May 18, 1939: McPherson College Doesn't Dance

Letter from Luther Harshbarger at McPherson to Charlotte Salmon at AFSC

Transcription:

Dear Miss Salmon:

The students here at McPherson College have just completed a successful campaign to raise funds for a non-aryan student. Will you send us a number of cases from which to choose the student?

Our college is controlled by the Church of the Brethren and as a church college has certain requirements. The college prohibits the use of tobacco and discourages dancing as well as card playing. The student, I think, should adhere to these principles.

The nature of our plan is this;- We have raised $400 for the support of the student which is apportioned as follows;

  Cash .................... $250

  Scholarship......... 50.00

  Work Aid...........100.00

This is the minimum amount. There is a possibility of having more. In addition, if the student has had experience in mercantile work, we can get him a position with a Jewish merchant in the city. The cost per year is approximately $375. This includes room, board, tuition and incidentals. The scholarship is granted on the basis of scholarship.

We shall appreciate a reply as soon as possible as school closes next week, May 26.

Fraternally,

Luther Harshbarger

Co-President,

Student Christian Movement.

You may be wondering why I am sharing this letter from McPherson College that has no mention of Opa in it. You would be correct, but we happen to know that McPherson College has more communication that involves Opa later in the game. So I wanted to include this as a nice introductory letter to this school. We will also be sharing some of Jan Rosenbach’s case file from the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) which we were able to copy from the archives at the Holocaust Museum. Jan’s story parallel’s Opa’s for a bit and it is interesting to see how their files connect.

Luther Harshbarger from the Student Christian Movement in McPherson College, writes to Charlotte Salmon at the AFSC. We did a little research on Luther- and let me tell you- very cool person. You’ll hear more about him later. I’m not sure how much Luther and Charlotte have been communicating, but this letter has got to be the best kind that Charlotte gets from schools. Why? Because they have already raised the funds, have a plan- and they are just ready to pick a student.

I want to be like- way to go Luther and McPherson! Again, remember that McPherson, Kansas is in the heart of the mid-west- and if you know your American history well, this area was the site of a horrible drought that crippled the farming industry in the 1930s. We call that event the Dust Bowl. I am about to read a book about this time period and the effects of the stock market crash and dust bowl events. Without having completed my research, I still think that I can say for a fact that these students were being incredibly generous in a time of recent scarcity. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but it doesn’t hurt to repeat the theme.

So let’s get to the letter- because there’s some fabulous parts to it. Luther reminds Charlotte of the culture/rules of McPherson college:

Our college is controlled by the Church of the Brethren and as a church college has certain requirements. The college prohibits the use of tobacco and discourages dancing as well as card playing. The student, I think, should adhere to these principles.

This is delicious. So- Charlotte now must find a student from Europe who has been through some pretty tough times, and possibly is fearing their safety- and she has to make sure they can promise not to chew/smoke, dance, or play cards/gamble. Welcome to the mid-west of the good ol’ USA!

Either way, honestly, it isn’t too much to ask, and I’m sure any prospective student would be more than happy to comply for a chance to study with the kind support of this school.

Another thing I want to mention- I don’t know how to adjust for inflation, but $375 a year. That includes room, board, tuition and incidentals. Sigh.

Lastly- check out his closing line: “We shall appreciate a reply as soon as possible as school closes next week, May 26.” Um… that seems like an awfully short time to get things settled! I do appreciate that the Student Christian Movement is trying to help a Jewish student. This is a step outside of the comfort zone for non-dancing, chewing, card-playing Christians from the mid-west to give up hard-earned money to help a Jewish student from Europe get a new start. Makes me happy.