Artists, Intellectuals, and World War II: The Pontigny Encounters at Mount Holyoke College, 1942-1944

Acknowledgments

xiii Acknowledgments The spirit of Pontigny arose from a trust in the vitality of human conversation . Conversations with colleagues, students, staff, and alumnae of Mount Holyoke College—some of whom contributed to this volume—inspired us to pursue this exploration of a key moment in the history of the college, and in the history of European and American intellectual exchange. We offer special thanks to President Joanne Creighton and Dean of Faculty Donal O’Shea, as well as to our colleagues in the French Department, the Mount Holyoke College Archives, the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, and the Mount Holyoke Alumnae Association for their collaborative efforts. Many alumnae shared with us their vivid memories of the war years at the college and their encounters with the participants in the first Pontigny-en-Amérique. We also thank Harriet and Paul Weissman, whose unflagging support for a commemoration of Pontigny-en-Amérique—held on the Mount Holyoke campus in South Hadley, Massachusetts, in November 2003—made it, quite simply, possible. Carol Hoffman Collins’s generous support and intellectual curiosity allowed us to invite major scholars to Mount Holyoke to pursue with us this intellectual quest. And Édith Heurgon of Cerisy-la-Salle in Normandy offered her help and intercontinental support for this project, and made Chris welcome at a symposium in August 2002 that celebrated the almost century-long survival of Pontigny, including its three-year detour at Mount Holyoke. The Florence Gould Foundation of New York, an institution that arose in the hope of better French and American cultural ties, generously helped fund both the symposium and the publication of this volume. We are grateful to the editors of the University of Massachusetts Press for their enthusiasm for the project from its inception. A few additional words of gratitude. Nancy Gustafson, Mount Holyoke class of 1978, took time off from a busy touring schedule for a dazzling recital of vocal music related to the Pontigny gatherings during World War II. Robert L. Herbert, professor (emeritus) of art at Mount Holyoke, expertly handled our panel on the arts at Pontigny. Abby Ferguson, Asha Strazzero Wild, Vidya Sampath,and Nancy Doherty provided creative and logistical support.Holger Teschke’s creative vision helped shape the setting for the conversations of 2003. Christopher Benfey Karen Remmler This page intentionally left blank Artists, Intellectuals, andWorldWar II Themindhasaddednothingtohumannature.Itisaviolencefromwithinthatprotectsusfrom a violence without. It is the imagination pressing back against the pressure of reality. It seems, in the last analysis, to have something to do with our self-preservation; and that, no doubt, is why the expression of it, the sound of its words, helps us to live our lives. Wallace Stevens,“The Noble Rider and the Sound of Words” (1941) ...