We specialize in hard to find items
All Categories
Los Alamos--The Ranch School Years, 1917-1943
Share Tweet
*Price and Stocks may change without prior notice
*Packaging of actual item may differ from photo shown
- Electrical items MAY be 110 volts.
- 7 Day Return Policy
- All products are genuine and original
About Los Alamos--The Ranch School Years, 1917-1943
Product Description Twenty-five years before the Manhattan Project created the town of Los Alamos, the Pajarito Plateau was home to an elite prep school for boys, ages twelve to eighteen. The Los Alamos Ranch School combined a robust outdoor life and a carefully cultivated wilderness experience with a rigorous academic program and the structured discipline of a Boy Scout troop, perfectly mirroring the Progressive Era's quest for perfection. John Wirth's father, Cecil, taught at the school and directed its summer camp. John spent his early childhood at the school along with his brother Tim, later a U.S. Senator from Colorado. Drawing on oral accounts, memoirs, and archival documents, as well as John's firsthand knowledge and family lore, the authors situate the school within the educational trends of the day and New Mexico's cultural milieu. Wirth and Aldrich examine the influence of the school's controversial director, Albert J. Connell, who was roundly disliked by two of the best-known students, Gore Vidal and William S. Burroughs. Many other students reported their time at the school to be a profoundly positive, often life-changing, experience. Additional chapters recount the growing-up experiences of ranch workers' children and the role the school played in their lives and those of area residents. Review "Wirth and Aldrich have succeeded in writing a thoughful institutional biography of a western boarding school of uncommon character." ( Western Historical Quarterly) "The school comes alive for us. . . LARS should not be forgotten." ( Santa Fe New Mexican) "This is the definitive book on the Los Alamos Ranch School." ( New Mexico Magazine) From the Publisher Wirth and Aldrich examine the Los Alamos Ranch School, an elite prep school for boys, ages twelve to eighteen. In existence between the two World Wars, the schools curriculum combined a robust outdoor life with a rigorous academic program mirroring the Progressive Era's quest for perfection. About the Author The late John D. Wirth was a Latin America scholar and professor emeritus of history at Stanford University. He made his home in Santa Fe. Linda Harvey Aldrich is a long-time resident of Los Alamos and former archivist at the Los Alamos Historical Museum.
