Access Type
Online access to this book is only available to eligible users.
Files
Download Full Text (5.3 MB)
Description
Founded in 1932 by Myles Horton and Don West near Monteagle, Tennessee, this adult education center was both a vital resource for southern radicals and a catalyst for several major movements for social change. During its thirty-year history it served as a community folk school, as a training center for southern labor and Farmers’ Union members, and as a meeting place for black and white civil rights activists. As a result of the civil rights involvement, the state of Tennessee revoked the charter of the original institution in 1962.
At the heart of Horton’s philosophy and the Highlander program was a belief in the power of education to effect profound changes in society. By working with the knowledge the poor of Appalachia and the South had gained from their experiences, Horton and his staff expected to enable them to take control of their own lives and to solve their own problems.
John M. Glen’s authoritative study is more than the story of a singular school in Tennessee. It is a biography of Myles Horton, co-founder and long-time educational director of the school, whose social theories shaped its character. It is an analysis of the application of a particular idea of adult education to the problems of the South and of Appalachia. And it affords valuable insights into the history of the southern labor and the civil rights movements and of the individuals and institutions involved in them over the past five decades.
John M. Glen is assistant professor of history at Ball State University.
Winner of the 1986 Appalachian Award.
Publication Date
1988
Publisher
The University Press of Kentucky
Place of Publication
Lexington, KY
ISBN
9780813152806
eISBN
9780813163253
Keywords
Highlander Folk School, Adult education, Monteagle, Tennessee
Disciplines
Appalachian Studies | Education
Recommended Citation
Glen, John M., "Highlander: No Ordinary School 1932-1962" (1988). Education in Appalachian Region. 4.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_education_in_appalachian_region/4
Consortium members may access while on their campus.