The history of Mills College in California dates back to the year 1852. The establishment, which is located in Oakland near San Francisco, was given its current name in 1875. At that time it was the first women's college in the west of the United States and, even today, the foundation programme is only open to female students. During the first half of the 20th century the educational institution became "a major centre for modern and contemporary art, experimental music and modern dance" (Wünsche, Mills College, Oakland, California, 2011). After 1945, the teachers and students made valuable contributions to contemporary music in the United States. However the college is also of remarkable importance in the history of the European art of exile on account of the activities of an emigrated German writer and art historian. 

In 1935, the President of the institute, Aurelia Reinhardt, was looking for a new teacher. His or her job would be to set up the subject of art history and a museum (complete with its own collection) at Mills College. Aurelia Reinhardt decided to choose a person from the list of "displaced German scholars". The literary figure and art history lecturer Alfred Neumeyer answered the call and ultimately proved a good choice, also in the eyes of other exiles. In carrying out Reinhardt's instructions, he supported numerous art professionals by offering advice and assistance. It was thanks to him, for example, that a number of European artists were able - at the personal invitation of Mills College - to come to the American West Coast and to benefit from the lively local art scene in those years. These included Lyonel Feininger, Fernand Léger and László Moholy-Nagy. Now living in the United States, Max Beckmann came later in 1950. Oskar Kokoschka, on the other hand, turned down an invitation from Alfred Neumeyer in 1937 and remained in Prague. 

Further reading:
Selz, Peter: The Impact from Abroad. Foreign Guests and Visitors, in: Karlstrom, Paul J. (Hrsg.): On the Edge of America. California Modernist Art 1900-1950, Berkeley: University of California 1996, S. 97-119.
Wünsche, Isabel: Mills College, Oakland, California. Ein Liberal Arts College als Anlaufpunkt, Arbeitgeber und Vernetzungsort für Künstler und Kunsthistoriker an der Westküste, in: Dogramaci, Burcu / Wimmer, Karin (Hrsg.): Netzwerke des Exils. Künstlerische Verflechtungen, Austausch und Patronage nach 1933, Berlin: Gebr. Mann 2011, S. 333-354.