Charles the Handy Man

A former resident of Williams College (1965-1971) recalls Charles the Handyman fondly.  She described him as a "seeker" who felt he had finally found the real deal with Dr. John W. Hopkins and the Understanding group.  He was a modest and humble man, but nevertheless proud of his alliance with the Hopkinses and willingly participated in their meetings and seminars. She suggests his association with the Understanding group allowed him to believe, and to feel "I am somebody." 

She recalled that as a tinkerer, Charles not only invented a new kind of carburetor, but he proudly asserted he was the second person in the world to invent phosphorescent paint.  He had applied for a patent on his paint but was denied, as someone else had just beat him to punch filing the forms.  Nonetheless, Charles was proud of his invention.

The Understanding Unit which was hosted at Williams College were to her way of thinking made up of a very honest bunch.  They were not at all the Berkeley hip, but more like older residents of Albany, as she explained.  The group meetings had the aura of a reverent and happy feeling, the mood and message was "we're in touch with the reverence in life and this is how we search for meaning.  These were people who wanted to believe."   The group she maintains gave Charles and them all a real sense of belonging.   

She believes Charles last name may have been Barkley or Bartley. (If Barkley, this is not the same person who endorsed Nike glo in the dark shoes, the famous athlete).

This same resident, on the other hand, has mixed views of Dr. John W. Hopkins, and views him as either simply off balance or off balance and tinged with the attitudes and mores of a fraudulent grifter.  This perspective of Dr. John W. Hopkins was also shared by Phil and Audrey Small, who lived on the campus in the mid-1950s.  The Smalls decades later still tended to look on the school (of the occult) as a ruse of some kind on Dr. Hopkins's part.