Nell GoldsmithHeyns (Student 1942-1944) (b.1924-d.2011), Self-portrait at Studies Building, ca. 1943 -1944. Archival pigment print from a digital scan of a color slide. Courtesy of Western Regional Archives, State of North Carolina.
Cornelia “Nell” Goldsmith (Heyns) (Student 1942-1943, Summer Work Camp 1943, 1943-1944) (b.1924-d.2018)
Nell Goldsmith came to Black Mountain College in 1942 when many male students and faculty were away at war, leading to a higher proportion of female students who kept the building, farm and work program afloat despite the impact of rationing on the campus. Her color photographs of fellow students and faculty capture this unique moment in Black Mountain history. Goldsmith helped to construct four music practice cubicles and was admitted to the Senior division in her second year with an architecture major. In 1944, Goldsmith enlisted in the Army, assigned to Homestead Army Air Base in Florida. It was at this time that she met her husband, Hugo Heyns. Goldsmith had always hoped to build a family and went on to have seven children, nine grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. The family lived in New Orleans and Mississippi where she studied and taught ceramics.
