Oral history interview with Elka Schumann

Oral history interview with Elka Schumann

Elka Schumann speaks of her early childhood in the Soviet Union, her family’s departure to New York City in advance of the German occupation of the Soviet Union in 1941, and, after the war, living in Berlin, Germany where her father, John Scott, headed the Time-Life News Bureau. She talks of her grandfather, Scott Nearing, and his encouragement for her to attend the Putney School in Putney, Vermont, of spending her junior abroad as a Bryn Mawr student in Munich, Germany, where she met Peter Schumann, their marriage after she graduated in 1958 and of starting a family. Elka goes on to describe teaching Russian at the Putney School in 1962, Peter's work and early participation in anti-war demonstrations with big puppets, and the formation of the Bread and Puppet Theater. She mentions many people they met in New York City, including Jules Rabin, through whom Bread and Puppet Theater was invited for residency at Goddard College in 1970, and their introduction to shape note singing by Larry Gordon and Alan Troxler. In the bulk of her interview Elka describes local performances and international tours, her formation of the Dancing Bear Theater for children, their move to Glover, Vermont, and the expansion of the Bread and Puppet Theater.

11 March 2016

AudioFile1970s-37

MP3

Audio Files

Glover (Vt.)

Plainfield (Vt.)

Soviet Union

Permission to publish material from the Vermont 1970s Counterculture Project must be obtained from the Vermont Historical Society.

Rowell, Leslie

Schumann, Elka

Glover (Vt.)

1 hr., 58 min., 48 sec.

Vermont Historical Society Library, 60 Washington Street, Barre, VT 05641-4209