The Highlander Research and Education Center, formerly known as the Highlander Folk School, is a social justice leadership training school and cultural center in New Market, Tennessee. Founded in 1932 by activist Myles Horton, educator Don West, and

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

minister James A. Dombrowski, it was originally located in the community of Summerfield in Grundy County, Tennessee, between Monteagle and Tracy City. It was featured in the 1937

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

, '' People of the Cumberland'', and the 1985 documentary film, '' You Got to Move''. Much of the history was documented in the book ''Or We'll All Hang Separately: The Highlander Idea'' by Thomas Bledsoe. Highlander provides training and education for emerging and existing movement leaders throughout the South, Appalachia, and the world. Some of Highlander's earliest contributions were during the labor movement in

Appalachia Appalachia ( ) is a geographic region located in the Appalachian Mountains#Regions, central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains in the east of North America. In the north, its boundaries stretch from the western Catskill Mountai ...

and throughout the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

. During the 1950s, it played a critical role in the American Civil Rights Movement. It trained civil rights leader Rosa Parks prior to her historic role in the Montgomery bus boycott, as well as providing training for many other movement activists, including members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Septima Clark,

Anne Braden Anne McCarty Braden (July 28, 1924 – March 6, 2006) was an American civil rights activist, journalist, and educator dedicated to the cause of racial equality. She and her husband bought a suburban house for an African American couple during ...

, Martin Luther King Jr., James Bevel, Hollis Watkins, Bernard Lafayette, Ralph Abernathy and John Lewis in the mid- and-late 1950s. Backlash against the school's involvement with the Civil Rights Movement led to the school's closure by the state of Tennessee in 1961. Staff reorganized and moved to

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

, where they rechartered Highlander under the name "Highlander Research and Education Center." Highlander has been in its current (and longest consecutive) home in New Market, Tennessee, since 1971. Highlander's archives reside at the Wisconsin Historical Society and the Louis Round Wilson Library at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

History

Early years

The Highlander Folk School was originally established in Grundy County, Tennessee, on land donated for this purpose by educator Lilian Wyckoff Johnson. When Highlander was founded in 1932, the United States was in the midst of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. Workers in all parts of the country were met with major resistance by employers when they tried to organize

labor unions A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

, especially in the South. Against that backdrop, Horton, West and Dombrowski created the Highlander School "to provide an educational center in the South for the training of rural and industrial leaders, and for the conservation and enrichment of the indigenous cultural values of the mountains." Horton was influenced by observing rural adult education schools in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

started in the 19th century by Danish Lutheran Bishop N. F. S. Grundtvig. During the 1930s and 1940s, the school's main focus was labor education and the training of labor organizers. In the 1930s, Myra Page taught here. From 1938 to 1953, the Highlander Folk School ran the Highlander Nursery School to provide no-cost early learning to the white working-class children of Summerfield, Tennessee. The Highlander Nursery School was a cooperative institution relying on the material support and goodwill of local residents, and it helped to build relationships with families who might have otherwise opposed Highlander Folk School's pro-civil rights agenda.

Civil rights

In the 1950s, Highlander turned its energies to the rising issues of

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

and desegregation. In addition to Myles Horton, Zilphia Horton, and others, a key figure during this period was John Beauchamp Thompson, a minister and educator who became one of the principal fund-raisers and speakers for the school. Highlander worked with Esau Jenkins of Johns Island to develop a literacy program for Blacks who were prevented from registering to vote by literacy requirements. The Citizenship Education Schools coordinated by Septima Clark with assistance from Bernice Robinson spread widely throughout the South and helped thousands of Blacks register to vote. Later, the program was transferred to the

Southern Christian Leadership Conference The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an African Americans, African-American civil rights organization based in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. SCLC is closely associated with its first president, Martin Luther King Jr., ...

(SCLC), led by Martin Luther King Jr., because the state of Tennessee was threatening to close the school. Civil rights activists, most notably King, Bevel, Bernard Lafayette, Rosa Parks, John Lewis, and

Julian Bond Horace Julian Bond (January 14, 1940 – August 15, 2015) was an American social activist, leader of the civil rights movement, politician, professor, and writer. While he was a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, during the ea ...

