Highlander Folk School 25th Anniversary
Background:
Between 1932 and 1962, the Highlander Folk School in Monteagle, Tennessee, provided a valuable training ground for two generations of southern labor organizers and Civil Rights activists. During the 1930s and 1940s, the school was instrumental in unionizing textile, timber, and mine workers throughout the region, often working in concert with national organizations such as the Congress of Industrial Organizations. In the 1950s, Highlander became a seedbed of Civil Rights activism, holding regular educational workshops to promote nonviolent protest and encourage black voter registration. To celebrate its 25th anniversary, the school hosted a Labor Day weekend retreat in 1962 that was attended by Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, and Pete Seeger among others. The event was filmed by Ed Friend, an agent of the Georgia Commission on Education, which later used the footage to discredit the organization as a "communist training school." Although faculty members defended Highlander's mission, the charges gained traction, and the state of Tennessee revoked the school's charter in 1962.
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Archival Collections and Reference Resources
- Civil Rights in Mississippi Digital Archive (University of Southern Mississippi Libraries)
- Highlander Folk School: A Photographic History (Highlander Research and Education Center)
- Photograph of Bernice Robinson, Rosa Parks, Joe Brown, Anne Braden, Ralph Tefferteller, and others sitting together during the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Highlander Folk School, Monteagle, Tennessee, 1957 (Black-and-white photographs)
- Photograph of Bernice Robinson sitting in the audience during the twenty-fifth anniversary celebration, Highlander Folk School, Monteagle, Tennessee, 1957 (Black-and-white photographs)
- Photograph of Ella Baker in group including Fred Shuttlesworth and James Bevel outside the library during twenty-fifth anniversary, Highlander Folk School, Monteagle, Tennessee, 1957 (Black-and-white photographs)
- Photograph of Ella Baker, Myles Horton, Fred Shuttlesworth, and others in group meeting at the Highlander Folk School, Monteagle, Tennessee, 1950's (Black-and-white photographs)
- Photograph of Ella Baker, Myles Horton, Fred Shuttlesworth, and others in group meeting at the Highlander Folk School, Monteagle, Tennessee, 1950's (Black-and-white photographs)
- Photograph of Ella Baker sitting inside the library with others during the twenty-fifth anniversary, Highlander Folk School, Monteagle, Tennessee, 1957 (Black-and-white photographs)
- Photograph of Martin Luther King, Pete Seeger, Rosa Parks, Ralph Abernathy, and Charis Horton standing in a group pose outside of the library during the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Highlander Folk School, Monteagle, Tennessee, 1957 (Black-and-white photographs)
- Photograph of Marting Luther King standing inside the library during the twenty-fifth anniversary celebration, Highlander Folk School, Monteagle, Tennessee, 1957 (Black-and-white photographs)
- Photograph of Pete Seeger and Thorsten Horton sitting in audience listening, Highlander Folk School, Monteagle, Tennessee, 1957 (Black-and-white photographs)
- Photograph of Pete Seeger playing banjo for children during the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Highlander Folk School, Monteagle, Tennessee, 1957 (Black-and-white photographs)
- Photograph of Pete Seeger playing guitar for local children during the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Highlander Folk School, Monteagle, Tennessee, 1957 (Black-and-white photographs)
- Photograph of Rosa Parks sitting in the audience in the library during the twenty-fifth anniversary, Highlander Folk School, Monteagle, Tennessee, 1957 (Black-and-white photographs)
- "Integrated in All Respects": Ed Friend's Highlander Folk School Films and the Politics of Segregation (Digital Library of Georgia)
- Series 2515 : Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission Records Online, 1994-2006, Folders (Mississippi Department of Archives and History)