Mary Bishop

Mary Alice Bishop was married to Richard “Rich” Bishop (b. June 7, 1928) upon graduation from high school in Elmhurst, Illinois. Immediately thereafter they left for Black Mountain College. She was there intermittently from the summer of 1951 through the summer of 1953. She was a student and then a faculty wife. She studied weaving with Andrew “Andy” Oates. She also studied music and dance.

At the end of the first summer, she and Richard returned to Chicago where he had been enrolled at the University of Chicago and she worked as a secretary. They returned to Black Mountain and she took courses and cared for their two children. When the Bishops left the college, they moved with Tommy Jackson to South Royalton, Vermont where they hoped to establish a Black Mountain-like community. The community did not work out.

They joined a commune near Jaffrey, Vermont where Mary Bishop was active in the running of an open school Hidden Springs. Richard taught at the high school in Plainfield, Vermont and at other schools. In South Acworth, New Hampshire the Bishops were part of a land trust that housed a number of communes. They built their own house.

Mary Bishop was active in the local general store and ran the Turn Around Barn, a combination thrift shop and recycling center. Mary Bishop obtained a loom and continued to study independently and to weave. She was accepted into the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen where she taught and sold her work. She also played the piano and autoharp. After their divorce the Bishops remained in the South Acworth community.

Biography written by Mary Emma Harris for the Black Mountain College Project.

Alternative Name: Mary Alice Felitz

Relationships

Husband: Fellow BMC student, Richard Bishop

Black Mountain College Project

Mary Emma Harris interviewed Mary in 1999 and the transcript is available from Appalachian State University under The Mary Emma Harris and Black Mountain College Project, Inc. Oral History collection.

Topics: Hearing about BMC, application and marriage – weaving with Andy Oates – dance with Katy Litz – general ambience of community – birth of children – dance activities – young mothers in community – M.C. Richards and David Tudor – swimming hole – BMC students and faculty – winters in Chicago – Vermont property with Tommy Jackson – BMC community in Vermont – post-BMC professional work – family background – BMC cooks – BMC concerts – discussion of weavings

Courses Taken

Summer 1951: Weaving (Oates), Modern Dancing (Litz), Piano (Tudor), Chorus (Harrison)