; and Thornton Wilder, playwright and novelist. There is substantive correspondence with several individuals, including faculty members, Josef Albers and Anni Albers; John Evarts, who taught at BMC from 1933 until he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942 and remained a life-long friend of Theodore and Barbara Dreier; Frank Aydelotte, president of Swarthmore College and brother of Nell Rice; Thomas Whitney Surette, American composer, music educator, long associated with the Concord Music Summer School of Music (1915-1938) and reputed to have established a new basis of music education in the schools of America. Also noteworthy is: correspondence with John Andrew Rice, a founder of Black Mountain College and its first rector. Also of particular interest is correspondence with R. Buckminster Fuller; correspondence and papers associated with Fritz J. Hansgirg, a scientist of international repute and a German refugee who taught chemistry and physics at BMC from 1942-1947. There is also a small quantity of correspondence by and to Ethel Eyre Dreier, mother of Ted Dreier, and John C. Dreier, brother of Ted Dreier. Both served the college in several capacities, the former on the Advisory Council and the latter on the Board of Fellows.
Collection Arrangement:
Arranged alphabetically by name of correspondent and corporate entities, and chronologically within each folder. Apparently in the original filing scheme, Theodore Dreier maintained a set of "A" to "Z" folders for correspondence and memoranda for individuals for whom a separate folder had not been established. In the processing of this subseries, when a group of correspondence has been removed from the general correspondence folder and placed in a separate folder it is noted in the finding aid. Decisions to remove a set of correspondence from a general letter folder were done for clarity and for ease of research and were based upon the following factors: when the quantity of letters exceeded four letters and if the prominence of the correspondent seemed to justify a separate folder.
This subseries is a merger of two originally separate filing systems that had been established during the course of Theodore Dreier's tenure as administrator from 1933 to 1949. The first were the college correspondence files established at the Blue Ridge campus of Black Mountain College, from 1933 to around 1940 and the second were the correspondence files maintained at the Lake Eden campus from approximately 1941 to 1949.
Access Restrictions:
Available for research.
Processing Information:
Processed by Fran Tracy-Walls, 2008, with the assistance of interns, Jennifer Davis, Terri Jones, and staff member Aisander Duda.
Encoded by Fran Tracy-Walls, January, 2009
Consultation by Mary Emma Harris as part of agreement with donors.
Theodore Dreier College Correspondence, and undated, 1933-1949
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Includes, for the most part, Theodore Dreier's correspondence with individuals and with a few corporate and educational institutions. In general, the folders include correspondence both to and from Theodore Dreier. The latter categories include Architects Collaborative, Inc., Bank of New York Trust and Company, Carnegie Corporation of New York, General Electric Company, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the William C. Whitney Foundation, the only foundation to consistently support the college. There is substantive correspondence with several individuals, including Josef Albers, and his wife, Anni Albers; John Evarts, who taught at BMC from 1933 until he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942 and remained a life-long friend of Theodore and Barbara Dreier; Frank Adyelotte, president of Swarthmore College and brother of Nell Rice; Thomas Whitney Surette, American composer, music educator, long associated with the Concord Music Summer School of Music (1915-1938) and reputed to have established a new basis of music education in the schools of America. Also noteworthy is the correspondence with John Andrew Rice, a founder of Black Mountain College and its first rector, and correspondence and papers associated with Fritz J. Hansgirg, a scientist of international repute and a German refugee who taught chemistry and physics at BMC from 1942-1947.
There is a significant amount of correspondence with prominent individuals in various fields, though in general there is not a large quantity of correspondence. These names include John Dewey, Langston Hughes, Eleanor Butler Roosevelt, Clarence Hemingway, William Gayley Simpson, Thornton Wilder, Robert Ulich, etc.
Note: The correspondence from Theodore Dreier is most frequently a carbon copy that Dreier retained in the files for reference. Also, this subseries includes a small quantity of subject folders, such as Music Institutes. Names listed in general conform where possible with the authorized listing in the Library of Congress personal names authority files. This may be a slight variation from the name as originally listed on the file folder.
