Hans Maeder
Encyclopedia
Hans Karl Maeder was an innovative educator who founded the Stockbridge School
in Stockbridge, Massachusetts
and served as its director and headmaster for 23 years.
Maeder, a socialist, eventually joined the anti-Nazi movement, and fled Germany in 1933 to avoid arrest. He went to Denmark
, where he taught at the Udlose Boys Home, an institution for boys with problems. During this time and later travels Maeder wrote for the anti-Nazi underground. But in 1937, Maeder was forced to leave Denmark and subsequently traveled to Kenya
, Hong Kong
, Singapore
, and the Philippines
. Maeder arrived in Hawaii
to teach in 1941, but was interned as an enemy alien
on December 8, the day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Maeder was released from an internment camp in Texas
on February 23, 1943. Arriving in New York, Maeder soon obtained a position as the director of the boys' division of a YMCA
in Williamsburg, Brooklyn
. In September 1944, Maeder took a teaching job for a year at Windsor Mountain School
in Lenox, Massachusetts
, several miles from the site of the future Stockbridge School.
Maeder then moved to the Walden School
, a private day school in Manhattan
, teaching German
and the history of languages and briefly serving as the school's director in 1947 and 1948. It was at Walden that he met his wife Ruth, a widow at the time, through her son David, a Walden student whom he later adopted. Maeder left Walden in 1948 to found Stockbridge School.
. Their purchase of what became the site of Stockbridge School occurred shortly after the failure of Liberal Arts, Inc.
to establish a Great Books
-based college associated with St. John's College, Annapolis, Maryland
, on the same site. The property had been vacant since the Great Depression
and extended from the summit of West Stockbridge Mountain to the shore of a lake called the Stockbridge Bowl. Only a portion of this extensive property became the school campus, with the Maeders retaining title to the remainder.
As a progressive private boarding school
for adolescents, Maeder intended that Stockbridge School's educational philosophy be interracial, nondenominational and international. The school was notable for being completely racially integrated from its inception and Maeder made successful efforts to recruit an international student body.
To help express Maeder's philosophy, and in light of his experiences as a German
refugee and expatriate, the school flew the United Nations
flag just below the American flag beginning in 1948, three years after the U.N. came into existence. For some years, its curriculum included a junior year abroad, and Stockbridge briefly operated a branch in Corcelles, Switzerland
.
The best-known Stockbridge School alumnus is Arlo Guthrie
, whose arrest for littering by Stockbridge police shortly after graduation in 1965 inspired the song "Alice's Restaurant
". Alice Brock had been the school librarian before opening a lunch counter in Stockbridge. Among other notable alumni are Chevy Chase
, and Benjamin Barber
.
, a wholly unrelated institution.
After leaving Stockbridge, Maeder worked as an educational consultant in New York City. His wife, Ruth, died in 1976. He died in Manhattan in 1988; the cause of his death was prostate cancer
.
Stockbridge School
Stockbridge School was a "progressive" co-educational boarding school for adolescents near the Interlaken section of Stockbridge, Massachusetts and which operated from 1948 to 1976.-History:...
in Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Stockbridge is a town in Berkshire County in Western Massachusetts. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,947 at the 2010 census...
and served as its director and headmaster for 23 years.
Early life and career
Maeder was born in Hamburg, Germany on December 29, 1909, the third child in a prosperous family. He described his father as an authoritarian nationalist and anti-Semite who embraced Hitler's message. Maeder left home at 18, refusing to go into business as his father had had wished, and deciding instead to become a teacher.Maeder, a socialist, eventually joined the anti-Nazi movement, and fled Germany in 1933 to avoid arrest. He went to Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, where he taught at the Udlose Boys Home, an institution for boys with problems. During this time and later travels Maeder wrote for the anti-Nazi underground. But in 1937, Maeder was forced to leave Denmark and subsequently traveled to Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, and the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. Maeder arrived in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
to teach in 1941, but was interned as an enemy alien
Enemy alien
In law, an enemy alien is a citizen of a country which is in a state of conflict with the land in which he or she is located. Usually, but not always, the countries are in a state of declared war.-United Kingdom:...
on December 8, the day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Maeder was released from an internment camp in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
on February 23, 1943. Arriving in New York, Maeder soon obtained a position as the director of the boys' division of a YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
in Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordering Greenpoint to the north, Bedford-Stuyvesant to the south, Bushwick to the east and the East River to the west. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 1. The neighborhood is served by the NYPD's 90th ...
. In September 1944, Maeder took a teaching job for a year at Windsor Mountain School
Windsor Mountain School
The Windsor Mountain School was a coeducational boarding high school in Lenox, Massachusetts.The school was established in Lenox in 1944 by German Jewish educational reformer Max Bondy and his wife Gertrude Bondy. The Bondys had earlier established an international school in Germany, initially in...
in Lenox, Massachusetts
Lenox, Massachusetts
Lenox is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. Set in Western Massachusetts, it is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 5,077 at the 2000 census. Where the town has a border with Stockbridge is the site of Tanglewood, summer...
