The Electric Edge of Academe: The Saga of Lucien L. Nunn and Deep Springs College

by L. Jackson Newell, William T. Vollmann (Foreword by)

Overview

Here is a look at the life and legacy of an irrepressible innovator. Pushing against both social convention and technological boundaries, L.L. Nunn left enduring marks on economic and social history, labor development, and, educational reform. The Electric Edge of Academe is a bold portrayal of this progressive-era hydroelectric power magnate who, driven by a dynamic conscience, also became a force for social change and educational experimentation.

In 1891, Nunn, working with Tesla and Westinghouse, pioneered the world’s first commercial production of high-tension alternating current (AC) for long-distance transmission—something Thomas Edison deemed dangerous and irresponsible. After creating the Telluride Power Company, Nunn constructed the state-of-the-art Olmsted Power Plant in Provo Canyon and the Ontario Power Works at Niagara Falls. To support this new technology, he developed an imaginative model of industrial training that became so compelling that he ultimately abandoned his entrepreneurial career to devote his wealth and talents to experimenting with a new model of liberal education. In 1917, Nunn founded Deep Springs College in eastern California. The school remains one of the most daring, progressive, and selective institutions of higher learning in America. Newell examines how Nunn’s radical educational ideas have survived internal and external challenges for nearly a century and explores their relevance today. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781607814061
Publisher:	University of Utah Press
Publication date:	04/30/2015
Pages:	484
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

L. Jackson Newell is Professor Emeritus of Educational Leadership at the University of Utah, where he was also dean of liberal education for sixteen years. He served as president of Deep Springs College from 1995 to 2004. His previous books include Maverick Colleges, Creating Distinctiveness: Lessons from Uncommon Colleges (with Barbara Townsend), and Matters of Conscience, a biography of Sterling M. McMurrin. 

Table of Contents

List of Maps ix

Foreword William T. Vollmann xi

Introduction xiii

Part 1 Lucien L. Nunn: A Personal Odyssey

1 The Diminutive Dynamo, 1853-1890 3

2 Rising with Power, 1891-1912 20

3 In the Spirit of the Time 52

4 A Fortuitous Place: Deep Springs Valley 72

5 Dawn at Deep Springs, 1917-1925 100

6 The Voice of the Desert 122

7 In Perpetuity? 138

8 Nunn's Tempestuous Wake, 1925-1926 154

Part 2 The Saga of Deep Springs College

9 The Sway of Affairs, 1915-1940 163

10 Flowering and Root Rot, 1941-1956 187

11 An Unlikely Awakening, 1956-1960 211

11 Reformation, 1960-1976 234

13 Spiraling, 1976-1994 258

14 Reckoning, 1994-1995 285

15 Renaissance, 1995-1998 295

16 Reality, 1999-2004 323

Epilogue: Results, 2004-2014 346

Appendix: Presidents and Trustees 359

Acknowledgments 363

Notes 369

Bibliography 419

Index 441

Editorial Reviews

A unique, thorough work by an outstanding, established historian and philosopher of education. It fills a void in institutional and regional history.”
—John R. Thelin, author of A History of American Higher Education 

“This elegant volume is as informative as it is fascinating. More than a study or a story, this account is an absorbing exploration of one of the most unusual and important examples of liberal education in the United States.”
—Katherine E. Chaddock, author of Visions and Vanities: John Andrew Rice of Black Mountain College 

“A thoroughly researched and fair-minded history of one of the world’s most unique colleges. I recommend it without reservation to any and all who care about education and learning.”
—F. Ross Peterson, author of Prophet without Honor: Glen H. Taylor and the Fight for American Liberalism 

“Jack Newell has written what is undoubtedly the most comprehensive history of Telluridean institutions currently in existence…. Newell’s fluid prose is enhanced throughout by extended quotes from archival materials presented in full or near full, as well as an array of photographs.”—Telluride Association Newsletter
 


“Newell’s personal involvement brings an interesting element of memoir into the narrative, and he balances his position as participant and chronicler with an even voice. Under the pen of a less skilled writer, the book’s details might have been overwhelming, but Newell’s engaging prose creates an account that will be of interest to historians of the West and education.”—Western Historical Quarterly 
 

From the Publisher