Ernst Laursen

Partial Transcript: I’m Ernst Laursen. My mother and father worked at the college. Came here in 1930. Mother and I came down in ‘31. We were in Boston and my mother and father came from Denmark. And you know how that goes. But they enjoyed this country very, very much and when they came South they each really, really had something that they knew they were in the right place. My father was going about the whole United States raising money through the Presbyterian Church to fund the school here and he enjoyed that. He spoke five languages and was really, really in place here in the 30s, 40s, 50s, so forth. Mother was a dietician and every student worked and every student sat down together in our day to eat and so that we got to know each other and had our little prayers at each meal like normal people would. Mother was pretty strict and she handled the young men. They learned to cook, take care of things, clean up and go about things the way they should.

Partial Transcript: There was a young man at John C. Campbell Folk School and his name was Bidstrup and of course, with a name like that you know he was Danish and at Campbell Folk School you did a lot of working with your hands and he had heard through other people, the contacts were closer then than now, so many contacts you don’t pay attention but back in those days you paid attention. George Bidstrup was of course Danish and he told my dad, I don’t believe he phoned him and I don’t believe he used his ___, but he did get in touch with my dad and said they needed someone. They needed to get people together again because things were pretty tough and you know in the 30s money was tough and all sorts of problems were going along so my dad came down and again, not only doing speaking engagements that Dr. Randolph, who was president at that time at the school, it was a high school then, really pushed. And he was a very, very good man and knew what was going on and how to straighten things out. But he needed help and my dad was lucky enough to be the right kind of person. And when he came they put him to work.
He was a paint supervisor, students did all the work. My dad tried to keep them straight. He also was the gymnastics coach and they just did wonderfully. And nobody was doing that in those days. So, the team went around to the high schools here and showed what they could do. And evidently, they could do a whole lot and people enjoyed it very, very much.

Partial Transcript: I think so. I think of course rewards for your work, wear a smile on your face and be civil and the things that normal people should be doing. And they all went to church and were checked in at church and if they didn’t like that they could go someplace else. And I know Dr. Jensen came later on, also a Danish like I am and he had gone to Harvard because academically he had a scholarship and he was going to be here one year. And he stayed until he retired. They enjoyed it and I can remember that one of the staff members was all upset about certain rules that were going on. And Dr. Randolph said maybe this isn’t the place for you. And so, what he was saying, you might as well put on your coat and tie and leave. And things got better and better. He would say also I can remember my mother and father telling us about it over and over again that Dr. Randolph would say we’re going to have a picnic this Saturday night and I would like for you to come. He didn’t mean I would like for you to come. He meant you are expected to come. And it was good.
They all laughed about it and they all enjoyed being together because they all had the same job and results, they wanted the same thing. And the country boys sometimes had a hard time with all this but the people . . . I can remember that my dad and mother invited students in and our house would be full of students and enjoyed very much. It wasn’t because they had to, they just enjoyed doing that. It was a lot of work, no question, but it’s the way life maybe should be.

Partial Transcript: It’s not just the farming and I think a lot of people feel that Warren Wilson is just farming and growing vegetables and things like that but they have a philosophy degree and history degree and English degree and teaching degree that’s here too. I think the feeling of getting your hands dirty has some place there that changes people forever. I had students that I can remember one young man from California that came. Two of the girls were in the pigpen cleaning up and I said so-and-so, you’re going to have to get in there and help them. He looked at me and I thought he was going to cry and we laughed about that and the rest of the crew laughed about it. And it happened not only once, so many times, that people regardless of how they were as workers, some students had learned from their folks that you do and you help and you smile and you talk and enjoy what you’re doing. But it takes a little learning and they move up in leadership.
I had between 30 and 50 students on the farm and I saw every one of them several times during the week because they had between 15-20 hours to keep going with and so obviously we need leadership. Well I couldn’t do it all by myself so the students that showed a little gas (?) were picked as leaders and they drove some old trucks that we had, 4-wheel drive Army surplus stuff, tractors, or team of horses way back. We had two teams of horses and one team of mules so they had to handle all that and we also did the butchering here and the students did it. We had inspectors from Asheville come out, Buncombe Co I assume, and it was very interesting. One young man came to me and said I can’t do this and I said that’s absolutely ok and I’ll put you someplace else. And he did and when we did that kind of work he didn’t participate but we had plenty to do otherwise and guess what he did summer vacation? He cut meat in the grocery store. And I thought, oh my goodness, but he even told me about it and so he changed a little bit.

