Septima Poinsette Clark (1898-1977)
Often cited as “the queen mother of the civil rights movement,” Septima Poinsette Clark was born in 1898 in Charleston, South Carolina to Peter Poinsette, a former slave and Victoria Anderson who was raised free in Haiti. Clark received a public education until the eighth grade at which time she was enrolled at Avery Normal Institute, a private, missionary school for African-American children. After completing high school in 1916 Clark became a teacher on Johns Island, South Carolina but returned to Avery Institute in 1918, this time as an educator. When she returned, Clark assisted in a door-to-door campaign to enlist signatures to petition the right for African-Americans to teach in public schools. In 1920, Charleston began allowing Black teachers to teach in schools that accepted Black children. Throughout the years Clark taught during the day and went to school at night, finally earning her BA in 1942 Benedict College and in 1946 she earned her M.A. from Hampton Institute.
Clark became involved with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and fought for and won the equalization of salaries between black and white teachers. Clark later said: “My participation in this fight…was what might be described by some …as my first “radical” job. I would call it my first effort in a social action challenging the status quo…I felt that in reality I was working for the accomplishment of something that ultimately would be good for everyone…” (Clark, Echo…, 82). In 1956, South Carolina passed a statute restricting city and state employees from joining any civil rights organizations. After working as an educator for over forty years, Clark’s teaching contract was not renewed due to her refusal to disassociate herself from the NAACP.
By the time Clark was dismissed, she had already attended a workshop at the Highlander Folk School in 1954 for the first time. Myles Horton, the founder of Highlander, hired her as the full-time director of workshops based on her experience teaching literacy classes at John’s Island. Clark brought in her cousin, Bernice Robinson, to assist with Citizenship Schools. They expanded the program across the South, including Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Louisiana. To vote in many Southern states, Blacks were forced to pass literacy tests. The schools taught students how to fill out driver's license exams, voter registration forms, and Sears mail-order forms. Soon it expanded into learning to fill out money orders, use a bank account, understand payment slips, and operate a sewing machine. These schools were empowering in Black communities. The schools taught not only about literacy, but rights. Clark recruited rural communities to get involved with the movement.
In 1961 the Citizenship Schools became so large, and Highlander so burdened financially and politically, that the administration was passed to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). SCLC was not as receptive to Clark running the program as Highlander. She struggled to maintain control, though most of the teachers were women. During her life, however, Clark claimed that the unequal treatment of women was a weaknesses of the Civil Rights movement. Clark retired from active work with the SCLC in 1970. She sought reinstatement of the pension and back salary that had been canceled when she was dismissed as a teacher in 1956 in South Carolina, a case she won. Clark also served two terms on the Charleston County School Board.
President Jimmy carter awarded her the Living Legacy Award in 1979. She died eight years later in 1987.
Often cited as “the queen mother of the civil rights movement,” Septima Poinsette Clark was born in 1898 in Charleston, South Carolina to Peter Poinsette, a former slave and Victoria Anderson who was raised free in Haiti. Clark received a public education until the eighth grade at which time she was enrolled at Avery Normal Institute, a private, missionary school for African-American children. After completing high school in 1916 Clark became a teacher on Johns Island, South Carolina but returned to Avery Institute in 1918, this time as an educator. When she returned, Clark assisted in a door-to-door campaign to enlist signatures to petition the right for African-Americans to teach in public schools. In 1920, Charleston began allowing Black teachers to teach in schools that accepted Black children. Throughout the years Clark taught during the day and went to school at night, finally earning her BA in 1942 Benedict College and in 1946 she earned her M.A. from Hampton Institute.
Clark became involved with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and fought for and won the equalization of salaries between black and white teachers. Clark later said: “My participation in this fight…was what might be described by some …as my first “radical” job. I would call it my first effort in a social action challenging the status quo…I felt that in reality I was working for the accomplishment of something that ultimately would be good for everyone…” (Clark, Echo…, 82). In 1956, South Carolina passed a statute restricting city and state employees from joining any civil rights organizations. After working as an educator for over forty years, Clark’s teaching contract was not renewed due to her refusal to disassociate herself from the NAACP.
