INDIA HAS been blessed with several foreign friends in the field of education ever since Sister Nivedita came to India and opened a school for women in Kolkata. Annie Besant, Ida Scudder, Mirra Alfassa (the Mother of the Pondicherry Ashram) are some of them. Eleanor Montgomery belongs to this illustrious lineage.
Having heard of Sri Aurobindo's writings and the manner in which Margaret Woodrow Wilson had found an anchor in them in the course of her spiritual strivings, Eleanor came to India and met the Mother of the Ashram at Pondicherry. This was in the early fifties. The Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education which had introduced new methods of teaching children caught her imagination. She asked the Mother in what manner she could help the Ashram work. The Mother replied, "Return to America and raise funds for the school."
The school was experimental and was meant to cater to the Ashram community. The children of the disciples attended the school which followed a Free Progress system in the light of the educational practices outlined by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. At the conclusion of the schooling, the children were given the freedom to choose whether or not to join the Ashram.
Mrs. Montgomery went to work immediately. Her friends and a yearly monetary gift from her financier husband, A. Moore Montgomery, helped her make a strong beginning to help the Ashram School. Later, the Mother advised Mrs. Montgomery to set up a trust for the purpose. So a foundation was incorporated in New York City under the name "Sri Aurobindo International Center Foundation, Inc." The Mother was to be the president and the original board consisted of Aurobindonians among whom were Mrs. Montgomery, Mr. Lee Russell, Elsie Calvert, and Dr. Marie Karelitz-Karry. The Foundation tried to help the Sri Aurobindo Ashram School at Pondicherry with encyclopaedias, educational books and materials, office equipment and supplies, and sports equipment. There were also special donations, such as the electronic organ Mother played (which can be heard on the many tapes recorded by the Ashram).
Mrs. Montgomery also formed a study group in New York City that met on a regular basis from 1955 to 1963. As hostess for the meetings, she brought noted personalities such as French Jesuit author Teilhard de Chardin and scholars from the Ashram and around the world to fulfil the organisation's mission of establishing "a centre of education and learning without distinction of race, nationality, caste, sex or creed so that such education might be provided without charge." Unfortunately when Mrs. Montgomery's husband passed away in 1963, there was a period of inaction till 1972. This being Sri Aurobindo's birth centenary year, there was a beautiful revival thanks to Udar Pinto coming from India to advise the Foundation. Presently the name of the Foundation was changed to the Foundation for World Education, to pursue the goals set by Sri Aurobindo for a globally integral future.
Mrs. Montgomery, after a lifetime devoted to the Mother's work passed away on the Mother's birthday on February 21, 1983. She left her entire estate to the Foundation. The Foundation is at present administered by a board headed by Margo MacLeod with Jeanne Korstange as the secretary. The main part of the work consists in granting money to incorporated non-profit organisations which support "the vision for a transformed world espoused by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother." Since 1983, over one million dollars has been distributed from the annual dividends and interest which Mrs. Montgomery's estate continues to generate.
Among notable grants by the Foundation are supporting the purchase of the crystal for the Matrimandir at Auroville, a student learning exchange from Auroville to the U.S., and projects of the Ashram Archives and school. The Foundation also helps in the publication of books that project the educational vision of Sri Aurobindo.
Having heard of Sri Aurobindo's writings and the manner in which Margaret Woodrow Wilson had found an anchor in them in the course of her spiritual strivings, Eleanor came to India and met the Mother of the Ashram at Pondicherry. This was in the early fifties. The Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education which had introduced new methods of teaching children caught her imagination. She asked the Mother in what manner she could help the Ashram work. The Mother replied, "Return to America and raise funds for the school."
The school was experimental and was meant to cater to the Ashram community. The children of the disciples attended the school which followed a Free Progress system in the light of the educational practices outlined by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. At the conclusion of the schooling, the children were given the freedom to choose whether or not to join the Ashram.
Mrs. Montgomery went to work immediately. Her friends and a yearly monetary gift from her financier husband, A. Moore Montgomery, helped her make a strong beginning to help the Ashram School. Later, the Mother advised Mrs. Montgomery to set up a trust for the purpose. So a foundation was incorporated in New York City under the name "Sri Aurobindo International Center Foundation, Inc." The Mother was to be the president and the original board consisted of Aurobindonians among whom were Mrs. Montgomery, Mr. Lee Russell, Elsie Calvert, and Dr. Marie Karelitz-Karry. The Foundation tried to help the Sri Aurobindo Ashram School at Pondicherry with encyclopaedias, educational books and materials, office equipment and supplies, and sports equipment. There were also special donations, such as the electronic organ Mother played (which can be heard on the many tapes recorded by the Ashram).
Mrs. Montgomery also formed a study group in New York City that met on a regular basis from 1955 to 1963. As hostess for the meetings, she brought noted personalities such as French Jesuit author Teilhard de Chardin and scholars from the Ashram and around the world to fulfil the organisation's mission of establishing "a centre of education and learning without distinction of race, nationality, caste, sex or creed so that such education might be provided without charge." Unfortunately when Mrs. Montgomery's husband passed away in 1963, there was a period of inaction till 1972. This being Sri Aurobindo's birth centenary year, there was a beautiful revival thanks to Udar Pinto coming from India to advise the Foundation. Presently the name of the Foundation was changed to the Foundation for World Education, to pursue the goals set by Sri Aurobindo for a globally integral future.
Mrs. Montgomery, after a lifetime devoted to the Mother's work passed away on the Mother's birthday on February 21, 1983. She left her entire estate to the Foundation. The Foundation is at present administered by a board headed by Margo MacLeod with Jeanne Korstange as the secretary. The main part of the work consists in granting money to incorporated non-profit organisations which support "the vision for a transformed world espoused by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother." Since 1983, over one million dollars has been distributed from the annual dividends and interest which Mrs. Montgomery's estate continues to generate.
Among notable grants by the Foundation are supporting the purchase of the crystal for the Matrimandir at Auroville, a student learning exchange from Auroville to the U.S., and projects of the Ashram Archives and school. The Foundation also helps in the publication of books that project the educational vision of Sri Aurobindo.
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