School 153, and then to ps 225, and then, when the Cornfelds moved to Brighton Beach, to Abraham Lincoln High School. Archie Roth, an almost exact contemporary, first met Bernie at the Ten Mile River Boy Scout camp at Tustan, in upper New York State, during the early 1940s.
Roth recalls that Cornfeld the Boy Scout 'wasn't the outdoor physical type… He was a very independent cuss. He knew what he was after, and could be very single-minded. He wasn't a robust guy as I remember it. In fact I seem to remember he had some trouble getting his life-saving certificate. He wasn't studious either. To sum up Bernie, I'd say he liked crowds, and he liked organizing people.'
In Cornfeld's own recollections of youth and childhood, he sees himself as a dominant, organizing personality. In 1970, he told James Fox, a colleague of ours:
‘I was always the neighbourhood leader. I was the leader of my neighbourhood club, then I became leader of my boy scout troop…
'You know, a lot of these things are elected kind of roles. Kids choose their leaders, and I was chosen as their leader.
'Every now and then you had to make your point in a fist fight… But in almost every situation, there is a kind of group protectiveness. You always operate in groups, and in any group there are some big guys and some little guys.'
There is an anecdote, from scouting days, of Cornfeld the organizer, aged fourteen or fifteen. Each summer the Scoutmasters and Scouts used to choose the Scout who has most notably 'given cheerful service' during the period of the camp. This award was regarded as a considerable honour. One year, Cornfeld decided to win it and began to organize support. He had not understood that an award given to recognize uncalcu-lating generosity becomes pointless if people calculate to win it.
This youthful manoeuvre is said to have failed because the canvassing became too blatant. (Cornfeld did acquire an authentic distinction in his scouting career: in October 1944 he became an Eagle Scout, having reached a suitable level in map-making, knot-tying and tests of initiative.)
Brooklyn College, where Bernie went after Abraham Lincoln High School, was naturally important in the formation of his early political attitudes. But even before that, he came under the influence of the Three Arrows Camp.
This had its origins in the Jewish community of Parkchester, in the Bronx. These were wealthier people than the Cornfelds of Brooklyn. They were successful doctors, lawyers and business men, with a sprinkling of teachers and social workers. During the Thirties, the Jewish people of Parkchester lived in an atmosphere of continuous political debate. The aftermath of the Depression, and the rise of anti-semitism in Europe combined to engender a powerful left-wing mood.
Just before the outbreak of the war, some 75 families from Parkchester got together and bought some cheap land in the north of New York State, where they established the Camp of the Three Arrows to combine holidaymaking with a practical experience of communal socialism. The tradition was for the men to take strenuous walks, to fell trees and till the soil, while the women sunbathed and prepared meals over open fires. The evenings, naturally, were devoted to animated and wide-ranging political debate.
The Three Arrows became one of the more important social centres of American left-wing politics. Norman Thomas was a frequent guest. Naturally, the relatively well-to-do people who founded the Three Arrows were determined that its benefits should be available to all, and so a tradition was rapidly established in which members of the Young People's Socialist Leagues (who were known as 'Yipsels') were invited to the camp from all parts of New York. Cornfeld enjoyed at least one such holiday in the late 1940s, sleeping on the floor of a barn.
The aspirations expressed at the Three Arrows were more
Roth recalls that Cornfeld the Boy Scout 'wasn't the outdoor physical type… He was a very independent cuss. He knew what he was after, and could be very single-minded. He wasn't a robust guy as I remember it. In fact I seem to remember he had some trouble getting his life-saving certificate. He wasn't studious either. To sum up Bernie, I'd say he liked crowds, and he liked organizing people.'
In Cornfeld's own recollections of youth and childhood, he sees himself as a dominant, organizing personality. In 1970, he told James Fox, a colleague of ours:
‘I was always the neighbourhood leader. I was the leader of my neighbourhood club, then I became leader of my boy scout troop…
'You know, a lot of these things are elected kind of roles. Kids choose their leaders, and I was chosen as their leader.
'Every now and then you had to make your point in a fist fight… But in almost every situation, there is a kind of group protectiveness. You always operate in groups, and in any group there are some big guys and some little guys.'
There is an anecdote, from scouting days, of Cornfeld the organizer, aged fourteen or fifteen. Each summer the Scoutmasters and Scouts used to choose the Scout who has most notably 'given cheerful service' during the period of the camp. This award was regarded as a considerable honour. One year, Cornfeld decided to win it and began to organize support. He had not understood that an award given to recognize uncalcu-lating generosity becomes pointless if people calculate to win it.
This youthful manoeuvre is said to have failed because the canvassing became too blatant. (Cornfeld did acquire an authentic distinction in his scouting career: in October 1944 he became an Eagle Scout, having reached a suitable level in map-making, knot-tying and tests of initiative.)
Brooklyn College, where Bernie went after Abraham Lincoln High School, was naturally important in the formation of his early political attitudes. But even before that, he came under the influence of the Three Arrows Camp.
This had its origins in the Jewish community of Parkchester, in the Bronx. These were wealthier people than the Cornfelds of Brooklyn. They were successful doctors, lawyers and business men, with a sprinkling of teachers and social workers. During the Thirties, the Jewish people of Parkchester lived in an atmosphere of continuous political debate. The aftermath of the Depression, and the rise of anti-semitism in Europe combined to engender a powerful left-wing mood.
Just before the outbreak of the war, some 75 families from Parkchester got together and bought some cheap land in the north of New York State, where they established the Camp of the Three Arrows to combine holidaymaking with a practical experience of communal socialism. The tradition was for the men to take strenuous walks, to fell trees and till the soil, while the women sunbathed and prepared meals over open fires. The evenings, naturally, were devoted to animated and wide-ranging political debate.
The Three Arrows became one of the more important social centres of American left-wing politics. Norman Thomas was a frequent guest. Naturally, the relatively well-to-do people who founded the Three Arrows were determined that its benefits should be available to all, and so a tradition was rapidly established in which members of the Young People's Socialist Leagues (who were known as 'Yipsels') were invited to the camp from all parts of New York. Cornfeld enjoyed at least one such holiday in the late 1940s, sleeping on the floor of a barn.
The aspirations expressed at the Three Arrows were more
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