Biographical Text
Associate Professor Emeritus of Foreign Languages Carl Herbert Bredow (January 23, 1914 -), college professor, was born in Berlin, Germany, the son of architect Carl Theodor Bredow and Auguste Bredow (nee Malchow). In 1924, Carl, his sister (Emma "Nicki" Wnorowski) and his parents emigrated to the United States. In 1931, he completed his pre-college program at Manual Training High School in only three and one half years. In the fall of 1931 he started his college education at Columbia University in New York City. Due to the economic vicissitudes of the pre-World War II period, Bredow did not complete his degree program until after a number of interruptions. Being unemployed, he spent two years with his parents on a run-down farm in central New York State, often working as a farm-hand for a dollar-and-a-half a day. But, it was healthy outdoor work! Century, ed. Rhoda Nathan (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press). Publication forthcoming. "Gleanings from the Orinda Holograph," American Notes and Queries (Publication forthcoming). "The 'Matchless Orinda's' Missing Sister Mrs. C.P," Restoration: Studies in English Literary Culture, 1660-1700, (Publication forthcoming.) Professor Brashear was married to John Hibbs Brashear (1916—April 7,1986), Professor Emeritus from Appalachian State University. Lucy Brashear is the mother of two children, Ann and Jason, and grandmother of four grandchildren. In 1937, he was accepted as a participant in the "Junior Year in Munich" program of the University of Maryland. He completed
this program successfully, but stayed on for another two years, living with his parents in their apartment in Berlin. He was briefly employed by the Berlin office of the Chicago Tribune, but gave this up after a run-in with the SS. He signed up for courses at Berlin University, but discontinued this effort when the course content proved to be too heavily distorted by Nazi ideology. In November 1938 Bredow experienced the aftermath of the infamous Crystal Night, during which synagogues were looted and burned and the store windows and display cases of Jewish shops all over Germany were smashed overnight. These events and observations, as well as the scanning of the international press, convinced Bredow, a naturalized American citizen since 1935, to finally leave his native country. In 1939 Carl Bredow and his sister stepped off the German flag-flying ocean-liner in New York City, each with ten American dollars in pocket. A new start, indeed! Bredow found a job installing radios and heaters in automobiles. In 1941 he was inducted into the army and, due to his most recent experience, was assigned to the communications unit of an infantry headquarters company, where he served until receiving a medical discharge because of a back injury. Out of the army, Bredow serviced movie projectors and worked as a materials inspector in war plants. When the war was over and times were better, he entered Columbia University and earned a B.S. degree from the School of General Studies--here he met fellow student Jane Vogedes, whom he married in 1946. Bredow received the M. A. from Teachers College in 1948 in the teaching of foreign languages. While in school, he taught English to foreigners (now generally referred to as the ESL program) at Columbia University. Bredow taught French and Spanish at the Plainfield, New Jersey, high school from 1950 until 1952, when, at the height of the Korean War inflation, he left teaching to take a better-paying position in quality control with the Weston Electrical Instrument Company. Through corporate mergers, Bredow's job eventually ceased to exist, and in 1962 he returned to the teaching profession, this time at the New Brunswick, New Jersey, high school. In 1963 he was accepted into the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) German Institute at Princeton University, allowing him to update his command of the German language and culture. Receiving an appointment as assistant professor of languages at Appalachian State Teachers College (now Appalachian State University) in 1964, Carl moved his wife and children to Boone. In addition to teaching French and German, Bredow also served as director of the language lab and as instructor in the NDEA Institutes in French. In 1971, Bredow became associate professor in the Department of Foreign Languages. Listening to international short-wave radio programs, a hobby during his tenure at Appalachian, won him a 10-day, all- expenses-paid trip to Germany. In 1979 Mr. Bredow retired after Fifteen distinguished years of service to Appalachian State University. Once retired, Bredow moved the family to Charlotte, North Carolina, a logical choice of residence for a man not ready to retire to a rocking chair and T.V.! There he has worked as technical translator, as interpreter, as tutor, and as teacher of German at East Mecklenburg High School. He enjoys great satisfaction from this and from his volunteer work in the Faraday Lab at Discovery Place. He has also been very active in, and has served as director of adult education, at the Unitarian Church of Charlotte. His wife, Jane, enjoys the well-balanced climate of Charlotte (it eases the limitations from osteoporosis) and is active in community services such as Crisis Ministry and income tax counseling at Sheperd's Center. She is also compiling a cookbook. They both spend a great deal of time keeping up with their four children and four grandchildren, who are: Peggy, who is the wife of Richard A. Linke, who have daughters Rebecca, 7, and Megan, 3, and who live in Holmdel, New Jersey; Carl F., who is married to Gayle (née Newgent), who are the parents of Joseph, 3, and Vicki, 8 months, and who live in Charlotte, N.C.; Maryjane Farthing, who is Manager: Quality Control at TRW, Boone, and who is presently unmarried; and Anne (Mrs. Tony F.) Dulin, who is the manager of Stand 'N Snack in Charlotte, N.C. The Bredows' son Howard Charles passed away on February 3,1982, at the age of 27. Sources: Appalachian State University files and personal correspondence. - Dr. Richard D. Howe and Mr. David N. Simmons
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