Black Mountain College Related Correspondence, Post BMC Era, 1949 - 1988
Collection Overview Collection Overview:
Subseries description: This subseries spans the years from 1949 to 1988. It consists of correspondence related to Theodore Dreier's final resignation from Black Mountain College (BMC) in March of 1949, his report and statement on the first fifteen years of the college, along with cover letters sent to various members of the advisory council, to potential members of a proposed board of trustees in 1948-1949, and to other friends of the college; correspondence and enclosed materials with BMC-related individuals, 1951-1988, and undated; and correpondence and other materials from students, scholars, and professionals with an academic and professional interest in the history of the college, including Martin Duberman, Mary Emma Harris, Andrew S. Leinoff, M.L.H.L. Weaver, and a former assistant archivist and archivist of the State Archives of North Carolina, Cyrus B. King (1963) and Thornton B. Mitchell (1974). Of particular interest in terms of BMC-related individuals, Dreier corresponded with Trude Guermonprez Elesser, John Evarts, Stephen Forbes, R. Buckminster Fuller, Mary Gregory, Walter Gropius and Isi Gropius, Charlotte Schlesinger, Ted Shawn, Jose Yglesias, and others. These letters and enclosed materials such as a small quantities of photographs, articles, and invitations to art exhibitions, programs, and the like, reveal glimpses of the personal and professional lives of these former associates of BMC days, who continued the bonds of friendship long past their departure from the college. The greatest quantity of correspondence is from John Evarts, music teacher and performer at BMC from 1933 until enlistment in the U.S. Army in 1942. Evarts remained in Europe after the close of World War II, yet stayed in touch with the Dreiers through 1988. See also the Theodore Dreier Correspondence and Papers: Subseries 8, BMC Miscellaneous Materials, with a section describing material Evarts sent to the Dreiers, with items dated 1934-1980.
Collection Arrangement:
Arranged alphabetically within each sub-subseries and chronologically thereunder.
Access Restrictions:
Available for research.
Processing Information:
Processed by Fran Tracy-Walls, 2008
Encoded by Fran Tracy-Walls, January, 2009
Consultation by Mary Emma Harris as part of agreement with donors.
Correspondence Related to Theodore Dreier's Resignation and Report andStatement by Dreier on the First Fifteen Years of Black Mountain College,1949
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Consists largely of cover letters written by Dreier enclosing mimeographed copies of his May 10, 1949 report and statement on the first fifteen years of BMC and the replies of the recipients.
Theodore Dreier Correspondence with Black Mountain College Related Individuals,, and undated, 1951-1988
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Correspondents include a range of former teachers and students at Black Mountain College. The greatest quantity is from John Evarts, BMC music teacher and provider of piano solos, duets, dance music on numerous occasions from 1933 until he left the college in 1942 to enter the U.S. Army. After World War II, Evarts served as Music and Theatre Officer of the U.S. Army in Munich and later in Berlin. For a number of years he was in Paris as associate executive secretary of the International Music Council, an organization founded in 1949 upon request of the Director General of UNESCO as the advisory body to the agency on musical matters. Evarts returned to Berlin as assistant director of the International Institute for Comparative Music Studies and Documentation. In January 1987 he received a reward for distinguished services from the president of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Other correspondents include Josef and Anni Albers, Trude Guermonprez Elesser, Stephen Forbes, Mary Gregory, Walter Gropius and Isi Gropius, Charlotte Schlesinger (writing from London), Ted Shawn, Jose Yglesias, and others.