By the time Clark was dismissed, she had already attended a workshop at the Highlander Folk School in 1954 for the first time. Myles Horton, the founder of Highlander, hired her as the full-time director of workshops based on her experience teaching literacy classes at John’s Island. Clark brought in her cousin, Bernice Robinson, to assist with Citizenship Schools. They expanded the program across the South, including Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Louisiana. To vote in many Southern states, Blacks were forced to pass literacy tests. The schools taught students how to fill out driver's license exams, voter registration forms, and Sears mail-order forms. Soon it expanded into learning to fill out money orders, use a bank account, understand payment slips, and operate a sewing machine. These schools were empowering in Black communities. The schools taught not only about literacy, but rights. Clark recruited rural communities to get involved with the movement.
In 1961 the Citizenship Schools became so large, and Highlander so burdened financially and politically, that the administration was passed to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). SCLC was not as receptive to Clark running the program as Highlander. She struggled to maintain control, though most of the teachers were women. During her life, however, Clark claimed that the unequal treatment of women was a weaknesses of the Civil Rights movement. Clark retired from active work with the SCLC in 1970. She sought reinstatement of the pension and back salary that had been canceled when she was dismissed as a teacher in 1956 in South Carolina, a case she won. Clark also served two terms on the Charleston County School Board.
President Jimmy carter awarded her the Living Legacy Award in 1979. She died eight years later in 1987.
James A. Dombrowski (1897-1983)
James A. Dombrowski, also known as Jim Dombrowski, was born in Tampa, Florida in 1897. Dombrowski joined the United States Army Air Force during World War I. After his return in 1919, he attended Emory University in Atlanta and graduated in 1923. After graduating from Emory University, he attended Colombia University and Union Theological Seminary. He became a Methodist minister in 1933 in New York after obtaining higher education at these two schools. In 1932, he became a co-founder of the Highlander Folk School alongside Myles Horton and Don West in Monteagle, Tennessee. Dombrowski was responsible for administrative work for the school from 1933-1942. He had the desire to improve the lives of workers and to encourage integration. In 1938, Dombrowski joined the Southern Conference for Human Welfare in order to reform government policies put in place in work places.
James A. Dombrowski, also known as Jim Dombrowski, was born in Tampa, Florida in 1897. Dombrowski joined the United States Army Air Force during World War I. After his return in 1919, he attended Emory University in Atlanta and graduated in 1923. After graduating from Emory University, he attended Colombia University and Union Theological Seminary. He became a Methodist minister in 1933 in New York after obtaining higher education at these two schools. In 1932, he became a co-founder of the Highlander Folk School alongside Myles Horton and Don West in Monteagle, Tennessee. Dombrowski was responsible for administrative work for the school from 1933-1942. He had the desire to improve the lives of workers and to encourage integration. In 1938, Dombrowski joined the Southern Conference for Human Welfare in order to reform government policies put in place in work places.
John Edgar Hoover (1895-1972)
John Edgar Hoover was born on January 1, 1895 in Washington D. C., the son of Dickerson Naylor Hoover Sr. and Annie Marie Scheitlin Hoover (J. Edgar Hoover Foundation). He attended George Washington Law School and obtained both a bachelors and a master’s degree in law (FBI.gov). Then in 1917, he was offered a job at the Department of Justice, where he quickly rose through the ranks to become the head of the Enemy Aliens Registration Section (U. S. history.com). Eventually, he was asked to become the head of a new department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which he accepted (encyclopedia.com). As soon as he was director, he began a housekeeping program, firing agents that he thought were not competent enough or who were political appointees with no real experience (FBI. gov). Once he had cleaned out all the corruption within the bureau, he set about making it into a respectable force. During World War II, his agents conducted counterespionage and counter-intelligence operations against the Nazis and the Soviets (U.S History.com). During the start of his tenure as director, he established training programs for field agents, effective management of personnel, use of scientific laboratories to conduct investigations and even established the FBI National Academy to train prospect agents to enter the field (J. Edgar Hoover Foundation).
