Early History
Ernst (1902–2001) and Ilse Bulova were Austrian educators living in Germany in the early 20th century. Dr. Bulova ran an educational radio program in Berlin, but following the Nazis' rise to power he and his wife were forced to flee to England, where Dr. Bulova became co-director of the Beltane School in Wimbledon.
With the help of relatives who owned the Bulova Watch Company, Dr. and Mrs. Bulova emigrated to the United States in 1940 to find a refuge for British children during World War II. The site chosen was hilly farmland in the Merryall region of New Milford, but since crossing the Atlantic had become too treacherous, the plan was abandoned and Ernst and Ilse convinced their relatives to sell the land to them. Thus began Buck’s Rock Work Camp, where the Bulovas put into practice some of their Montessori-based principles on how children learn and grow.
The earliest campers came from two of Manhattan’s progressive schools, The Dalton School and The Walden School. In addition to learning about New Milford’s small-town governance, the children worked on neighboring farms to alleviate the wartime manpower shortage. Once the war ended, the camp really took off and a unique program of creative and artistic endeavors evolved.
Read more about this topic: Buck's Rock
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or history:
“The Americans never use the word peasant, because they have no idea of the class which that term denotes; the ignorance of more remote ages, the simplicity of rural life, and the rusticity of the villager have not been preserved among them; and they are alike unacquainted with the virtues, the vices, the coarse habits, and the simple graces of an early stage of civilization.”
—Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859)
“America is, therefore the land of the future, where, in the ages that lie before us, the burden of the World’s history shall reveal itself. It is a land of desire for all those who are weary of the historical lumber-room of Old Europe.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)