Settlement schools are

social reform Reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary movements which reject t ...

institutions established in rural

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 ...

in the early 20th century with the purpose of educating mountain children and improving their isolated rural communities. Settlement schools have played an important role in preserving and promoting the cultural heritage of southern and central Appalachia. Scholar David Whisnant has argued that settlement schools created a version of "traditional" Appalachian culture that appealed to outsiders but had little basis in the values of Appalachian people themselves.Judy Flavell
Settlement Schools and the Culture of the Mountains
KET-TV website, accessed August 3, 2010

History

The Appalachian settlement schools were inspired by the

settlement movement The settlement movement was a reformist social movement that began in the 1880s and peaked around the 1920s in the United Kingdom and the United States. Its goal was to bring the rich and the poor of society together in both physical proximity an ...

that started in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in the late 19th century and was represented in the United States by urban settlement houses, including

Hull House Hull House was a settlement house in Chicago, Illinois, that was co-founded in 1889 by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr. Located on the Near West Side of Chicago, Hull House, named after the original house's first owner Charles Jerald Hul ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and the

Henry Street Settlement The Henry Street Settlement is a not-for-profit social service agency on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City that provides social services, arts programs and health care services to New Yorkers of all ages. It was founded under the ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

.Mission and History
, Hindman Settlement School website A large fraction of settlement schools were founded as

Christian mission A Christian mission is an organized effort to carry on evangelism, in the name of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries. Sometimes individuals are sent and a ...

s and had a religious purpose in addition to a social welfare purpose. Possibly the earliest manifestation of the settlement movement in southern Appalachia was the Log Cabin Settlement near

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad River, French Broad and Swannanoa River, Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populou ...

, started in September 1894 by Susan Chester. Chester, a graduate of

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...

, had experience with urban settlements in the northeastern United States. She considered the people of rural Appalachia to be "the purest Americans to be found" and envisioned her Log Cabin Settlement as an opportunity to "revive the weaving industry... and provide a good library for the community" in cooperation with a mission chapel and district school.

Hindman Settlement School Hindman Settlement School is a settlement school located in Hindman, Kentucky in Knott County, Kentucky, Knott County. Established in 1902, it was the first rural settlement school in America.

, in Hindman, Kentucky, is considered the first rural social settlement school in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, established in 1902 by May Stone and Katherine Pettit at the forks of Troublesome Creek in Knott County, Kentucky. The women's fraternity

Pi Beta Phi Pi Beta Phi (), often known simply as Pi Phi, is an international Fraternities and sororities in North America, women's fraternity founded at Monmouth College, in Monmouth, Illinois on April 28, 1867, as I. C. Sorosis, the first national secret c ...

opened the Pi Beta Phi Settlement School in

Gatlinburg, Tennessee Gatlinburg is a city in Sevier County, Tennessee, United States. It is located southeast of Knoxville, Tennessee, Knoxville and had a population of 3,577 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a popular mountain resort town, as it ...

, in 1912 to provide education, economic opportunity, and health care to the rural area at the edge of the

Great Smoky Mountains The Great Smoky Mountains (, ''Equa Dutsusdu Dodalv'') are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee–North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains and form part of the Blue Ridg ...

. The school also conducted arts and crafts classes in an effort to preserve and promote the region's crafts tradition. Pine Mountain Settlement School, in

Harlan County, Kentucky Harlan County is a county located in southeastern Kentucky. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 26,831. Its county seat is Harlan, Kentucky, Harlan. It is classified as a moist county—one in which alcohol sale ...

, was founded by William Creech, Sr., in 1913. Creech, a local resident, donated land for the school and recruited Katherine Pettit and Ethel DeLong to establish and run the institution.History
, Pine Mountain Settlement School website Settlement schools typically had large

campus A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls. By extension, a corp ...

es, including

dormitories A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm), also known as a hall of residence, a residence hall (often abbreviated to halls), or a hostel, is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential qu ...

for boarding students.The Appalachian Settlement Schools
KET, Lexington, Kentucky They functioned not only as schools, but also as community centers. With the establishment of public schools in the region in the 1920s and 1930s, settlement schools relinquished their role in the general education of children. Pine Mountain was a

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

for elementary and

middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

-age children until about 1930, when it became a residential

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

after public elementary schools were established in the region. Some settlement schools closed, but others assumed new functions over time. Hindman Settlement School offers

adult education Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained educating activities in order to gain new knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralph G. ''The Pr ...

