Stuart Robinson School was a

settlement school Settlement schools are social reform institutions established in rural Appalachia in the early 20th century with the purpose of educating Mountain whites, mountain children and improving their isolated rural communities. Settlement schools have p ...

in Blackey,

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 ...

, established 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. It closed in 1957, after graduating its last class in 1956.

Establishment

Stuart Robinson School was established in 1913 by Rev. Dr. Edward O. Guerrant. A physician and evangelist, Guerrant was the founder of several schools and churches in

eastern Kentucky Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

. Guerrant is said to have been inspired to start a

mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

in Blackey after he encountered some boys swimming in the nearby river on a Sunday morning in 1910 and discovered that most of the boys had never heard of

Sunday school ] A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...

, much less attended one. The school was named for Rev. Stuart Robinson (pastor), Stuart Robinson, who had been a pastor of

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

Second Presbyterian Church. Robinson was known for both his leadership role among border state Presbyterians during and after the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

and his interest in mission work in the mountains of eastern Kentucky. The school had 140 students when it opened.

Campus and facilities

The school was located on a campus served by the Rockhouse Branch of the

L&N Railroad The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of t ...

and by

Kentucky Route 15 Kentucky Route 15 begins at a junction of US 119/ Corridor F & Business KY 15 in Whitesburg, and terminates in Winchester at US 60. It is a major route, connecting the coalfields of the Cumberland Plateau with Lexington and other cities in th ...

. It also maintained a large

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

to produce food for the school. School and farm buildings included dormitories and a dining hall, educational buildings, a library, a

gym A gym, short for gymnasium (: gymnasiums or gymnasia), is an indoor venue for exercise and sports. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasion". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learn ...

nasium, houses for teachers, and a dairy barn,

silo A silo () is a structure for storing Bulk material handling, bulk materials. Silos are commonly used for bulk storage of grain, coal, cement, carbon black, woodchips, food products and sawdust. Three types of silos are in widespread use toda ...

, and milk house with equipment for

pasteurization In food processing, pasteurization (American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), also pasteurisation) is a process of food preservation in which packaged foods (e.g., milk and fruit juices) are treated wi ...

and refrigeration. By its final years, the campus expanded from 16 to .

School program

Stuart Robinson School was

coeducation Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

al and operated as a

day A day is the time rotation period, period of a full Earth's rotation, rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours (86,400 seconds). As a day passes at a given location it experiences morning, afternoon, evening, ...

and

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 ...

with twelve grades. Most students were enrolled in a work-study program, which the school called its "Work Scholarship plan", through which students could earn all or part of the cost of their education and board. Boys typically did farm and gardening work, installed fencing, fired the school's furnaces, worked at carpentry, or maintained plumbing and electrical wiring. Girls did cooking and housekeeping work in the school's kitchen, dining room and dormitories. The school fielded interscholastic teams in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. Extracurricular activities included a

glee club A glee club is a musical group or choir group, historically of male voices but also of female or mixed voices, which traditionally specializes in the singing of short songs by trios or quartets. In the late 19th century it was very popular in ...

, a

home economics Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences (often shortened to FCS or FACS), is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and f ...

club, and literary societies. Throughout its history, the school operated as a Presbyterian mission. In 1935 it was described as the Presbyterian church's largest school.

Closure

The school closed after Letcher County built public schools in the nearby community of Letcher. It graduated its last class in 1956 and closed in 1957, after which time the Southern Presbyterian Church sold the property. The school property is now used as Calvary Campus, a Christian camp, education facility, and retreat center.

Alumni

A school fundraising pamphlet stated that more than half of Stuart Robinson's graduates went on to college, and that many later returned to mountain communities in eastern Kentucky "to teach school to their lesser-enlightened neighbors" and sometimes "organized Sunday Schools where they have never before existed." Notable alumni of the Stuart Robinson School include Juanita Kreps,

U.S. Secretary of Commerce The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...

under President Jimmy Carter, and Gurney Norman, author and university professor whose novel '' Divine Right's Trip'' was published in serial form in the ''

Whole Earth Catalog The ''Whole Earth Catalog'' (WEC) was an American counterculture magazine and product catalog published by author Stewart Brand several times a year between 1968 and 1972, and occasionally thereafter, until 1998. The magazine featured essays ...

''.

References

{{reflist

External links

The Stuart Robinson School
YouTube video Education in Letcher County, Kentucky Settlement schools Educational institutions established in 1913 Educational institutions disestablished in 1957 1913 establishments in Kentucky Defunct schools in Kentucky 1957 disestablishments in Kentucky