Partial Transcript: Everybody had more than one job at the college. It was hard for some of the new teachers, academics, to believe that the work supervisors could really do anything like teaching so it was fun to kid them after we got started and feeling that you could give them without them getting too excited. But Dr. Randolph also said that all staff members would spend time with different crews. We had plumbing crews and electric crews and Mother was a dietician so we had cooking crews and washing and we had laundry crews. Oh, that’s one thing too, that we had laundry when the girls came they got two hours extra off so they could do their underclothes and the boys didn’t get their two hours off. They just sent their underclothes to the laundry and had it done and that was ok. Oh, there was a lot of kidding between the groups and we had a lot of fun over that. I can’t remember any real upsets but it was work and it was academic and you had to pass both. You were graded on your work. You were graded on your academics. If you were below average the Dean talked to you about it and if you couldn’t get any better you went out. Just like you would if you had all Fs and they helped us so much because I went to high school here. I know what the staff members really put it out for us.

Partial Transcript: Working with young people. And seeing them grow up and change. Some had a real chip on their shoulder when they came. My dad made me come and I didn’t want to come and I don’t want to go on to college. And I had one young man that was that way. He had two brothers that were PhDs and his dad wanted him to get his PhD. And he could not stand it, thinking about it. And then he had an accident. He was on the farm and he lost a finger doing some work with the old shredding machine, running corn through and the shuck and all went one way and the ear went the other way. He stuck his hand in the wrong place and, but when he got through with that and he came back to work, it changed him all the way. And he is unbelievable now giving back to all those that are handicapped. No matter what kind of handicap, he helps them. Otherwise I can imagine he could be in trouble and stay in trouble because . . . but he’s a great fellow.

Partial Transcript: I think it came through the paper. The coming of the dam I guess was something that we all . . . well, I don’t think, it was really like running up against the wall because I don’t think we’d given it any thought before that time and the flood of ’16 was really bad evidently. Because everybody talked about the flood of ’16 and so that we were thinking about it.
David Weintraub
What did you hear and where did you hear about it?
I think through the paper that a group was getting together to do something and I can remember we had an old S&W Cafeteria right in the middle of Asheville and we were way upstairs in a place where we could say anything we wanted to and nobody heard us and we could laugh and do other things that would get um. I mean if somebody didn’t agree they let their disagreement. And then I don’t know if it was Jerry or who it was but there was someone that said to a few people, there was just a few, maybe 15, and said now the way to solve this problem of the dam that is gonna cover up the good lands, the farm lands, in Western North Carolina, is for some of you that know people who are instrumental or really know how to influence other people and so we sat down and somebody said “well I know a congressman” and somebody said “well I know a so-and-so” and “I know a lawyer” and I told them “I know the Governor” Bob Scott, who worked with me when I was at State College and we both were working to make money to keep going and to learn something.
So all those people that were influencing people, 7 or 8, got together and said we’d be glad to help. Oh was it, it was so nice, and they took care of things and made us, they did the work that I guess maybe, we couldn’t have done the work. Some of the fellas that were in the top group, were influential, even the top group that we had and were good people.

Partial Transcript: The impact of the dam, several dams, in this area would take away agriculture. There would be no more tobacco, which may have been a good thing, but there would be no more corn and no vegetables in certain places. All the good lands, the dark black soil would be taken because of the dams.
People would, quite a few of them, live close to the river and of course, they couldn’t, if the dams went in, even in this part of the area, that it would just be gone. And they’d have to move up on the mountain.

Partial Transcript: Warren Wilson I know because I helped work there all my life and I would say that the best land we had was the bottomlands and I would say that 2/3 of the land that we had that we used would be taken from us and it would make a big impact on what we were trying to do. That’s along with the work program, the way we move around, not just the farm crew but all the other crews too because of the way the land lays.
David Weintraub
Would it also have an impact on other farmers outside of Warren Wilson College but in Swannanoa?
Ernst Laursen
Oh, sure, no question, even in Swannanoa I was just trying to think the impact all along the rivers there was always work being done so that they couldn’t do it anymore. That would be complete.