, came to the Center at different times. Lewis revealed later that he had his first meal in an integrated setting at Highlander. "I was a young adult, but I had never eaten a meal in the company of Black and white diners," the congressman wrote. He continued, "Highlander was the place that Rosa Parks witnessed a demonstration of equality that helped inspire her to keep her seat on a Montgomery bus, just a few weeks after her first visit. She saw Septima Clark, a legendary black educator, teaching side-by-side with (Highlander founder Myles) Horton. For her it was revolutionary. She had never seen an integrated team of equals working together, and it inspired her." The civil rights anthem, " We Shall Overcome", was adapted from a

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

song, by Highlander music director Zilphia Horton, wife of Myles Horton, from the singing of striking tobacco factory workers from the 1945–1946 Charleston Cigar Factory strike. Shortly afterward, it was published by folksinger

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weav ...

in the People's Songs bulletin. It was revived at Highlander by Guy Carawan, who succeeded Zilphia Horton as Highlander's music director in 1959. Guy Carawan taught the song to SNCC at their first convening at Shaw University. The song has since spread and become one of the most recognizable movement songs in the world.

Backlash

Highlander has been the target of violence and suppression many times since being founded as the Highlander Folk School in Monteagle, Tennessee, in 1932. In reaction to the school's work, during the late 1950s, Southern newspapers said that Highlander was creating racial strife. In 1957, the

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Commission on Education published a pamphlet titled "Highlander Folk School: Communist Training School, Monteagle, Tennessee". A controversial photograph of Martin Luther King Jr. with writer, trade union organizer, civil rights activist and co-founder of the Highlander School Donald Lee West, was published. According to information obtained by the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

, West was the District Director of the Communist Party in North Carolina, though West denied he had ever been a member of the Communist Party. In 1961, the state of Tennessee revoked Highlander's charter, and confiscated and auctioned the school's land and property. According to Septima Clark's autobiography, the Highlander Folk School was closed because it engaged in commercial activities in violation its charter. The Highlander Folk School was chartered by the State of Tennessee as a non-profit corporation without stockholders or owners. Once the State revoked its charter, no one could make a legal claim on any of the property. In 1961, the Highlander staff reincorporated as the Highlander Research and Education Center and moved to

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

. In 1971, it relocated to New Market, Tennessee.

Appalachian issues

In the 1960s and 1970s, Highlander focused on worker health and safety in the coalfields of

. Its leaders, including its former president Mike Clark, played a role in the emergence of the region's

environmental justice Environmental justice is a social movement that addresses injustice that occurs when poor or marginalized communities are harmed by hazardous waste, resource extraction, and other land uses from which they do not benefit. The movement has gene ...

movement. It helped start the Southern Appalachian Leadership Training (SALT) program, and coordinated a survey of land ownership in Appalachia. In the 1980s and 1990s, Highlander broadened their base into broader regional, national, and international

environmentalism Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of green ideology and politics, ecolog ...

; struggles against the negative effects of

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

; grassroots leadership development in under-resourced communities. Beginning in the 1990s, became involved in

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

issues, both in the U.S. and internationally. Youth-focused organizing is another aspect of Highlander's work.

Community-based and participatory research

Highlander programming oftentimes incorporates community-led or participatory research projects. This approach can be traced back to Myles Horton and other founding figures in their mission to encourage communities to trust in and learn from their own experiences. In the 1970s, Highlander staff began to plan and facilitate participatory projects surrounding topics that are often complex for non-expert audiences such as environmental risk and corporate land ownership. This work has continued through collaborations that prioritize building relationships and networks so that people with shared stakes can find themselves in conversation with one another.

Popular education

In line with its stated mission of "supporting eoples'efforts to take collective action to shape their own destiny," many Highlander projects incorporate popular education strategies. Popular education, which draws on the experiences and knowledges of a group of people, is often linked to participatory research initiatives. Highlander uses popular education tactics to develop shared leadership and to emphasize the expertise of lived experiences.