The various letters to and from Theodore Dreier from 1955 to 1988 reveal glimpses of the personal and professional lives of the these former associates of Black Mountain College, who continued the bonds of friendship long past their departure from the college. One glimpse of Dreier's life comes through a letter of October 4, 1972 to Trude Guermonprez Elesser, including an account of how his and Barbara's lives had been changed since meeting Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the original teacher of transcendental meditation in the West. The Dreiers had been travelling with him and had become teachers themselves, with Dreier being, in his words, on the faculty of the newly established Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa. The Dreiers, however, were active in the founding of the university, which opened in 1973, and its Dreier Building, named for Ted, was the first building on campus designed according to Maharishi Sthapatya Veda architecture.
Black Mountain College Related Correspondence,1963-1986
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Consists of correspondence to and from individuals about Black Mountain College (BMC). Includes correspondence with East Tennessee State University regarding a BMC exhibition; Cyrus B. King and Thornton W. Mitchell of the State Archives of North Carolina encouraging Dreier to place his papers in the Archives; and Mary Harris, Martin Duberman, Andrew S. Leinoff, William Wasserstrom, and M.L.H.L. (Mike) Weaver in regard to their research on BMC.
Black Mountain College Miscellaneous Materials, 1934 - 1980; undated
Collection Overview Collection Overview:
Subseries description: Includes special miscellaneous materials that do not fit into the collection's other series and subseries. However, these items do relate to Theodore Dreier's professional, family, and/or personal interests and relationships during his sixteen years at Black Mountain College (BMC), with a few of the dates falling outside of the period from 1933-1949. These include a group of lectures (1932-1933 and undated) by Fritz Kunz and Dora Van Gelder Kunz, national leaders in the Theosophical Society during much of the twentieth century; a set of student papers from John Andrew Rice's Plato I and II classes, 1936-1937; material, including four reminiscent essays and two audiocassettes and program with BMC reference, sent to the Dreiers by long-time friend and former BMC professor of music, John Evarts, during the early 1980s; miscellaneous art, unsigned and undated with the exception of a dated pen and ink card sent to Dreier on the occasion of his first resignation from BMC, March 1947[?]; and two announcements of forthcoming exhibitions in New York City by former BMC students, Nicolas Muzenic and Joseph Fiore, during the years 1948 and 1965 respectively.
Collection Arrangement:
Arranged chronologically within each sub-subseries, with the exception of the John Andrew Rice Plato papers, arranged alphabetically.
Access Restrictions:
Available for research.
Processing Information:
Processed by Fran Tracy-Walls, 2008
Encoded by Fran Tracy-Walls, January, 2009
Consultation by Mary Emma Harris as part of agreement with donors.
Lectures and Special Course Material by Dora Van Gelder Kunz and Fritz Kunz,, and undated, 1932-1933
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Dora Van Gelder Kunz (1904-1999) and Fritz L. Kunz were national leaders in the Theosophical Society during much of the 20th century. Kunz was the founder of , a journal reflecting and exploring various facets of the theosophical point of view. He also established the Foundation for Integrative Education in New York City around 1947 to foster conceptual developments in education, and was dedicated to the search for unity behind various academic disciplines. Dora Van Gelder Kunz was a pioneer in a therapy known as Therapeutic Touch.
Barbara Loines Dreier's mother, Katherine Conger Loines, possibly had some interest in theosophy and sent the material to the Dreier's during their early days at Black Mountain College (BMC). Within the collection there is no early correspondence between Theodore or Barbara Loines Dreier with the Kunzs, but there are two letters exchanged between Kunz and Theodore Dreier on February 27 and March 9, 1947. (See Kunz folder in Theodore Dreier College Correspondence) In these letters, Kunz expressed the hope that his foundation might be able to provide financial support to BMC: Dreier's letter makes reference to Barbara's mother, with the statement that
These materials were mimeographed from typed pages.
John Andrew Rice Plato I and II Class Papers, and undated, 1936-1937
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John Andrew Rice's approach to his Plato classes included introducing a word or concept that people took for granted as being understood. In the course of discussing and writing about various themes, Rice prompted students to thorougly question and to rethink meanings and ideas that they had previously blindly accepted.
