Women of Black Mountain College | Introduction to the college

Black and white photo of three laughing young women, walking along a country path next to a large lake, with mountains in the background. There is also a white modernist building in the background.
Lunch run on the path between the Studies Building and Dining Hall. L to R: Patsy Lynch, Vesta Martin, and Fanny Hobart. c.1946. Photograph by Stuart Atkinson. North Carolina Museum of Art, Black Mountain College Research Project, Visual Materials, Box 88. Courtesy Western Regional Archives, State Archives of North Carolina.

Black Mountain College was an experimental liberal arts college in North Carolina from 1933-1957. Ruth Asawa was a student there from 1946-49, taught by international artists and progressive tutors who she said: “profoundly influenced my outlook on the value of life and the true nature of freedom.” 

We’re excited to launch #WomenOfBMC, a series of posts celebrating the women who taught and learned at Black Mountain College. Like Asawa, many have not received the same recognition as their male contemporaries, and we are excited to share archival material that sheds light on their stories. With huge thanks to Heather South, Lead Archivist at the Western Regional Archives, North Carolina, for her generosity and help with this research. 

Head to our blog to read the first post in the series, an introduction to Black Mountain College: a living experiment in progressive education and holistic creativity. Surrounded by mountains and forests, the college’s idyllic environment and liberal approach made it an extraordinary, and sometimes complicated, place, particularly in relation to its location, deep in the Jim Crow South, where racial segregation was legally enforced in public facilities.

Image: Lunch run on the path between the Studies Building and Dining Hall. L to R: Patsy Lynch, Vesta Martin, and Fanny Hobart. c.1946. Photograph by Stuart Atkinson. North Carolina Museum of Art, Black Mountain College Research Project, Visual Materials, Box 88. Courtesy Western Regional Archives, State Archives of North Carolina.