Nan Oldenburg

Nan Oldenburg was a student from 1940 to 1942. While a student, she did costume design for the Le Medecin production. She also attended Radcliffe and Harvard.

Alternative Names: Nan Stoller, Nan Black

Relationships

Husband: Fellow BMC student, Claude Stoller

Asheville Art Museum Collection

Writings about Nan can be seen in digitized college bulletins on Asheville Art Museum's collection website: collection.ashevilleart.org. They can be found by searching these accession numbers:

2017.40.118 August 9, 1943 bulletin,

"Nan Oldenburg writes from Cermont: “I am working on a farm that is owned by a Harvard professor….. I like it here a lot- the people and the place and the work. The country is lovely, with a softly rolling green hills. I like it best in the mornings when the mist lies in the valleys and the green hilltops just stick above it. At night it is quiet and I have much time to read…”"

2017.40.138 January 3, 1944 bulletin,

"Nan Oldenburg writes from Concord, Massachusetts: ‘I don’t know that I could have gone to a place more different from Black Mountain than Radcliffe is: Most of my classes are just straight lectures. The professor reads his lecture and the students take down as many of his words as possible. Nobody is ever asked a question, nobody ever asks one. At first this system made me mad, but now I realize that it forces people to learn a great deal, including me…..Since I don’t live in a dormitory, I don’t know anything about Radcliffe’s social life. The girls seem all very kind and nice.”"

2021.28.105 Photograph of Jane Slater, John Snackhammer, Claude Stoller, Nan Oldenburg

Black Mountain College Project

Mary Emma Harris interviewed Nan in 1998 (transcript) and 2016 (transcript) which are available from Appalachian State University under The Mary Emma Harris and Black Mountain College Project, Inc. Oral History collection.

Topics 1998: Immigration to United States – arrival at Black Mountain and adjustment – mason on construction of Studies Building – Richard Gothe – Josef Albers drawing class – transfer toRadcliffe – BMC as community – Heinrich Jalowetz – Erwin Straus – mealtimes at college – importance of mountain setting – major in anthropology – work as librarian in Mill Valley – importance of BMC – exploration of Tennessee cave – Gashouse Gang – Josef Albers at BMC

Topics 2016: Immigration to the United States – German American parentage – high school in USA – scholarship to Radcliffe from Window Shop in Cambridge – hearing about BMCfrom Xanti Schawinsky – work in New York after Black Mountain – Black Mountain activities – marriage to Claude Stoller and raising family – work in libraries and calligraphy – train travel to Black Mountain – Peter Bergmann class – Josef Albers – trip to Florence with Jane Slater Marquis and Lucian Marquis, Sam Brown and Claude Stoller – BMC students – college dances