There has recently been a fascinating and fortuitous series of communications, starting with an introduction by one of our school starter course students to an amazing man named Kent Bicknell. Kent was a founder of an alternative school in New Hampshire that combined alternative and progressive education with the teachings of important spiritual leaders in India. This led to the establishment of the Sant Bani School in 1971 which Kent directed for the next 44 years. As he said in his e mail to me he founded it “when I was 26 and retired when I turned 70.” He has written a remarkable book about it called Stepping Stones: The First Five Years of Sant Bani School.
In our far-ranging conversations Kent also mentioned to me that he has in his possession some rare and unpublished letters from A.S, Neill of Summerhill. They were written to a fellow progressive school Head, Otto Shaw, from 1953 to 1960. Kent mailed photocopies to me which we have scanned and have put in the AERO online museum, with his permission.
I think you will find that they show an amazing insight to A.S. Neill and his thinking at the time, and we are very grateful to Kent for sharing them with us. Readers after you read these unique letters from Neill, write to us and let us know what you think.
I look forward to reading Kent’s book, which he also sent, and will post a review when I have read it.
In her note introducing Kent to me, our school starter wrote about Kent’s book, “Stepping Stones is so inspiring and informative. I enjoyed the details you provided in terms of everyday operations, the struggle in scaling up, the way in which the team came together and laid the foundations of Sant Bani. The unwavering commitment to the philosophy and the dedication with which each of you have upheld those values, are hard to find – which is why it is critical to share this more widely, and inspire the new generations. I want to recommend this as a reading to the School Starters course.”
The AERO Online Museum now has these newly discovered letters from A.S, Neill. It also has letters from Ivan Illich and Emma Goldman, as well as the dramatic paintings of Bill Mintz.
