Black Mountain in Buncombe County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

Black Mountain College

Photographed By Mike Stroud, May 19, 2012

1. Black Mountain College Marker

Inscription.
Est. in 1933; closed 1956. Experimental school with emphasis on fine arts & progressive education. Campus was 3 mi. NW.

Erected 1986 by Division of Archives and History. (Marker Number P-64.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Education. In addition, it is included in the North Carolina Division of Archives and History series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1933.

Location. 35° 36.673′ N, 82° 20.017′ W. Marker is in Black Mountain, North Carolina, in Buncombe County. Marker is on W State Street (U.S. 70) near W College Street, on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Black Mountain NC 28711, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Geodesic Domes (approx. 0.3 miles away); André Michaux (approx. ¾ mile away); Granulitic Gneiss (approx. 0.8 miles away); Migmatitic Gneiss (approx. 0.8 miles away); Geologic Time (approx. 0.8 miles away); Amphibolite (approx. 0.8 miles away); Mylonitic Gneiss (approx. 0.8 miles away); Pegmatitic Granodiorite (approx. 0.8 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Black Mountain.

Regarding Black Mountain College. Black Mountain College was established

Paid Advertisement

Click on the ad for more information.
Please report objectionable advertising to the Editor.

Click or scan to see
this page online

in 1933 by a group of Rollins College faculty, disgruntled over the firing of Professor John Andrews Rice by the college president. Led by Josef Albers, the Black Mountain faculty included several scholars forced to leave Europe during the 1930s. The new school was incorporated on August 19, 1933, and, according to the first catalog, was founded “in order to provide a place where free use might be made of tested and proved methods of education and new methods tried in a purely experimental spirit. . .”
The institution was unconventional by almost every standard. As an experimental college that served as an
alternative to traditional education, it was one of the first schools in the nation to create an educational plan embodying the principles of progressive education. There was even an attempt to implement an organization plan giving the faculty full legal control of the school. One of the major tenets of the school’s plan was to elevate the fine arts to full curricular status.
Owing partly to the imbalance between the arts and sciences, Black Mountain College was never accredited. Still many of its graduates enjoyed successful careers in the fine arts, education, and letters. Among the artists who were either students or faculty were: in architecture, Buckminster Fuller and Walter Gropius; in art, Josef Albers, Willem DeKooning, Robert Motherwell, and Robert Rauschenberg;

Black Mountain College Marker, seen eastbound W State Street image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Mike Stroud, May 19, 2012

2. Black Mountain College Marker, seen eastbound W State Street

in dance, Merce Cunningham and Paul Taylor; in music, John Cage; in film, Arthur Penn; and in literature, Eric Bentley, Robert Creeley, Paul Goodman, Alfred Kazin, Charles Olson, Joel Oppenheimer, and Jonathan Williams. In 1941 the school moved from the Blue Ridge Assembly grounds to a large Internationalist-style building designed by faculty member W. Lawrence Kocher. Following World War II, Black Mountain College fell into a period of decline; it ceased operation in 1956. The school received renewed attention with the publication of Martin Duberman’s study in 1972. (North Carolina Dept. of Cultural Resources)

Also see . . . Black Mountain College. Wikipedia entry (Submitted on December 9, 2023, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.)

Black Mountain College Marker, looking west along W State Street (US 70) image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Mike Stroud, May 19, 2012

3. Black Mountain College Marker, looking west along W State Street (US 70)

Credits. This page was last revised on December 9, 2023. It was originally submitted on June 7, 2012, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 802 times since then and 23 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on June 8, 2012, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina.