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| Frank O'Connor Painting |
On page 510 of Atlas Shrugged (of the paperback Signet edition), Dagney Taggart decides to withdraw to a family lodge in Woodstock, which Rand describes as being in the Berkshires. I checked Google Maps and could not find a Woodstock, Massachusetts, although there is a Woodstock, Connecticut and a Woodstock, Vermont.
Rand's husband, Frank O'Connor, was an artist and a member of the Art Students League from 1955 to 1966. The Art Students League opened the Woodstock, New York School of Art in 1906 and discontinued its Woodstock summer program in 1979. According to the Woodstock School of Art's website, a local not-for-profit corporation, the Woodstock School of Art, had taken over the building complex in 1968. I recall when the Art Students League was housed in the Woodstock School of Art building back around 1970. Ironically, the building was built by one of the New Deal's make-work programs, the National Youth Administration. It is currently listed in the national and New York registers of historic places.
My guess is that Rand knew about Woodstock, New York from her husband's involvement with the Art Students League. I'm unclear as to why she decided to say that Woodstock was in the Berkshires. Often, New Yorkers bunch together provincial locales. Alternatively, she may not have wanted to give credit to one of the birthplaces of American communism.*
*From Wikipedia:
The Communist International, to which the UCPA and the CPA both pledged their allegiance, sought to end duplication, competition and hostility between the two communist parties and insisted on a merger into a single organization. That was eventually effected in May 1921 at a secret gathering held at the Overlook Mountain House hotel, near Woodstock, New York. The resulting unified group was also known as the Communist Party of America, which morphed into the Workers Party of America (December 1921) and changed its name in 1925 to Workers (Communist) Party and to Communist Party USA in 1929.
1 comment:
Thank you for this posting regarding Ayn Rand's connection to Woodstock, NY, and your very good observations and discussion on this topic. I had previously searched and searched online for a reference on the subject and find it amazing in this day and time complete with AI and whatnot that I didn't find your post more easily. It did take some hunting to find; in fact, I had almost given up trying to find the connection between Ayn Rand and Woodstock, NY when I finally did find your post. It seems like the powers that be have totally missed the connection and it is rarely written about. The Woodstock connection to Ayn Rand has always intrigued me because my family, also, has a long history with the Woodstock, NY area, especially when I was a child and even though I have not had much connection there in my adult life after my parents passed away. I've spent most of my life in Florida. My curiosity was piqued, though, years ago when I read the Woodstock reference in Atlas Shrugged, and having the personal connection with Woodstock, NY, myself, I knew immediately that Rand was referring to the town in New York and not some other Woodstock. And with your mention that Rand's husband was associated with the Art Students League, which had a summer program in Woodstock for years and years (and is how my artist father became associated with Woodstock as well), I knew I couldn't be wrong about the Woodstock, NY reference. I wish there was more detail out there regarding the Woodstock, NY connection to Rand and maybe there is and I'm just not aware of it. In those days I know Woodstock was filled with artists and intellectuals and I'm betting that Ayn Rand felt very at home among them and, of course, she must have been there personally. The area was a gathering place for free thinkers, creative people, social get-togethers and intellectual discussions. Anyway, thanks very much for the thoughts you expressed on this topic.
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