Partial Transcript: There was an outcry of what people thought of this because of the, what would happen to where I lived, where my friend lives, so that they, what happens influences all of us because the community was so small that everyone was touched. I was just thinking of a little dairy farm near the Swannanoa grammar school and high school at that time. It definitely would have taken the land that they used for making feed for the cattle, no question. To serve, what, that is I think the thing that got us all stirred up. To serve what?

Partial Transcript: Leadership in Swannanoa, Black Mountain, all around the area. The banker, I remember him, they all got in and I guess they helped from the standpoint of pushing and standing by, you know you can’t do it yourself regardless of how smart you are. You need somebody to say, yeah, this is the right thing.
I think most of the people that thought they could do something about it were in on it and I think that the people that really wanted to do something thought they could get together. And once they got together and sat in on meetings that was all it took. It really looked to them like that was yes, we can do it. And so it was put together and it happened. There were other solutions to problems and if people would get together instead of yelling at each other I think they’d have a much better time.

Partial Transcript: The Upper French Broad Defense Association and I think for me the one thing was that if you know someone that can help we need to get him because those people can, they did, and they will, so that I think that’s the key to the whole thing and the belief in each other for the rest of us was the other thing that kept things going and it was wonderful. I kept in touch with Jerry and he’s been a long ways from me. He was at Clemson I think for years and years. And what he did and watching him operate was for me great. It changed my life so I’m sure others had the same feeling. So when things smoothed down we knew that there was a great plus for us.

Partial Transcript: I’m so old that I can’t remember even Jere’s last name. Brittain, Jere Brittain. Yeah. It’s always meant, Jere Brittain, has always, after we got to know each other, it was wonderful. And I just thought why is he teaching at Clemson instead of here in the mountains, you know. Of course, I understood but I guess the Laursen influence that I have or I had from my folks were a little one-sided and I expected people to love this area as much as I did and I couldn’t have gone. My brother’s gone to other parts of North Carolina and we kid each other still that you didn’t move up and he moved out and up so, but I enjoy this land and to the business we talked about. The business of the Indian artifacts that are here and unbelievable and the things for me having the students start and look like they couldn’t stand to do what they were going to do and then end up spending vacation time working and loving it. Some still give in, it amazes me how many have gone overseas with different groups and it’s unbelievable.

Partial Transcript: His at ease relationship with everybody was so easy and yet he’s like a sergeant you know that yells and screams and does all that to get you to do something but Jere can just talk to you and you’re ready to run already. So that he’s so good. He and his wife are so nice and we’re lucky to have him in Western North Carolina.

Partial Transcript: specifically

Partial Transcript: To save the whole area here, the good lands that raised the crops, so that we could live here in Western North Carolina and enjoy it.

Partial Transcript: The TVA’s goal probably was to take care of the people in Tennessee and they could dam up all the water here and then if they needed water they could get it. And they didn’t explain that decently I assume.

Partial Transcript: Getting the people together was the key to the whole business. We couldn’t have done anything, we couldn’t have won if we were after each other all the time. And you can see that even today that getting the people together and getting the result. If people get together to start and if they have a smile on their face they’ve already done half the work. And enjoy their work. It hurts me to hear a teacher for instance, oh, I’ve just got 10 more years and then thankfully I can quit. Instead of I enjoy my children and teaching and this one little boy was so good. But it doesn’t happen enough and life is better the other way and I think that’s what happened to all of us. Because, and to Jere and others in the leadership, were so impressive that we felt that this is the right, we are in the right place and enjoyed what we were doing, and let’s get this done.

Partial Transcript: I think the reason the governor was so important, in fact the five or six people that were leaders over the country, even some of the people that weren’t in our voting area still got in on it. And I guess they saw there was a chance, even more than a chance, of winning this business just be thinking about it and working on it a little bit. And I sure didn’t think that just because I knew Bob was why the end result that we got was so good. I think it was because he had convinced some of the other people that this is the proper thing. Let’s don’t mess the land up just for heaven’s sakes.

Partial Transcript: We were lucky that Governor Scott was against the TVA’s plan to dam up all this Western North Carolina’s good land where good people were working hard to produce crops for all of us.