By Alice Bernstein

By proclamations of Mayor O'Malley and Governor Glendening, on August 16, "Eli Siegel Day" was celebrated in Baltimore and the state of Maryland to honor the great poet and philosopher who founded the education Aesthetic Realism. On that day, Mr. Siegel's centenary, Baltimore's Department of Recreation and Parks and the Aesthetic Realism Foundation sponsored the dedication of a memorial in Druid Hill Park, near his early home on Newington Avenue. 

"We salute Eli Siegel for his great contributions to knowledge and humanity," states the Mayor in his proclamation, "...and do urge all citizens to join in this celebration." And what a celebration it was--for Baltimore and America herself! Mr. Siegel's thought, begun in Baltimore, enables education to succeed, and people of different races and nationalities to see each other fairly. Hundreds of citizens, many representing educational, cultural and community organizations of Baltimore as well as state, and federal officials, attended this historic event. Said John McGrain, Baltimore County Historian, "It was a great day for Baltimore!" 

Festivities began with stirring music by the Prism Brass Quintet of the University of Maryland, College Park. The Mayor's proclamation was read, which tells of these principles of Aesthetic Realism: "(1) 'The deepest desire of every person is to like the world honestly, (2) humanity's largest danger is contempt, 'the addition to self through the lessening of something else,' (3) 'The world, art, and self explain each other: each is the aesthetic oneness of opposites'." 

Ellen Reiss, whom Eli Siegel appointed Class Chairman of Aesthetic Realism, and who is considered by many people, including myself, the foremost educator in the world today, described Mr. Siegel's early years and scholarship in Baltimore. Through his letters, poems, and published writings she showed: "The constant, propelling desire in Mr. Siegel then and always was to know;... [He] made knowledge--literature, history, all the arts and sciences--warm and alive for people....The sincerity of his desire to know made him...passionate that justice come to people." Other authorities - labor leader Timothy Lynch, artist Dorothy Koppelman, and consultants Robert Murphy and Margot Carpenter, spoke on the enormous value of Mr. Siegel's lifework for economics, art, and the understanding that makes for success in love and marriage, taught in Aesthetic Realism consultations. 

New York City teachers Lois Mason and Rosemary Plumstead told of the unprecedented success of the Aesthetic Realism Teaching Method. This method is based on Mr. Siegel's seeing that "The purpose of education is to like the world through knowing it." For over 25 years it has enabled "young people - including the most disadvantaged - to learn!"-- history, reading, biology, every subject. And they become kinder. Congressman Elijah E. Cummings, in his recent tribute to Mr. Siegel in the Congressional Record states: "[T]his teaching method ...[is] an effective tool to stop racism;..The education of Aesthetic Realism will be studied in every...classroom across the nation for years to come."

.Photo credit: Vincent DiPietro

Mr. Siegel's landmark explanation of the cause of racism - and the answer - were presented by cultural anthropologist Dr. Arnold Perey, elementary school educator Monique Michael, Maritime Captain Allan Michael, and Dr. Jaime Torres, each of whom told of learning how prejudice, including prejudice against them, came from the human desire for contempt. Mrs. Michael said: "As I saw that I am related to all people, that we are the same and different, I began to be proud of being both African and European - and to think about all people justly....When [Aesthetic Realism] is studied worldwide - and my life is evidence for this - it will make honest kindness and respect alive in the hearts and minds of all people, and will make the world safe and civilized." 

Community leader LaVerne Fields read Eli Siegel's moving poem "Something Else Should Die" - about Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln - also in the Congressional Record. 

Commenting later, Erick Oribio of the International/Intergovernmental Office of Maryland's Secretary of State said, "This is what we need to have known. This can really change people. 

Rabbi Jon Konheim of Beth Am Synagogue, Baltimore, said: "I was impressed by Eli Siegel's idea of the unity of opposites and how it relates to unity among people. Aesthetic Realism shows how to come to the respect that will counter daily contempt." 

The bronze memorial plaque was designed by the distinguished American artist Chaim Koppelman: a sculptured portrait of Mr. Siegel in bas-relief, and lines from his great, 1925 Nation prize-winning poem, "Hot Afternoons Have Been in Montana." The memorial stands on a beautiful site overlooking Druid Lake, and includes benches and flowering trees.

I myself was honored to study with Mr. Siegel for many years and saw his unwavering integrity, even as Aesthetic Realism was boycotted by persons in the press who resented their enormous respect for him. I am personally grateful for the existence of this memorial which Judge Paul A. Smith called "a tremendous honor to the City of Baltimore." 

The Orioles celebrated "Eli Siegel Day" with a tribute on their scoreboard and aired The Heart Knows Better, the Emmy award-winning anti-prejudice film by Ken Kimmelman, based on a statement by Mr. Siegel; and 7 books by him were featured at Barnes & Noble (Inner Harbor).

To learn more, contact the not-for-profit Aesthetic Realism Foundation in New York, 212.777.4490; www.AestheticRealism.org.