Later in his career, he created the National Crime Investigation Center, which housed all the data the FBI and other law enforcement agencies had collected on criminals and criminal activities (J. Edgar Hoover Foundation). In the 1950’s, Hoover created CONINTELPRO, a somewhat extralegal counterintelligence program, which he used to spy on Communists in America, as well as various racial superiority groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Panther movement (encyclopedia.com). He even used the program to track and even harass leaders like Martin Luther King Jr (J. Edgar Hoover.com). The Highlander Folk School was also put under surveillance because it was suspected that the school was training Communists. Illegal wiretappings were used to spy on “threats’ “he thought significant to the country, and they were used to spy on high-profile Americans as well (encyclopedia.com). It was rumored that Hoover had accumulated files on prominent politicians and other bureaucrats and would not hesitate to blackmail them with it if he saw fit to do so (U.S. History.com). He even attacked the U.S Attorney General at the time, Robert Kennedy because of his insistence on limiting the bureau’s jurisdiction and Hoover’s power over it (U.S History.com). Kennedy tried to show that Hoover was neglecting real crimes and focusing more on groups that he did not approve of and of having sensitive information on numerous politicians (encyclopedia.com). Kennedy won the argument and this led Hoover to give orders that all his files burned after his death (encyclopedia.com).
When J. Edgar Hoover died in his sleep on May 2, 1972, he was regarded as a national hero (J. Edgar hoover Foundation). Having served as the director of the FBI for nearly 50 years, it is no wonder that he received numerous awards over his varied career, which include the medal of Merit, the National Security Medal and the Sword of Loyola Award (J. Edgar Hoover Award). To this day, he considered one of the most controversial figures in American history.
John Edgar Hoover was born on January 1, 1895 in Washington D. C., the son of Dickerson Naylor Hoover Sr. and Annie Marie Scheitlin Hoover (J. Edgar Hoover Foundation). He attended George Washington Law School and obtained both a bachelors and a master’s degree in law (FBI.gov). Then in 1917, he was offered a job at the Department of Justice, where he quickly rose through the ranks to become the head of the Enemy Aliens Registration Section (U. S. history.com). Eventually, he was asked to become the head of a new department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which he accepted (encyclopedia.com). As soon as he was director, he began a housekeeping program, firing agents that he thought were not competent enough or who were political appointees with no real experience (FBI. gov). Once he had cleaned out all the corruption within the bureau, he set about making it into a respectable force. During World War II, his agents conducted counterespionage and counter-intelligence operations against the Nazis and the Soviets (U.S History.com). During the start of his tenure as director, he established training programs for field agents, effective management of personnel, use of scientific laboratories to conduct investigations and even established the FBI National Academy to train prospect agents to enter the field (J. Edgar Hoover Foundation).
Later in his career, he created the National Crime Investigation Center, which housed all the data the FBI and other law enforcement agencies had collected on criminals and criminal activities (J. Edgar Hoover Foundation). In the 1950’s, Hoover created CONINTELPRO, a somewhat extralegal counterintelligence program, which he used to spy on Communists in America, as well as various racial superiority groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Panther movement (encyclopedia.com). He even used the program to track and even harass leaders like Martin Luther King Jr (J. Edgar Hoover.com). The Highlander Folk School was also put under surveillance because it was suspected that the school was training Communists. Illegal wiretappings were used to spy on “threats’ “he thought significant to the country, and they were used to spy on high-profile Americans as well (encyclopedia.com). It was rumored that Hoover had accumulated files on prominent politicians and other bureaucrats and would not hesitate to blackmail them with it if he saw fit to do so (U.S. History.com). He even attacked the U.S Attorney General at the time, Robert Kennedy because of his insistence on limiting the bureau’s jurisdiction and Hoover’s power over it (U.S History.com). Kennedy tried to show that Hoover was neglecting real crimes and focusing more on groups that he did not approve of and of having sensitive information on numerous politicians (encyclopedia.com). Kennedy won the argument and this led Hoover to give orders that all his files burned after his death (encyclopedia.com).
