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23. GOD'S BREATH SCRIPT 6/28/03
I met George Von Hilsheimer in 1958 at a meeting in NYC that was organized to form a Summerhill style school in the United States. This meeting was attended by teachers and principles from all over NYC. George got up and spoke about an experience he had with a black American girl of eleven that was arrested for having a knife. He requested custody of the girl, took her to a hospital and showed her people who, as he put it, “had real problems” and took her home. This experience turned the child around. The audience was captivated by George’s voice and energy. The following week he was on the dais along with Paul Goodman and other educators. George was about 22 years old at the time.
Later many stories came out about him. He took over his father’s ministry at 12 years of age. He built several summer camps for children in different States and the local town’s people burned them down because they were to be integrated.
He would go in to migrant workers camps where the children were left all day and get the children to do community work, clean up etc., to learn how to make good use of their time.
I visited with him at a storefront in the East Village that was financed for him to provide community services for the depressed community of that area. He lived in the back with his wife and child. He got the local kids to clean up the neighborhood, handled legal problems and connected people up with social services. Paul Krassner and he were good friends and Paul would write about George's efforts to bring some help to the poor in his newspaper The Realist.
George would often make trips to Washington DC to help in the design of Social Work programs for the inner cities that come from the modal he set up in the east Village.
George moved to Florida and the last I heard about him in the late 60's was a short article in the NY Times. The article mentioned that he had taken over the legal defense of a black American child of 13 who had shot his father.
I
did a search and this is what I found, of all things a beautiful presentation
about Breathing. Click to view:
~~~GOD'S
BREATH SCRIPT~~~
Posted by harmonhathaway at June 28, 2003 10:43 AM
Comments
thank you, Harmon; well worth printing out, driving to a nice outdoor spot (the beach, if you can), and taking your time with this wonderful, inspirational script
Posted by: Jordan on June 28, 2003
Great Idea, :):):)
Posted by: Harmon on June 28, 2003
Thanks for posting this. I'm thinking of making a tape of it to play back to myself. . .
Question: you wrote: "He built several summer camps for children in different States and had them burned down because they were to be integrated."
Why did he think it would hurt the camps to have them integrated? Ruth
Posted by: Ruth on June 30, 2003
Ruth, Thanks for picking up on that it was the local towns people who got upset with the prospect of an integrated camp. who then when camp was to open did their red meme deed. I will correct that.
Posted by: Harmon on June 30, 2003
I am trying to obtain info
about what became of the Green Valley School that George ran in Florida. I was a
student at the original place in North Branch New York. I have run into some of
the staff that were working there the first few years in New York State - and
have heard interesting things about former staff and students. If anyone out
there has info - I would appreciate hearing from them.
Christian Frey
Posted by: Christian Frey on July 30, 2003
Was at Green Valley as staff
31 years ago.
Would like to hear from any others who were there then.
As a 20 yr. old from Toronto, Green Valley and the people seemed like a Fellini
movie in english!
Let's hear from you!
Regards, Jack Kwinter
Posted by: jack kwinter on October 12, 2003
Hi Jack - I was at
Summerlane/Green Valley from 1963 or 64 off and on for several years.
I'm not sure if I remember you correctly....but your name sounds familiar. Did
you have a sister there named Hannah?
Also...did you know there is now a chat room for Summerlane/Green Valley alumuni? http://gvsalumni.tripod.com/messageboard.html
Posted by: Liz Roberts (Small) on October 14, 2003
Christian Frey: Please write to me at dhumph@aol.com. I have some of the information you are seeking,
Posted by: Dibble-Dabble on March 6, 2004
In January or February of 1963, my mother took me to an apartment in the Bronx to meet the director of a "Camp Summerlane" to be established in North Carolina. I imagine that the Director was George Von Hilsheimer. She chose to send me to a different integrated leftist camp, Camp Webatuck instead. Can any of you tell me whatever became of the North Carolina venture?
Thanks
Posted by: Marc M. Cohen on March 30, 2004
for dibble dabble:
i was at webatuck 63 and 64. get n touch if yoou feel like it
am still in touch with some webatuckians
Posted by: laura rosenberg on August 1, 2004
for dibble-dabble, laura
rosenberg:
I went to webatuck starting in 1964.
Would love to communicate.
-Malissa
Posted by: Malissa Smith on August 21, 2004
re:webatuck
63 and 64
marc- how old were you? malissa?
i was 13 and 14 - senior and work camp
remember judy barnett? wini dean? sandy matusewich,
? kathy panken? henry harris? cecil? ted gold? john kruse? victor fink and janis
fink ian? herbie jefferson?
over to you........
Posted by: laura rosenberg on September 10, 2004
re:webatuck
63 and 64
marc- how old were you? malissa?
i was 13 and 14 - senior and work camp
remember judy barnett? wini dean? sandy matusewich,
? kathy panken? henry harris? cecil? ted gold? john kruse? victor fink and janis
fink ian? herbie jefferson?
over to you........
Posted by: laura rosenberg on September 10, 2004
I was a counselor at Webatuck in '66 and Janis Ian was in my group. I remember Herb Jefferson. Would love to hear from Joe Porter, who also worked there that summer, or from anyone else who was there.
Posted by: Molli Swid on October 6, 2004
~~~~~
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