Rochester Institute of Technology - Techmila / Ramikin Yearbook (Rochester, NY)

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The school for American Craftsmen is a rather unique insti- tution in American education. It is not an art school which merely touches upon some phases of the Techniques of craftsmanship, but a full Hedged craft school, with a realistic approach to the hand arts, which aims to turn out competent designer-craftsmen. It is a part of the philosophy of the school that a person who does not know how to work with a particular material is not fully qualified to design some- thing in that material. The designer-craftsman has the technical ability and the essential appreciation of the nature of the material he works with. The school has four departments; Woodworking, Mctalerafts, Ceramics and Weaving. Graduates are qualified for three fields; self employed designer-craftsman, designing for industry, and teaching in colleges and art schools. Students put in a forty hour week of which at least twenty-eight hours are spent in the shop. The two year course takes in eleven months of each year and some students return for a third year of advanced study. Prior to the founding of the school, handcrafts had mostly died out, being replaced by machine made mass produced goods; how- ever, there was still a demand for the products of skilled artisans. To help meet this demand, the school was founded. In the ten years it has been operating and particularly in the last few years, a great deal of interest has been aroused in handcrafted articles. The school has two excellent resources: first, is the up to date equipment in all the shops; second, and more important, the excel- lent group of instructors who make up the school's faculty. Although two years is a very short time to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills for a career in handcrafts, any graduate of the school can be sure that he has received a thorough grounding in his chosen field. Eighteen AMERICAN CRAFTSMEN FRESHMEN

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Top How Alderdice, Lawrence G.—Buffalo, N. Y. Major; Metal Work Activities: Kappa Sigma Kappa (Treas- urer) , Crafts Club (Vice President), Stu- dent Council, Dorm Council Cunningham, V. F.—Altadena, Calif. Major: Tcxtiles Activities: Crafts Club (President) Dettlebuch, Richard—Philadelphia, Pa. Major: li'oorf Activities: Theta Gamma Franke, Roger C.—Rochester, N. Y. Major: Woodwork Activities: Gamma Phi, Crafts Club Gernliard, Henry K.—Norwich, Conn. Major: Ceramics Activities: Crafts Club, Baseball Middle Row Hughes, Guy li.—Dorset, Vermont Major: Textiles Activities: Crafts Club Parker, Samuel—Elmira, N. Y. Major: Woodwork Activities: Gamma Phi, Crafts Club (Treasurer), Varsity Tennis, Intermural Basketball Senior, William H.-Ontario, N. Y. Major: 1 Vood working Activities: Journeyman's Association, Stu- dent Council, Crafts Club Potter, Susan L.—Rock City Falls, N. Y. Major: Textiles Activities: Crafts Club Vtck, Francis H., Jr.-Rochester, N Y. Major: Woodworking Activities: Crafts Club, Journeyman’s Association Bottom Row Wardle, Alfred H.—Pittsburgh, Pa. Major: Mctalcraft Activities: Crafts Club, Swimming Club, Kappa Sigma Kappa (Sergeant-at-Anm), Journeymen’s Association Wingfield, Anne—Yellow Springs, Ohio Major: Pottery Activities: Crafts Club Twenty