Graduate School and the Service Bureau for Intercultural Education (1929–1940)

Given the success of the Assembly, Rachel decided she wanted to develop her own intellectual capacities in thinking about the Assembly as a reliable tool for the encouragement of tolerance. In 1929 Rachel left Woodbury and started graduate school in Educational Sociology at Teachers College/Columbia University. At Teachers College, Rachel began to develop an advanced method for creating and evaluating the Assembly through the addition of five wishes to be achieved through the program: wishes for new experience, recognition, response, security, and experience outside of the self. These along with emotion, intellect, and social interaction formed the total structure of the Assembly and a new program, Group Conversation/Neighborhood-Home Festival. Academe and philanthropy became aware of the value of Rachel’s programs, and in 1934, the Service Bureau for Intercultural Education was formed. This chapter explores the programs, the Bureau, and Rachel’s involuntary resignation.