Since 2000

Current focuses of Highlander include issues of democratic participation and economic justice, with a particular focus on

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

to the U.S. from Latin America,

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

s, LGBT, and poor white people. Highlander's work with immigrants focuses on uplifting immigrant and refugee leaders at local, state, and national levels. Their work with immigrant rights focuses on highlighting intersectionality with other social movements and increasing the presence of the US South in the movement. In 2014, the Tennessee Preservation Trust placed the original Grundy County school building on its list of the ten most "endangered" historic sites in Tennessee. On March 29, 2019, a fire destroyed a building that housed executive offices at the Highlander Center. Nobody was inside the building, but many items were lost, including decades of historic documents, speeches, artifacts, and memorabilia. White supremacist

graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

, in the form of the

Iron Guard The Iron Guard () was a Romanian militant revolutionary nationalism, revolutionary Clerical fascism, religious fascist Political movement, movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel M ...

symbol, was found at the site, and the county and state are both investigating whether arson was committed.

Directors

The directors of Highlander have been: * Myles Horton, 1932–1969 * Frank T. Adams, 1970–1973 * Mike Clark, 1973–1978 * Helen Matthews Lewis, 1978–79 * Mike Clark, 1979–1984 * Hubert E. Sapp, 1984–1993 * John Gaventa, 1993–1996 * Jim Sessions, 1996–1999 * Suzanne Pharr, 1999–2003 * Mónica Hernández and Tami Newman, interim co-directors 2004–2005 * Pam McMichael, interim director, 2005; director 2006–2016 * Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson and Allyn Maxfield Steele, co-directors since 2016

Photo gallery

File:HiglanderFolkSchoolCenter-HistoricalMarkerFront.JPG, Historical Marker Back File:HiglanderFolkSchoolCenter-HistoricalMarkerBack.JPG, Historical Marker Back File:HiglanderFolkSchoolCenter-Library2014.JPG, Highlander Folk School Library Panoramic in 2014. Monteagle, Tennessee File:Highlander Education Center Mural.jpg, Mural by Mike Alewitz at the Highlander Research and Education Center

Notes

References

Highlander Research and Education Center: Highlander Research and Education Center Records, Wisconsin Historical Society.

Highlander Research and Education Center's Audiovisual Materials, Southern Folklife Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
* John M. Glen, ''Highlander: No Ordinary School, 1932–1962''. The University Press of Kentucky, 1988.
Federal Bureau of Investigation ''Highlander Folk School'' files obtained under the Freedom of Information Act
* Frank Adams, with Myles Horton, ''Unearthing Seeds of Fire: The Idea of Highlander''. John F. Blair: 1975. * Jeff Biggers, "The United States of Appalachia: How Southern Mountaineers Brought Independence, Culture and Enlightenment to America". Emeryville, CA: Shoemaker and Hoard. * Myles Horton, with Herbert and Judith Kohl, '' The Long Haul: An Autobiography''. Teachers College Press: 1997. * Myles Horton and Paulo Friere, ''We Make the Road by Walking''. Temple University Press: 1990.
History - 1930–1953: Beginnings & The Labor Years

* Pam McMichael, "Dear Friend of Highlander", ''Highlander Reports'', April 2005,
PDF
* Eliot Wigginton, ed., ''Refuse to Stand Silently By: An Oral History of Grass Roots Social Activism in America, 1921–1964''. Doubleday, 1991. * Highlander Research and Education Center's Audiovisual Materials #20361, Southern Folklife Collection, Louis Round Wilson Library,

. * Highlander Research and Education Center Records, 1917–2005, Wisconsin Historical Society.

External links

*
Highlander Research and Education Center Records, 1917-1978 at the Wisconsin Historical Society--Over 350,000 documents and 1800 audio recordings from the Highlander Folk School
{{DEFAULTSORT:Highlander Research And Education Center Education in Tennessee History of civil rights in the United States History of labor relations in the United States Labor schools Monteagle, Tennessee Education in Jefferson County, Tennessee New Market, Tennessee Educational institutions established in 1932 Labor studies organizations based in the United States Leadership training Buildings and structures in Jefferson County, Tennessee History of Knoxville, Tennessee 1932 establishments in Tennessee