The Ferrer School had been founded by Emma Goldman, in commemoration of Francisco Ferrer y Guardia, the libertarian Spanish educator shot in Barcelona on October 13, 1909. Goldman traveled tirelessly across the country, addressing audiences of anarchists, freethinkers, and progressives in the aftermath of Ferrer's death, raising funds to start an association in his honor and spirit, predicated upon her shared belief that "dogmatism is the worst enemy of education."

"What is the Modern School?" asked sculptor and poet Adolf Wolff in the pages of the school's magazine. "It is a sort of alchemist's laboratory where the philosopher's stone of education is be

Harking back to his earliest days at the Ferrer School, long before his exposure to Dada, Man Ray had been a follower of anarchist philosophy. As late as 1919, he said that he still considered himself an "out and out anarchist" and proved it by collaborating with Henry S. Reynolds and Adolf Wolff on the publication of the first and only issue of TNT magazine. In an edition of one thousand copies, selling for fifty cents each, TNT included sound poetry by Adon Lacroix, as well as her play Pantomine; Man Ray's narratives to accompany Revolving Doors collages; writings by Walter Arensberg, Philippe Soupault, and Marcel Duchamp; and a drawing by Charles Sheeter. TNT had "a very radical slant..." Man Ray said, "it was a tirade against industrialists, the exploiters of workers.... " Working along parallel lines in New York City, Man Ray would have undoubtedly been attracted to the principles informing the Dada movement.

Man Ray began making the trek uptown to the Ferrer School in the early fall of 1912, attracted by its reputation for expansive, unrestricting, and liberating instruction. The trip was made even more tolerable by the fact that Robert Henri was the art teacher. It was four years since the Macbeth Gallery exhibition where Emmanuel had first seen the vibrant, pulsating portraits by this founding member of the Ashcan School.

Over the course of several weeks, the two young artists enjoyed heated, enthusiastic discussions on these painterly issues and cemented their friendship. When Man Ray invited Halpert out to Brooklyn for a good meal as only Minnie could prepare, the worldly European traveler was instantly attracted to Dora, who dutifully helped set the table, her-eyes demurely downcast, her thick, black hair falling in wisps over her white brow. Continuing his mission of culturally enriching his younger sister, Man Ray invited her to a performance of a new play, The Yellow Jacket, by George Hazelton and J. Harry Ben Rimo, at the Fulton Theater on West Forty-sixth Street. He asked Halpert, footloose and lonely in the city, if he'd like to accompany them. Dora sat between her brother and Samuel Halpert. Halfway through the drama, she sensed Halpert's gaze upon her in the darkness. "Why aren't you watching the play? " she asked him in a low whisper, fearful of what brother Man might do if he noticed anything untoward. The smitten Halpert replied, "When I was at the Louvre, I saw a portrait of a woman there, a woman I have dreamed of ever since—like you, slender, fine-boned, with gleaming eyes. I resolved to myself that if I ever saw that woman in the flesh, I would marry her."

Some topics in this essay:
Robert Henri, School Magazine, Study Nudes, Ferrer School, Ferrer Center, Adolf Wolff, Crime Punishment, Louise Norton's, Palace April, Capitalism Government, ferrer school, robert henri, adolf wolff, samuel halpert, walt whitman, marcel duchamp, modern school, art class, classes ferrer school, school magazine, emma goldman,