When J. Edgar Hoover died in his sleep on May 2, 1972, he was regarded as a national hero (J. Edgar hoover Foundation). Having served as the director of the FBI for nearly 50 years, it is no wonder that he received numerous awards over his varied career, which include the medal of Merit, the National Security Medal and the Sword of Loyola Award (J. Edgar Hoover Award). To this day, he considered one of the most controversial figures in American history.
Myles Horton (1905-1990)
Myles Horton was born on July 9, 1905. His parents were Perry Horton and Elsie Falls, who were Presbyterians. They lived in a very rural area outside of Savannah, Tennessee. The family was rather poor. Both of his parents were school teachers, but they lost their jobs due to the fact that neither had one year of high school education. They provided for their family by working several odd jobs, including factory work and share cropping. Myles was exposed to union related subjects early on because his father was a member of Worker’s Alliance. From his parents, Myles learned that education was important not only for the benefit to himself, but so that he could use his education to help others. Myles had to go to another town to attend high school. He got a job in a saw mill in order to support himself while attending school.
In the early 1920s Horton attended Cumberland University where he studied sociology. While there he encountered a significant amount of ethnic diversity. He then studied at the Union Theological Seminary and the University of Chicago in the late 1920s. He also worked at a Presbyterian church during this time. In the early 1930s, Horton traveled to Denmark where he studied the Folk Schools there, which were rather informal and emphasized learning through sharing experiences. He formulated a plan to establish a similar institution in Tennessee, in which students and teachers could live and learn together on the campus in a very informal atmosphere.
In 1932, he founded the Highlander Folk School in Monteagle, Tennessee. There he organized courses meant lumber, mill and mine workers. The school also worked closely with the Congress of Industrial Organizations. Highlander was instrumental in unionizing textile workers in Tennessee and organizing labor education in the other southern states.
Horton began shifting his attention from labor to civil rights. This caused a dissolution of the relationship between the school and the Congress of Industrial Organizations, which was slow to change its policy on segregation. Horton organized classes for African Americans in order to encourage them to register to vote. Highlander’s willingness to integrate made it a target, and the school was shut down by the state in 1962.
Horton quickly reopened the school in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he continued many of his programs. He retired in 1973, but still remained somewhat involved with the institution. Sadly, Myles Horton succumbed to brain cancer in 1990.
Myles Horton was born on July 9, 1905. His parents were Perry Horton and Elsie Falls, who were Presbyterians. They lived in a very rural area outside of Savannah, Tennessee. The family was rather poor. Both of his parents were school teachers, but they lost their jobs due to the fact that neither had one year of high school education. They provided for their family by working several odd jobs, including factory work and share cropping. Myles was exposed to union related subjects early on because his father was a member of Worker’s Alliance. From his parents, Myles learned that education was important not only for the benefit to himself, but so that he could use his education to help others. Myles had to go to another town to attend high school. He got a job in a saw mill in order to support himself while attending school.
In the early 1920s Horton attended Cumberland University where he studied sociology. While there he encountered a significant amount of ethnic diversity. He then studied at the Union Theological Seminary and the University of Chicago in the late 1920s. He also worked at a Presbyterian church during this time. In the early 1930s, Horton traveled to Denmark where he studied the Folk Schools there, which were rather informal and emphasized learning through sharing experiences. He formulated a plan to establish a similar institution in Tennessee, in which students and teachers could live and learn together on the campus in a very informal atmosphere.
In 1932, he founded the Highlander Folk School in Monteagle, Tennessee. There he organized courses meant lumber, mill and mine workers. The school also worked closely with the Congress of Industrial Organizations. Highlander was instrumental in unionizing textile workers in Tennessee and organizing labor education in the other southern states.
Horton began shifting his attention from labor to civil rights. This caused a dissolution of the relationship between the school and the Congress of Industrial Organizations, which was slow to change its policy on segregation. Horton organized classes for African Americans in order to encourage them to register to vote. Highlander’s willingness to integrate made it a target, and the school was shut down by the state in 1962.
Horton quickly reopened the school in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he continued many of his programs. He retired in 1973, but still remained somewhat involved with the institution. Sadly, Myles Horton succumbed to brain cancer in 1990.
