Subject: Bob Hood -- PeteSeeger-- Camp Woodlands -- Phoenicia
Something reminded me of Bob Hood and Camp Woodland, in Phoenicia, where he was a counselor and was pointed in the right direction, I mean the left direction, early in the fifties. (Many 1199 people sent their children to Woodlands, and Bob met Jo Davis, Leon's daughter there.)
Obviously, some one, or Bob himself, was already pointed left, otherwise he would not have found his way to Phoenicia, and one of the questions that I never asked him was how he wandered over to the left. He did tell me that his parents were non-political; and that there was a rupture in their relationship, in retrospect I imagine that it might have been because of his homosexuality. Perhaps it was his sexuality that made him open to 'different' thought; or maybe it was a teacher who had not been been prized out of the school system by the McCarthyites in Louisville. Who knows?
Anyway, having met Pete Seeger at Woodland, he brought Seeger to Ohio Wesleyan, and I think that Seeger performed at an official OWU venue; but some of my friends remember that he (Seeger) was barred from the campus, and that instead he performed at an inter-racial Fraternity (Beta Sigma Tau) that Bob presided over. Maybe both. I don't recall Seeger being barred. (And Bob had a lot of clout with the OWU administration, so it's hard to believe that he was barred.)
Bob was mentored by, and, in a sense, sponsored by the President of Ohio Wesleyan, Republican Arthur Flemming, who had been or became a Cabinet Officer under Eisenhower. ( I went out with Flemming's daughter, Susan, a few times but she quickly figured me out and I was dropped.) After he was graduated, Bob received a Rhodes Scholarship, and studied at Oxford where he received his D.Phil. He lived with Karl Barth in Switzerland for about a year, and, Bob was, as you probably know, a liberation theologian.
Later he taught in Germany for several years, and once brought a gaggle of German school boys to Brooklyn, so that they could see that even in America there were poor people. There were about 30 blond, blue-eyed school-children dressed in shorts, knee socks, and short-sleeved white shirts, each wearing a neckerchief of Black-Red-and Gold, the colors of the West-German Flag, and Bob, the baritoned, extremely black giant, wore lederhosen. He brought them to Katz Drug Store in Puerto Rican Williamsburg and we walked over to the Bushwick Projects, where the children would not believe that this was where the poor people lived because the buildings' parking lots were filled with a couple hundred cars.
Then Bob decided that we should go to the Hassidic part of Williamsburg, near the Williamsburg Bridge. Bob was very intelligent, but had no sense of his effect of those around him. I looked at the 30 school boys, chattering in German, wearing their shorts, knee socks, white shirts and German Flag Neckerchiefs, and Bob in his lederhosen, and decided that it would be better to forego that visit, and instead to treat the boys to paraguas, on Graham Avenue. ----- Cherry was the most popular flavor.
A comment from a friend:
Buster:
you have it partially correct. Actually, if you remember, I was the Social Chairman of OWU, at the time, and it was me who booked Pete Seeger. The controversey started when the Columbus Dispatch wrote an Op/Ed villifying Arthur Flemming for allowing a "Commie" on campus, and the pressure that the administration received resulted in them cancelling the Seeger appearance. In those days there were no cell phones and as he was scheduled, and paid for, Pete made his way to the campus and I had to inform his agent that he would not be allowed on stage.
He arrived in Delaware after, Lord knows, how many hours/days on the road and was dead tired and asked where he could rest. We suggested he take a nap at the Beta Sig house, I believe it was Skip Landt's bed, and he did that and then volunteered to just hang out when he woke up. We fed him and we called everyone we could to let them know that we had our own private Pete Seeger concert at the frat house.
As both Skip and I remember, he entertained us for about 4 hours with songs, stories and of course some lefty philosophies, but at Beta Sig he was "preaching to the choir".
It was a nost memorable evening and one I share with people who are familiar with Pete Seeger.
Lew
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing.
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time ago.
Where have all the flowers gone?
The girls have picked them ev'ry one.
Oh, when will you ever learn?
Oh, when will you ever learn? Where have all the young girls gone?
Long time passing.
Where have all the young girls gone?
Long time ago.
Where have all the young girls gone?
They've taken husbands, every one.
Oh, when will you ever learn?
Oh, when will you ever learn?
Where have all the young men gone?
Long time passing.
Where have all the young men gone?
Long time ago.
Where have all the young men gone?
They're all in uniform.
Oh, when will you ever learn?
Oh, when will you ever learn?
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time passing.
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time ago.
Where have all the soldiers gone?
They've gone to graveyards, every one.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Long time passing.
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Long time ago.
Where have all the graveyards gone?
They're covered with flowers, every one.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing.
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time ago.
Where have all the flowers gone?
Young girls picked them, every one.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?
And now, for Bob and you only:
Sag mir, wo die Blumen sind,
wo sind sie geblieben?
Sag mir, wo die Blumen sind,
was ist geschehn?
Sag mir, wo die Blumen sind,
Mädchen pflückten sie geschwind.
Wann wird man je verstehn,
wann wird man je verstehn? Sag mir, wo die Mädchen sind,
wo sind sie geblieben?
Sag mir, wo die Mädchen sind,
was ist geschehn?
Sag mir, wo die Mädchen sind,
Männer nahmen sie geschwind.
Wann wird man je verstehn,
wann wird man je verstehn?
Sag mir, wo die Männer sind,
wo sind sie geblieben?
Sag mir, wo die Männer sind,
was ist geschehn?
Sag mir, wo die Männer sind,
zogen fort, der Krieg beginnt.
Wann wird man je verstehn,
wann wird man je verstehn?
Sag, wo die Soldaten sind,
wo sind sie geblieben?
Sag, wo die Soldaten sind,
was ist geschehn?
Sag, wo die Soldaten sind,
über Gräbern weht der Wind.
Wann wird man je verstehn,
wann wird man je verstehn?
Sag mir, wo die Gräber sind,
wo sind sie geblieben?
Sag mir, wo die Gräber sind,
was ist geschehn?
Sag mir, wo die Gräber sind,
Blumen wehn im Sommerwind.
Wann wird man je verstehn,
wann wird man je verstehn?
Sag mir, wo die Blumen sind,
wo sind sie geblieben?
Sag mir, wo die Blumen sind,
was ist geschehn?
Sag mir, wo die Blumen sind,
Mädchen pflückten sie geschwind.
Wann wird man je verstehn,
wann wird man je verstehn?
