Somewhere in the vaults of The Quax, I stumbled across two more photos of Dr. John Hopkins c. 1930 several years back, but due to computer problems they didn't download properly. These two images had escaped name capture from Drake digital archives OCR software and so are not easily found now.
One was a photo of him and the English Club members. The other a group photo in which he looked quite haggard, serious, and drawn, as if the catastrophic events of 1929 had settled entirely on his shoulders.
Monday, December 9, 2013
Cake Walk
Nearly half a century ago, because my mom had listened, watched, and heard about some vaudeville routines growing up, I learned a few of these things from her. The only song she could remember was "Oh Dem Watermelons" (which had to be pried from her lips).
She was strangely freer when sharing a few dance moves. Because my grandmother was a dancer, my mom inherited a love of movement as well, and she could recall the original "Jazz" dance from WWI, the Charleston, the Lindy, and, amazingly, she knew some of the moves from the Cake Walk, which she imitated one afternoon after much encouragement and prodding. The high stepping. The "wing movements". Everyone I knew was out collecting these words and movements, some of which would find their place once again onstage in performance. Later, people of an artistic bent wanted me to retrieve any of the melodrama skits from my only repository of Vaudeville performance with the idea of breathing life back into some of these. Aside from one joke I could only partially recall about The Bear and Mrs. Bear, I declined to pursue this theatrical research for several reasons. Also because the very medium of melodrama meant "playing to the audience" as the script, actors, and audience knew who the bad guys were and were ready to hiss and boo loudly on cue. Not my cuppa.
(My mom did a slower version, more like the one below)
She was strangely freer when sharing a few dance moves. Because my grandmother was a dancer, my mom inherited a love of movement as well, and she could recall the original "Jazz" dance from WWI, the Charleston, the Lindy, and, amazingly, she knew some of the moves from the Cake Walk, which she imitated one afternoon after much encouragement and prodding. The high stepping. The "wing movements". Everyone I knew was out collecting these words and movements, some of which would find their place once again onstage in performance. Later, people of an artistic bent wanted me to retrieve any of the melodrama skits from my only repository of Vaudeville performance with the idea of breathing life back into some of these. Aside from one joke I could only partially recall about The Bear and Mrs. Bear, I declined to pursue this theatrical research for several reasons. Also because the very medium of melodrama meant "playing to the audience" as the script, actors, and audience knew who the bad guys were and were ready to hiss and boo loudly on cue. Not my cuppa.
(My mom did a slower version, more like the one below)
Friday, December 6, 2013
John W. Hopkins, 1929
One of the few extant photos of (Dr.) John W. Hopkins
Ministerial Association
The Ministerial Association has been an active organization since 1905 among the students of the Bible College. It is made up of men and women students, professors of the Bible College and others on the campus who are interested. The purpose of the club is two-fold: to provide social life and fellowship for the students and to support and co-operate with the university in all its activities. Among its activities are socials, banquets, picnics, and tournaments. This year we are especially proud of our football team who won a brilliant victory over the laws.
(Drake University, 1929, The QUAX yearbook, p. 230)
Ministerial Association
The Ministerial Association has been an active organization since 1905 among the students of the Bible College. It is made up of men and women students, professors of the Bible College and others on the campus who are interested. The purpose of the club is two-fold: to provide social life and fellowship for the students and to support and co-operate with the university in all its activities. Among its activities are socials, banquets, picnics, and tournaments. This year we are especially proud of our football team who won a brilliant victory over the laws.
(Drake University, 1929, The QUAX yearbook, p. 230)
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
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.
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.
Friday, November 15, 2013
Selling Out the Past
The whole neighborhood has changed since I lived there. Williams College is currently for sale, a rock promoter bought the house with the small amphitheater and glen where I would watch plays with friends, and now the Carmelite nunnery is for sale (unoccupied since 2010 it seems).
(11.5.13 Listing from
(11.5.13 Listing from
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Telescopes: Alien Influence
Think back to the Menger video interview post (Alien Electric Pianos and Plasma TVs, Nov 2, 2013)
Monday, November 11, 2013
The Telephone
Telephone, a play presented by the Mime Troupe after appearing in Ramparts in 1970, had more of the gutter puppets plus a character who is a long distance operator who shall remain unnamed.
p. 71- 75 (Required reading)
(The San Francisco Mime Troupe Reader
edited by Susan Vaneta Mason
University of Michigan Press, Apr 13, 2005)
p. 71- 75 (Required reading)
(The San Francisco Mime Troupe Reader
edited by Susan Vaneta Mason