Dr. Lillian Wyckoff Johnson (1864-1956)
Lilian Wyckoff Johnson was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1864. She came from a very well educated family and attended Wellesley College at the age of 15 before moving on to the University of Michigan where she graduated with a degree in education. She began her long teaching career at Clara Conway Institute in Memphis and then at Vassar College. In 1898 she took leave and journeyed to Europe where she studied at the Sorbonne and the University of Leipzig. In 1902, Johnson was the first woman to earn a Ph.D in history from Cornell University. During that time she also taught history at the University of Tennessee and helped found the Western State Teachers College for Women at Memphis. She served as the third president of the school from 1904 until 1906.
She returned to Europe in 1907 where she studied agriculture before returning to the United States to collaborate with the United States Bureau of Rural Organization and teach at Central High School in Memphis. In 1913, Johnson initiated an American commission to study European agricultural cooperatives. She eventually settled near Monteagle in Grundy County, Tennessee in 1915 where she established a high school and county health unit. The 200-acre campus was finally given to the Highlander Folk School in 1933 when she decided to retire.
Later, she moved to Bradenton, Florida. Her final days were spent helping the Women's Christian Temperance Movement and organized the Bradenton Community Welfare Council. She died in Bradenton in 1956.
Lilian Wyckoff Johnson was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1864. She came from a very well educated family and attended Wellesley College at the age of 15 before moving on to the University of Michigan where she graduated with a degree in education. She began her long teaching career at Clara Conway Institute in Memphis and then at Vassar College. In 1898 she took leave and journeyed to Europe where she studied at the Sorbonne and the University of Leipzig. In 1902, Johnson was the first woman to earn a Ph.D in history from Cornell University. During that time she also taught history at the University of Tennessee and helped found the Western State Teachers College for Women at Memphis. She served as the third president of the school from 1904 until 1906.
She returned to Europe in 1907 where she studied agriculture before returning to the United States to collaborate with the United States Bureau of Rural Organization and teach at Central High School in Memphis. In 1913, Johnson initiated an American commission to study European agricultural cooperatives. She eventually settled near Monteagle in Grundy County, Tennessee in 1915 where she established a high school and county health unit. The 200-acre campus was finally given to the Highlander Folk School in 1933 when she decided to retire.
Later, she moved to Bradenton, Florida. Her final days were spent helping the Women's Christian Temperance Movement and organized the Bradenton Community Welfare Council. She died in Bradenton in 1956.
May Justus (1898-1989)
“For me May represents the best of mountain tradition – a carrier of deep and beautiful culture. Expressed here in the form of ballads and folk songs, stories, children’s songs and games, and a person who stood strong for her convictions. She was a wonderful friend, a delightful person, and a woman who leaves a rich legacy to future generations.” – Guy Carawan (met Justus personally in Highlander Folk School in 1953)
May Justus was born on May 12, 1898 in Del Rio, Tennessee. She received her bachelor’s degree in teaching from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Justus was a teacher, children’s book writer and civil rights supporter. In 1939, Justus retired from teaching due to heart complications and concentrated on her writing. Along with focusing on her writing, she provided help to children with special needs, and organized a program for children that provided stories, songs and a library.
Through working in Highlander Folk School, she became aware of the racial inequality African Americans were forced to endure. She bonded with Septima Clark, an African-American teacher who was fired because she was a member of the NAACP and taught African Americans to read. Justus also witnessed the racial discrimination African Americans endured because of the Jim Crow Laws when Clark was not allowed to access a “white-only” elevator in the Andrew Jackson Hotel in Nashville. In 1959, Justus was called to testify in court in a campaign against Highlander Folk School. She was questioned about photographs taken at Highlander where African Americans and Caucasians were dancing together. When asked about her views on this she replied, “I see nothing immoral about it…It’s a square dance. I can look at television any time and see worse than that.” In court she was asked several questions about her views of blacks and whites doing activities together, to which she expressed her belief that there was nothing wrong about it. Justus strongly demonstrated her support of Highlander Folk School and for racial equality; because of this, she was later dismissed from her local Presbyterian church.
