Call Number:

C1346

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 1 box
• 0.2 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); W. Howard Adams Collection, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1962-1968 (inclusive)

Creator:

Adams, W. Howard

Form:

Correspondence -- 20th century and Typescripts -- 20th century.

Abstract:

Collection consists of miscellaneous material relating to Black Mountain College and the Penland School of Arts and Crafts, collected by Adams, during his tenure as associate director of The Arts Council of America.

Author and educator William Howard Adams was chairman of the Missouri Council of the Arts. He was appointed associate director of the Arts Council of America on January 1, 1965.

Black Mountain College was established in 1933 as an independent, coeducational, four-year college and originally was located near Black Mountain, N.C. It was created as an experiment of "education in a democracy," with the idea that the creative arts and practical responsibilities are equal in importance to the development of the intellect. The college attracted many students and faculty who were or went on to become influential. Although notable even during its short life, the school closed after only twenty-four years in 1957. Its teachers and students include its founder John Rice, writer Charles Olson, composer John Cage, architect Buckminster Fuller, dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham, poet Robert Creeley, painters Jacob Lawrence, Willem de Kooning, and Robert Rauschenberg, and the potter and poet M. C. Richards.

Penland School of Crafts is located in Penland, North Carolina, and was founded as a national center for craft education. It was established by Lucy Morgan who decided to revive hand-weaving. Morgan had organized the Penland Weavers and Potters craft group, and was eventually able to establish a working craft school.

This collection consists of proposals, articles, and correspondence and other material related to Black Mountain College and the Penland School of Arts and Crafts, collected by Adams during his tenure as associate director of The Arts Council of America. Included is correspondence of Adams with the American historian and playwright Martin Duberman, Gordon McAndrew of The Learning Institute of North America, and Norman Lloyd of the Rockefeller Foundation. In addition, there is correspondence of Adams and the poet M. C. Richards with the Rockefeller Foundation and the Penland School of Crafts regarding a proposal to establish a summer program for teaching teenagers arts and craft. Also included are typescript essays by Martin Duberman (one about Black Mountain College), proposals of Mary Caroline Richard to the Guggenheim Foundation regarding studies about the College, and a partial list of artists associated with Black Mountain College.