The papers that survive in this collection include the following titles: Democracy; Hate and Fear; Love and Justice; Ritual, Custom, Convention; Sentimentality; The Perfect State; Symbolism; and miscellaneous papers. Those that are dated are from the year 1936 and 1937. The papers are not consistently dated, or marked as being Plato I or Plato II. Additionally, some papers do not have a full name or any name at all.
Note: the processing archivist has supplied names in brackets where possible.
Material sent by John Evarts to Theodore and Barbara Loines Dreier, and undated, 1934-1980
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John Evarts was born in 1908 in Windsor, Vermont. He studied at Yale and in Munich and Berlin between 1926 and 1931. After working as a music critic for the in New York during the winter of 1932-1933, Evarts attended the Thomas Whitney Surette Summer School for Music (Concord) the following summer. Fortuitously, Evart became acquainted there with fellow participants, Theodore and Barbara Loines Dreier. In August Evarts received a telegram from Mr. Surette saying that he had recommended Evarts for a music position at a college in the process of being founded. At Black Mountain College, Evart taught music classes and played piano informally and in numerious college performances from fall of 1933 to 1942 when Evarts joined the U.S. Army and was sent to Germany.
Following the end of the war in 1945, Evarts remained in Europe, where he served as Music and Theatre Officer of the U.S. Army in Munich and later in Berlin. For a number of years he was in Paris as associate executive secretary of the International Music Council, an organization founded in 1949 upon request of the Director General of UNESCO as the advisory body to the agency on musical matters. Evarts returned to Berlin as assistant director of the International Institute for Comparative Music Studies and Documentation. Interestly, Evart had composed a piano interpretation of Danse Macabre for a ballet by Xanti Schawinsky, performed at Black Mountain College on May 14, 1938. In 1976, Evarts' performance of the Danse Macabre musical score was recorded and broadcast by on May 3, 1976. In January 1987 he received a reward for distinguished services from the president of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Miscellaneous Art and Art-Related Items and undated, 1939-1980
Miscellaneous Printed Materials, and undated, 1939-1980
Theodore Dreier Writings, Notes, Interviews, 1935 - 1979
Collection Overview Collection Overview:
Subseries description: Includes Theodore Dreier's thoughts, reflections, and writings about Black Mountain College and other areas of deep interest to Dreier from 1935 to 1979, with some items undated. Includes transcripts of two separate interviews of Theodore Dreier by Mary Emma Harris in 1971 and Joan Abrahamson in 1979, and also his manuscripts, notes, outlines, on topics including Black Mountain College, education, educational philosophy, teaching, mathematics, faith and religion, and philosophy. There is a small quantity of correspondence related to the effort to publish one of the manuscripts, and a letter from Ruth Asawa transmitting the transcript of 1979.
Collection Arrangement:
Arranged chronologically within each sub-subseries.
Access Restrictions:
Available for research.
Processing Information:
Processed by Fran Tracy-Walls, 2008
Encoded by Fran Tracy-Walls, January, 2009
Consultation by Mary Emma Harris as part of agreement with donors.
Interviews with Theodore Dreier,1971-1979
Theodore Dreier Manuscripts, Speech, and Related Correspondence and Notes,, and undated, 1947-1968
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Miscellaneous Notes and Writings, , undated, 1935-1969
Black Mountain College Related Clippings File, 1932 - 1982; undated
Collection Overview Collection Overview:
Subseries description: Consists of media clippings of newspapers, periodical articles, etc., 1932-1982 and undated, on persons related to Black Mountain College (BMC) and/or on BMC itself. The clippings relating to individuals involved with BMC include Ruth Asawa, Merce Cunningham, Barbara Loines Dreier, Jose de Creeft, Merce Cunningham, Walter Gropius, Trude Guermonprez (Elsesser), James Leo Herlihy, Heinrich Jalowetz, Charles Olson, John Andrew Rice, Ted Shawn, William Edward Zeuch, William Robert Wunsch (Bob). Because of additional material, there are separate folders for John Dewey, R. Buckminster Fuller, and Edith Eyre [Valentine] Dreier, mother of Theodore Dreier, and member of the BMC Advisory Council from 1933 to 1949. There are also obituaries for the following: Marcel Breuer, Edith Eyre [Valentine] Dreier, John Malcolm (Mac) Forbes, Walter Gropius, Fritz J. Hansgirg, John Andrew Rice, and Ted Shawn. Additionally, there a few clippings and a newspaper magazine relating to The Black Mountain College Retrospective in 1978.