, several miles from the site of the future Stockbridge School.
Maeder then moved to the Walden School
Walden School (New York City)
__notoc__Walden School was a private day school in Manhattan, New York City that operated from 1914 until 1988, when it merged with the New Lincoln School; the merged school closed in 1991. Walden was known as an innovator in progressive education. The Walden School was founded in 1914 by Margaret...
, a private day school in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, teaching German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and the history of languages and briefly serving as the school's director in 1947 and 1948. It was at Walden that he met his wife Ruth, a widow at the time, through her son David, a Walden student whom he later adopted. Maeder left Walden in 1948 to found Stockbridge School.
Stockbridge School
The Maeders paid $60,000 to acquire the 1,100-plus acres of the former estate of Daniel Rhodes Hanna, son of Mark HannaMark Hanna
Marcus Alonzo "Mark" Hanna was a United States Senator from Ohio and the friend and political manager of President William McKinley...
. Their purchase of what became the site of Stockbridge School occurred shortly after the failure of Liberal Arts, Inc.
Liberal Arts, Inc.
Liberal Arts, Inc. was the name of an unsuccessful corporation founded in late 1946, which intended to create a Great Books-based liberal arts college in Stockbridge, Massachusetts...
to establish a Great Books
Great Books
Great Books refers primarily to a group of books that tradition, and various institutions and authorities, have regarded as constituting or best expressing the foundations of Western culture ; derivatively the term also refers to a curriculum or method of education based around a list of such books...
-based college associated with St. John's College, Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
, on the same site. The property had been vacant since the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and extended from the summit of West Stockbridge Mountain to the shore of a lake called the Stockbridge Bowl. Only a portion of this extensive property became the school campus, with the Maeders retaining title to the remainder.
As a progressive private boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
for adolescents, Maeder intended that Stockbridge School's educational philosophy be interracial, nondenominational and international. The school was notable for being completely racially integrated from its inception and Maeder made successful efforts to recruit an international student body.
To help express Maeder's philosophy, and in light of his experiences as a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
refugee and expatriate, the school flew the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
flag just below the American flag beginning in 1948, three years after the U.N. came into existence. For some years, its curriculum included a junior year abroad, and Stockbridge briefly operated a branch in Corcelles, Switzerland
Corcelles, Switzerland
Corcelles is a municipality in the Jura bernois administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is located in the French-speaking Bernese Jura .-History:...
.
The best-known Stockbridge School alumnus is Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Davy Guthrie is an American folk singer. Like his father, Woody Guthrie, Arlo often sings songs of protest against social injustice...
, whose arrest for littering by Stockbridge police shortly after graduation in 1965 inspired the song "Alice's Restaurant
Alice's Restaurant
"Alice's Restaurant Massacree" is a musical monologue by singer-songwriter Arlo Guthrie released on his 1967 album Alice's Restaurant. The song is one of Guthrie's most prominent works, based on a true incident in his life that began on Thanksgiving Day 1965, and which inspired a 1969 movie of the...
". Alice Brock had been the school librarian before opening a lunch counter in Stockbridge. Among other notable alumni are Chevy Chase
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase is an American comedian, writer, and television and film actor, born into a prominent entertainment industry family. Chase worked a plethora of odd jobs before moving into comedy acting with National Lampoon...
, and Benjamin Barber
Benjamin Barber
Benjamin R. Barber is an American political theorist and author perhaps best known for his 1996 bestseller, Jihad vs. McWorld.-Career:...
.
Final years
Maeder retired from Stockbridge School in 1971. The school closed five years later, in 1976, as a result of declining enrollment and debt. In 1978 the school campus became the site of the DeSisto at Stockbridge SchoolDeSisto School
The DeSisto School was a pair of therapeutic boarding schools founded by Michael DeSisto, DeSisto at Stockbridge School in Massachusetts and the DeSisto at Howey School in Florida ....
, a wholly unrelated institution.
After leaving Stockbridge, Maeder worked as an educational consultant in New York City. His wife, Ruth, died in 1976. He died in Manhattan in 1988; the cause of his death was prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
.
External links
- David E. Pitt, Hans K. Maeder, Stockbridge Founder, Dies at 78, New York Times, September 11, 1988
- Teacher Education Quarterly, Summer, 2001
- The New School, Annual Hans K. Maeder Memorial Lectureship
- Stockbridge School Web site "Stories" page; introduction to Gunter Nabel's "A Fight For Human Rights - Documents of The Stockbridge School."