George Roeper on humanism

Original Publication Date: June 6, 1981

The Class of 1981 asked George, who had retired in 1979, to speak to them at their Junior-Senior Dinner, which is an important part of Commencement weekend. The Class of 1981 was the first class to have graduated after the Upper School moved to the Birmingham campus in September 1980, at the start of their senior year. George was pleased to be asked and responded with a talk on his core philosophy, humanism. 

The necessity for morality in gifted education

By Annemarie Roeper

Original Publication Date: August 1985

In 1985, George and Annemarie attended a World Council for Gifted and Talented Children conference in Hamburg. Being in Hamburg, where George was born, and near Marienau, the school they grew up in and had to flee, made them both quite full of emotion.  In addition, the conference opened on the day of the 40th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima.  This confluence of factors made them both receptive to the power of the questions raised by German attendees about the moral hazard of identifying anyone as gifted and potentially superior. In this paper, Annemarie reflects on the questions raised and her thoughts about their responsibilities as educators to provide moral guidance to students.

1970s Statement by George Roeper

Evolving social standards

Original Publication Date: 1970s

This is a short and quite personal reflection on the Philosophy by George. The document is undated but he speaks of founding the school more than thirty years earlier, which would place this document in the 1970s. While he is reflecting on the changes over the years, he is also clearly referencing Annemarie’s growing feminist perspective and their evolving understanding of their individual contributions to the school. It appears to be the preface to a report, but the eventual use for this statement hasn’t been found. Both the original typescript and a retyped version are presented here.