Collection Arrangement:
Arranged chronologically within each folder.
Access Restrictions:
Available for research.
Processing Information:
Processed by Fran Tracy-Walls, 2009
Encoded by Fran Tracy-Walls, February, 2009
Consultation by Mary Emma Harris as part of agreement with donors.
Clippings and Articles On Black Mountain College and College-Affiliated People, undated, 1932-1978
Obituaries of Individuals Involved with Black Mountain College,1941-1981
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These obituaries, clipped from various newspapers, have been collected from various parts of the collection. They were not enclosed with any accompanying correspondence.
Theodore Dreier Rollins College Materials, 1929 - 1934
Collection Overview Collection Overview:
Subseries description: These papers represent Theodore Dreier's involvements at Rollins College, consisting of a small quantity of personal materials and a larger amount related to his professional interests and activities as a member of the faculty, 1930-1933 (early July). Appointed as an assistant professor of physics, Dreier was active in campus extra-curricular activities and various faculty committees, including the following: president of the Orion Astronomical Society (1931); Radio Committee (1930-31); Museum Committee (1931-1932) Committee on Curriculum (1932-33) and Student-Faculty Committee (1932-33). Although Dreier was the assistant professor, he was the only one teaching physics, and thus responsible for the laboratory and its budget. The subseries includes materials he assembled in the course of these activities and duties. Correspondence includes some references to family life and relationships, but reflects to a larger degree the effort he dedicated to the responsibilities and challenges of his first teaching position.
Of general interest in this subseries is a report of a curriculum conference held at Rollins College, January 1931 and chaired by distinguished philosopher and educator, John Dewey. Of particular interest is Dreier's correspondence with Hamilton Holt, president of Rollins College during Dreier's tenure there; correspondence with his paternal aunt, Margaret () Dreier Robins, owner of the nearby Chinsegut Hill Sanctuary, and a member of the Rollins College Board of Trustees (term expired 1934); and with Arthur O. Lovejoy, of Johns Hopkins University and one of two professors as part of a committee of the American Association of University Professors to investigate issues that had arisen at the college and came to culmination during the spring of 1933. These included alleged violations of academic freedom and tenure, along with inquiry into the conduct and teaching methods of John Andrew Rice, professor of classics. Those circumstances and the departure of Rice, Dreier and others were a catalyst for the subsequent founding of Black Mountain College in the following months. In addition to correspondence (letters, telegrams, memos), materials in the subseries include notes, lists, programs, minutes, constitutions, bylaws, reports, conference reports, catalogs, newspapers, news clippings, articles and reprints.
Collection Arrangement:
Arranged by type of material or topic and arranged chronologically thereunder.
Access Restrictions:
Available for research.
Processing Information:
Processed by Fran Tracy-Walls, 2008
Encoded by Fran Tracy-Walls, January, 2009
Consultation by Mary Emma Harris as part of agreement with donors.
Theodore Dreier College Related Correspondence, Notes, and Contacts,1930-1933
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The correspondence includes typescript and typescript carbons, memos, and a telegram. The typescript carbons are from Theodore Dreier. There are letters and memos exchanged between Dreier and Hamilton Holt, Rollins College President. The earliest correspondence is a telegram dated June 9 from Holt to Dreier:
Theodore Dreier College Extracurricular Activities,1931-1933
Theodore Dreier College Departmental, Faculty Committee, and Related Material,1929-1933
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As an assistant professor of physics, Dreier was appointed to several faculty committees, including Radio Committee (1930-31); Museum Committee (1931-1932) Committee on Curriculum (1932-33) and Student-Faculty Committee (1932-33).
