Sky Island Papers
Scope and Contents
This collection includes photocopies of Flora Pottenger's correspondence, refugee reports, job descriptions, and other documents. Taken together, the material presents an in-depth view of life at Sky Island during the summer of 1946. Of particular interest is a color photocopy of a photographic album by A. Mamonoff.
Dates
- Creation: 1945-1947
Creator
- Pottenger, Flora E., 1890-1980 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce items in this collection beyond the bounds of Fair Use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder or their heirs/assigns. See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/.
Biographical / Historical
Sky Island was a refugee vacation hostel run by the American Friends Service Committee in cooperation with the American Christian Committee for Refugees from about 1938 until at least 1947. After two years in Aberdeen, New York, Sky Island moved to a large home in Nyack lent to the program by its owner, Viola Wertheim Bernard. Operating solely during the summer months, Sky Island accomodated a group of 30-40 refugees and provided a respite from the summer heat for those refugees who otherwise could not have afforded the expense of a vacation. The program relied on a mostly volunteer staff of 8-10 to direct, teach English, and provide an American atmosphere.
Flora E. Pottenger was a teacher from Warsaw, Indiana, who worked at Sky Island during the summer of 1946. She was born in 1890, and married Thurl Pottenger, a hardware store owner, about 1920; they had a son, Hal Walker Pottenger, who was a conscientious objector in World War II and served in Waldport CPS Camp, and a daughter, Peggy. Flora died in Michigan in 1980.
Extent
0.21 linear ft. (1 box)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Sky Island was a refugee vacation hostel run by the American Friends Service Committee in copperation with the American Christian Committee for Refugees from about 1938 until at least 1947. Flora E. Pottenger was a teacher from Warsaw, Indiana, who worked at Sky Island during the summer of 1946. Her Sky Island papers, all photocopies, include correspondence, reports, and photographs.
Physical Location
For current information on the location of materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Don Nagler, 2003 (2003-008)
Subject
- American Friends Service Committee (Organization)
- Sky Island Hostel (Nyack, N.Y.) (Organization)
- Title
- An Inventory of Sky Island Papers, 1945-1947
- Author
- FHL staff
- Date
- 2009
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
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