Susan (Wender) Lowenstein-Kitchell '48 (BardCorps)
Files
Interviewee Role
Alumni/ae/x
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Class Year
1948
Academic Program
Dance; Music
Interviewer
Paul Margolis '76
Description
Susan (Wender) Lowenstein-Kitchell ‘48 began her studies at Bard right after the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) ended on campus. She discusses how Bard became independent from Columbia: Millicent McIntosh, then president of Barnard College (another Columbia affiliate) didn’t want competition from a related co-ed institution. Thus, 1944 welcomed the first full class of women at Bard. During her time at Bard, Susan studied music, dance, and composition, and combined all of these fields to create her senior project, a dance concert. After Bard, she pursued a masters in composition from Columbia, and was also able to take lessons with teachers from Julliard. After raising her family, she returned to the workforce by playing for dance classes and teaching masters students at Smith College. Susan reminisces about how grateful she was to be at a school that allowed much more freedom for women, and remarks on the foundation for life that Bard provided her.
Keywords
Oberlin College and Conservatory; Sarah Lawrence College; Bennington College; Bard College; World War II; Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP); Columbia University; Leon Botstein; Millicent McIntosh; Barnard College; Mary McCarthy; James Joyce; Marcel Proust; Thomas Mann; Juilliard; San Francisco, California; Amherst, Massachusetts; Smith College; Bissell Carpet Sweeper; Bard SummerScape; Frank Gehry; Sosnoff Theater; Soviet Union; Armenia; Holyoke Massachusetts; The Care Center
Location
Bard College
Interview Date
5-27-2017
Interview Duration
17:00
Recommended Citation
(Wender) Lowenstein-Kitchell '48, Susan, "Susan (Wender) Lowenstein-Kitchell '48 (BardCorps)" (2018). BardCorps -- All Oral Histories. 60.
https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/oral_hist/60
Rights Management
The use of any image or audio from the Bard College Archives without permission is prohibited.
Significant Quote
“One springtime, they were not going to give us a spring break, but they had a very–there was a real water problem, they were only on one pump, and they said if you take a shower, make it quick. And there was one young woman who really wanted spring break, and she went in and turned the showers on and the pump broke and they sent us home, but they expelled her. And I don’t know if I should mention her name, but … she flew her plane over Commencement and buzzed the group, and I’ve never forgotten that.”