Curriculum Conference Held at Rollins College, January 19-24,1931
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The conference drew personnel from various colleges in the south, northeast, and midwest, including college presidents and professors and directors in different disciplines. It was chaired by philospher and progressive educator, John Dewey.
Published Material: Rollins College Related,1929-1934
Rollins College Related: Bulletin of American Association University Professors, 1933
4. Photographs and Negatives, 1930 - 1949; undated
Series Overview:
This series contains photographs and negatives depicting a wide variety of people, scenery, and activities at Black Mountain College and also relating to the lives of Theodore and Barbara Loines Dreier and a few other individuals outside of their involvement with the college. The photos and negatives in this series are not directly associated with any correspondence or other materials elsewhere in the Dreier Collection. Photos that were enclosed with or that clearly accompanied letters or documents are filed with their companion documents.
Includes photographs of or relating to: Anni Albers, Josef Albers, Ruth Asawa, Margaret Loram (Peggy) Bailey, Maude Dabbs Haase, Barbara Loines Dreier, Eddie Dreier, Theodore Dreier, Charles Dreyfus, Trude Guermonprez Elsesser, John Evarts, Frederick Raymond Georgia, Wilfred Gardiner Hamlin, Maria Hansgirg, William Hinkley, Fanny Hobart, Heinrich Jalowetz, Johanna Jalowetz, Edward Boardman (Jimmie) Jamieson, A. Lawrence (Alfred Lawrence) Kocher, Kenneth Kurtz, Helen Boyden Lamb Lamont, Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence, Jacob Lawrence, Francisco (Paco) León, Hilda Margaret (Bailey) Loram, Ralph Reed Lounsbury, Gretel Lowinsky, Frederick R. Mangold, J. W. (Joseph Walford) Martin, Carlos Mérida, Beaumont Newhall, Nancy Wynne Newhall, Leslie Paul, Herminio Portell-Vilá, Alexander (William F.) Reed, John Andrew Rice, Mary Caroline Richards, Sue Spayth Wolpert Riley, Barbara Sieck, Barbara Hall Steinau, Morton J. Steinau, John Stix, Claude Stoller, Frederick Mason Stone, Jane Robinson Stone, Erwin W. (Erwin Walter) Straus, Piet Swierstra, Leslie Paul Symington, Betty Vogler, and William Robert Wunsch.
Series Arrangement:
This series is divided into two subseries by format - Prints and Negatives. The prints are arranged in folders as follows: unidentified people, indentified people (filed alphabetically by person's last name), and subjects (filed alphabetically). Negatives are arranged numerically by their call number and cross-refernced to prints. Not all negatives have corresponding prints, and not all prints have negatives.
Access Restrictions:
Available for research.
Processing Information:
Processed by Kim Cumber, 2009
Encoded by Kim Cumber, 2009
Consultation by Mary Emma Harris as part of agreement with donors.
Prints
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Photographs depicting a variety of people, scenery, and activities at Black Mountain College and also relating to the lives of Theodore and Barbara Loines Dreier outside of their involvement with the college.
Negatives,1930-1950
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Digital surrogates of these images available upon request.
5. Black Mountain College Publications and Printed Materials, 1933- 1978
Collection Overview Collection Overview:
This series contains original print materials published for or by Black Mountain College and printed materials, including articles, published about the college. Also various materials collected by the Dreiers about education and other related topics. These items were filed in various parts of the papers, including the college administrative files, or were collected by Theodore and Barbara Dreier, or were later given to the Dreiers.
