In 1920, Kurt Hahn founded the Salem School in Germany. His educational principles were formed by his study of early philosophers and educational reformers and influenced by the social conditions of the time. The mission of the Salem School was “to train citizens who would not shirk from leadership and who could, if called upon, make independent decisions, put right action before expediency, and the common cause before personal ambition.”

In 1932, during the rise of Hitler, Hahn called upon the Salem School alumni to either break with Salem or break with Hitler. His public denouncement of Hitler led to his imprisonment in 1933, but his close ties with those in power in Britain and Germany resulted in his release and eventual exile to Britain. In 1934, Hahn established the Gordonstoun School in Scotland, based upon the philosophy and methodology of the Salem School.

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“Who Was Kurt Hahn?," Josh Miner, Founder of Outward Bound in the US, 1996

In 1940, after the start of World War II, Sir Lawrence Holt –– a Gordonstoun parent who owned a large merchant shipping company –– was disturbed by the staggering loss of life in the North Atlantic. He noted that his younger sailors were dying in their lifeboats and the older ones were not. Though well-trained, it seemed the younger sailors did not have the life experience, the resources, or the will to survive in the face of battle that some of the older, more seasoned sailors possessed. Holt and Hahn joined forces to develop a training program called Outward Bound to teach these young sailors resilience.

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“The History of Outward Bound," Outward Bound Trust

The North Carolina Outward Bound School (NCOBS) was founded in the mid-1960s, during a time of great expectation that during this decade, many of society’s most challenging problems would be solved.

In North Carolina, the state’s leaders identified poverty and educational reform as the top issues of that time. To meet these challenges, Governor Terry Sanford established The North Carolina Fund, whose goals were “to enable the poor to become productive, self-reliant citizens, and to foster institutional, political, economic, and social change designed to bring about a functioning, democratic society.”

In 1964, an article in the Princeton Alumni News about Josh Miner, and his work to bring the Outward Bound program to the United States, intrigued North Carolinian G. Watts Hill Jr., chairman of the North Carolina Board of Education. At the time, there were Outward Bound schools in Colorado and Minnesota, and a third was nearing completion in Maine. Miner was quoted as saying, “Young people today need authentic adventure,” and, “We simply want the opportunity, too often denied, to enable young people to discover what wonderful qualities they really possess.” Hill saw resonance with the goals of The North Carolina Fund and sent the article to the Fund’s director, George Esser.

Esser shared Miner’s article with staff members Jack Mansfield and Marjorie Bryan Calloway (Buckley). Buckley quickly became the driving force for Outward Bound in North Carolina. After meeting with the first all-girls crew at Minnesota Outward Bound School, and with representatives from the Colorado and Minnesota schools, she worked to enlist the imagination and support of prominent North Carolinians to establish a school. By December, 1965, the North Carolina Outward Bound School (NCOBS) was well on its way to incorporation as a nonprofit educational institution, and to endorsement by Outward Bound USA. In the following year, its newly recruited board of directors explored establishing either a seafaring school at the Outer Banks or a mountain school.