, including

GED Ged or GED may refer to: Places * Ged, Louisiana, an unincorporated community in the United States * Ged, a village in Bichiwara Tehsil, Dungarpur District, Rajasthan, India * Delaware Coastal Airport, in Delaware, US, callsign GED People * Ged B ...

test preparation, and operates a tutorial program for people with

dyslexia Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...

. Since the early 1970s Pine Mountain Settlement School has specialized in environmental education; it also has operated an elderhostel program.Jennifer Minton
The Current Roles of Settlement Schools
KET, Lexington, Kentucky The Pi Beta Phi Settlement School began an extension called the Craft Work Shop in 1945 in cooperation with the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

;Josh Flory
Pi Beta Phi fraternity to sell Arrowmont land
Knoxville News Sentinel, August 16, 2008 it is now an independent

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

known as the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts that provides college and graduate-level courses in arts and crafts.

List of Appalachian settlement schools

The following are examples of settlement schools and other institutions (most no longer in operation) that were first founded as settlement schools:(Note: this material was removed from this collection c. 2012) Alice Lloyd College, Pippa Passes, Kentucky *Annville Institute, Annville, Kentucky *Bethel Mennonite Center, Rowdy, Kentucky *Buckhorn Children's Center, Buckhorn, Kentucky * John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, North Carolina * Frontier Nursing Service, Hyden, Kentucky *Hazel Green Academy, Hazel Green, Kentucky *Henderson Settlement School, Frakes,

Bell County, Kentucky Bell County is a county located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 24,097. Its county seat is Pineville and its largest city is Middlesboro. The county was formed in 1867, during th ...

. Founded in 1921. *

, Hindman, Kentucky *Hinton Rural Life Center, Hayesville, North Carolina *Jackson Area Ministries Resource and Training Center,

Jackson, Ohio Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Ohio, United States about southeast of Chillicothe. Its population was 6,252 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Jackson, Ohio micropolitan area, which consists of ...

* Kingdom Come Settlement School, Linefork,

Letcher County, Kentucky Letcher County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 21,548. Its county seat is Whitesburg, Kentucky, Whitesburg. It was created in 1842 f ...

. Founded in 1924 by

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 ...

s. *Lotts Creek Community School, Cordia, Knott County, Kentucky. Founded in 1933. * Oneida Baptist Institute, Oneida, Kentucky *Pi Beta Phi Settlement School (now Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts),

* Pine Mountain Settlement School,

* Pittman Community Center,

Pittman Center, Tennessee Pittman Center is a town in Sevier County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 454 at the 2020 census and 502 at the 2010 census. The town borders Gatlinburg, Tennessee, Gatlinburg and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. U.S. Route ...

* Red Bird Mission, Beverly,

. Founded in 1925. *Riverside Christian Training School, Lost Creek, Breathitt County, Kentucky. Founded in 1905 by the

Church of the Brethren The Church of the Brethren is an Anabaptist Christian denomination in the Schwarzenau Brethren tradition ( "Schwarzenau New Baptists") that was organized in 1708 by Alexander Mack in Schwarzenau, Germany during the Radical Pietist revival. ...

. * Stuart Robinson School, Blackey, Kentucky. Founded in 1913 as a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

mission. *Sunset Gap Community Center,

Cosby, Tennessee Cosby is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community in Cocke County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The population of the Cosby CDP according to the 2020 census was 807. The community has given its name to the northeastern secti ...

. Started in 1920 by

s. (Note: this source is no longer at this repository) * Vardy Community School, Vardy,

Hancock County, Tennessee Hancock County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,662, making it the fourth-least populous county in Tennessee. Its county seat is Sneedville. History Hanc ...

References

External links

Settlement Schools of Appalachia
KET, Lexington, Kentucky

D.H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina Asheville (Note: this material was removed from this collection c. 201
Hindman Settlement SchoolPine Mountain Settlement School

History

List of Appalachian settlement schools

References

External links

Further reading