This series consists of 8 subseries. These subseries are: Black Mountain College Bulletins, published from 1933 to 1944; Black Mountain College Newsletters, published from November 1938 to November 1942; Black Mountain College Bulletin/Bulletin-Newsletters, published between 1942 and 1956; Black Mountain College Community Bulletins, published from 1942 to 1947; Publicity Flyers and Brochures, published from 1933 to 1956; Picture Postcards, printed between 1940 and 1945; Catalogues and Annual Announcements, from 1933 to 1953; Miscellaneous Publications, About Black Mountain College, dated from 1937 to 1946; and Miscellaneous Publications, Various Subjects, 1933 to 1978.
The sub-series descriptions were taken from: Harris, Mary Emma. . Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England: The MIT Press, 1987.
Collection Arrangement:
Arranged chronologically within each subseries and sub-subseries.
Access Restrictions:
Available for research.
Processing Information:
Processed by Gwen Thomas Mays, December 2008
Encoded by Gwen Thomas Mays, December, 2008
Consultation by Mary Emma Harris as part of agreement with donors.
Black Mountain College Bulletins, Nos. 1-8,1933-1944
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With the exception of the third issue, which was an illustrated broadside, the published articles and lectures by members of the faculty. The first issue was mimeographed; others were designed by Josef Albers and printed commercially.
Black Mountain College Bulletin/Bulletin-Newsletters, Vols. 1-12,1942-1954
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The and was a publication issued irregularly in twelve volumes from 1942 through 1956. The series includes catalogues; newsletters with articles about college activities, courses, visitors, faculty, students, and educational aims; announcements for the summer sessions; and financial appeals. Beginning with the 1943-44 academic year, catalogues and annual announcements were issued as a part of this series. The form of the publication varies. Most common is a booklet of four to twenty pages of sheets folded and fastened with staples. Other issues were published as broadsides or stiff cards. After the revival of the printshop in 1947, many of the issues were printed on the college press. During the 1950s some bulletins and amendments were issued as a typescript with carbons to satisfy requirements of the Veterans Administration.
Issues are identified by the bulletin title or by the title of the first article. Bulletins are indicated by B after the issue number; Bulletin-Newsletters with BN.
Black Mountain College Newsletters, Vols. 1 and 2, Nos. 1-17,November 1938-November 1942
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The was a general information newsletter issued four or five times a year at irregular intervals. The first four newsletters were issued as Vol. 1, Nos. 1-4, the first two issues being identified by title but not by number or volume. The fifth issue was printed as Vol. 2, No. 1. Beginning with the sixth issue, the newsletters were numbered consecutively. All issues except those that were mimeographed were designed by Josef Albers and printed commercially. Issues are identified by the title of the first article.
Black Mountain College Community Bulletin,1942-1947
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The is a mimeographed newsletter that was issued weekly. It contains announcements of college activities such as concerts and lectures, a list of visitors, faculty and student activities, lecture summaries, farm reports, alumni news (primarily excerpts from letters from servicemen during the war), course lists, and other general information. The was mailed to former faculty and students and to friends of the college. It was preceded by the a mimeographed notice of topics to be discussed at the meetings.
From the fall of 1942 through the spring of 1945, the bulletins were numbered and issued weekly, usually on a Monday. The volumes were indicated by college year. Three bulletins were issued in the summer of 1945. During the 1945-46 session, five bulletins were issued; and in 1946-47 four bulletins were issued. Issues are identified by Bulletin number, followed by date.
Selected Publicity Flyers and Brochures,1933-1956
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In addition to the series of bulletins and newsletters, the college issued publicity flyers and bulletins, audits, announcements, requests for money, and other publications as booklets, broadsides, stiff cards, and posters. Also included in this series are announcements of concerts and lectures, programs for performances, invitations to events, lists of course descriptions and of individuals enrolled in courses, faculty meeting bulletins, general information, and general financial appeals.
Catalogues and Annual Announcements, 1933-1953
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The college issued catalogues for 1933-34 through 1943-44 and for 1949-50, 1950-51, and 1952-53. were issued for 1942-43 through 1948-49. Both a catalogue and were issued for 1943-44. Beginning with the the catalogues and announcements were issued as part of the series and are listed with that series.
Beginning with the second printing of the 1934-35 catalogue, the college emblem designed by Josef Albers appeared on the cover (the color of the covers is indicated in parentheses). With the exception of the catalogue for 1936-37, which was designed by Xanti Schawinsky, Albers designed the catalogues through 1949. All of the catalogues listed in this section (except for designated mimeographed statements) were printed commercially.
Miscellaneous Publications, About Black Mountain College, 1937-1946
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This first subseries of miscellaneous publications includes articles about Black Mountain College that appeared in publications that were published outside of the school itself, as well as various materials published at the school which do not properly belong in any other subseries.
Miscellaneous Publications, Various Subjects,., 1933-1978
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This second subseries of miscellaneous materials includes publications found elsewhere in the papers, on various topics, collected by the family, which do not properly fit into any other subseries.
6. Oversized Materials, 1938 - 1940
Collection Overview Collection Overview:
This series includes two Black Mountain College (BMC) scrapbooks, 1937-1938 and 1938-1939, and a Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer folio: Designs for the Lake Eden Campus, 1939-1940. The scrapbooks contain items apparently taken from the college bulletin boards and provide a remarkable glimpse of the daily life of the college, from the beginning of the semester each fall, ending with the semester just before summer. The folio is a group of eight renderings and photographs of plans for proposed buildings. Five are mounted photographs signed by Ezra Stoller, brother of BMC student Claude Stoller, and a major architectural photographer of the twentieth century. Though never constructed because of the college's financial difficulties, these buildings would have been the architects' first major architectural project in the United States.
The series consists of the following two subseries: Black Mountain College Scrapbooks, 1937-1939; and Folio: Designs for the Lake Eden Campus, 1939-1940, by Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer, Associated Architects, Cambridge, MA.
Collection Arrangement:
Arranged chronologically by item within the scrapbook subseries.
Access Restrictions:
Available for research.
Processing Information:
Processed by Fran Tracy-Walls, December 2008
Encoded by Fran Tracy-Walls, December, 2008
Consultation by Mary Emma Harris as part of agreement with donors.
Dreier Black Mountain College Collection: Oversize Materials,1937-1940
Black Mountain College Scrapbooks,1937-1939
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Each of the two scrapbooks contains items apparently taken from the college bulletin boards and provide a remarkable glimpse of the daily life of the college, from the beginning of the semester each fall, ending with the semester just before summer. The scrapbooks contain materials such as notices, announcements, schedules, including student and faculty work schedules, invitations, programs, clippings, cast lists, and various other lists, and miscellaneous postings concerning student life and extra-curricula activies. It is thought that the scrapbooks were kept from the 1930s until possibly 1949, but only two are represented in this collection.
Folio: Designs for the Lake Eden Campus, , by Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer, Associated Architects, Cambridge, MA, 1939-1940
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In January 1939, Gropius, who had formed a partnership with Marcel Breuer (also a Bauhaus and Harvard colleague), was commissioned by Black Mountain College (BMC) to design a complex of buildings for the Lake Eden campus. Though never constructed because of the college's financial difficulties, these buildings would have been the architects' first major architectural project in the United States.
The five mounted photographic prints are signed by Ezra Stoller, brother of BMC student Claude Stoller, and a major architectural photographer of the twentieth century. In 1961 he became the first recipient of the AIA Gold Medal for Photography.
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Acquisitions Information
Received as a gift from Theodore Dreier, Jr., and Barbara B. Dreier, of Belmont, Massachusetts, and Fairfield, Iowa, respectively. Accessioned January 5, 2007. During March-April, 2012, these records were moved from the State Archives building in Raleigh to the Western Regional Archives, Asheville, N.C.