Justus wrote over 60 children’s books as well as poetry. Two of Justus’ books dealt with racial discrimination, New Boy in School (1963) and A New Home for Billy (1966). Some believe that New Boy in School could be the first children’s book written that interprets racial discrimination. Justus was awarded the Julia Ellsworth Ford Prize in 1935 and 1936. She was also awarded the Boys Club of America Junior Book Award in 1950 for her book Luck for Little Lihu. The public library in Monteagle, Tennessee is named after her.
May Justus died in Tennessee in November 7, 1989 at the age of 91. After her death, her Alma Mater established the May Justus Collection, which contains her writings, photographs, manuscripts and other works that portray her personal history.
“For me May represents the best of mountain tradition – a carrier of deep and beautiful culture. Expressed here in the form of ballads and folk songs, stories, children’s songs and games, and a person who stood strong for her convictions. She was a wonderful friend, a delightful person, and a woman who leaves a rich legacy to future generations.” – Guy Carawan (met Justus personally in Highlander Folk School in 1953)
May Justus was born on May 12, 1898 in Del Rio, Tennessee. She received her bachelor’s degree in teaching from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Justus was a teacher, children’s book writer and civil rights supporter. In 1939, Justus retired from teaching due to heart complications and concentrated on her writing. Along with focusing on her writing, she provided help to children with special needs, and organized a program for children that provided stories, songs and a library.
Through working in Highlander Folk School, she became aware of the racial inequality African Americans were forced to endure. She bonded with Septima Clark, an African-American teacher who was fired because she was a member of the NAACP and taught African Americans to read. Justus also witnessed the racial discrimination African Americans endured because of the Jim Crow Laws when Clark was not allowed to access a “white-only” elevator in the Andrew Jackson Hotel in Nashville. In 1959, Justus was called to testify in court in a campaign against Highlander Folk School. She was questioned about photographs taken at Highlander where African Americans and Caucasians were dancing together. When asked about her views on this she replied, “I see nothing immoral about it…It’s a square dance. I can look at television any time and see worse than that.” In court she was asked several questions about her views of blacks and whites doing activities together, to which she expressed her belief that there was nothing wrong about it. Justus strongly demonstrated her support of Highlander Folk School and for racial equality; because of this, she was later dismissed from her local Presbyterian church.
Justus wrote over 60 children’s books as well as poetry. Two of Justus’ books dealt with racial discrimination, New Boy in School (1963) and A New Home for Billy (1966). Some believe that New Boy in School could be the first children’s book written that interprets racial discrimination. Justus was awarded the Julia Ellsworth Ford Prize in 1935 and 1936. She was also awarded the Boys Club of America Junior Book Award in 1950 for her book Luck for Little Lihu. The public library in Monteagle, Tennessee is named after her.
May Justus died in Tennessee in November 7, 1989 at the age of 91. After her death, her Alma Mater established the May Justus Collection, which contains her writings, photographs, manuscripts and other works that portray her personal history.
Donald L. West (1906-1992)
Donald L. West, better known as Don West, was born in 1906 in Georgia. His desire for racial equality began during his later years of higher education. In 1929-1932, he partook in organized strikes that were meant to help textile workers and miners. His protests against unfair treatments of others during his years in college would lead him to creating folk schools to help certain causes.
Don West was one of the founders of The Highlander Folk School in Monteagle, Tennessee in 1932. He worked with men like Myles Horton and James Dombrowski in order to open the school. Along with the other founders, West wanted to open this school to help organize workers that wanted to create unions; they were trying to give them training and support. The school was initially created to help rural and industrial workers. Not only did they teach these workers how to form labor unions to protect themselves from employers, but these workers were given educations. Don West and his associates assisted in the education of local workers, so that they may know the basics for a workforce. By teaching worker basic education skills, the people that attended the school were given another way to prevent employers from taking advantage of them. Don West left The Highlander Folk School a year after opening it to the public but he did not stop educating workers on how to better their situations. West opened his own folk school in Georgia, where he continued to advocate labor movements and he took a further interest in political movements.
Donald L. West, better known as Don West, was born in 1906 in Georgia. His desire for racial equality began during his later years of higher education. In 1929-1932, he partook in organized strikes that were meant to help textile workers and miners. His protests against unfair treatments of others during his years in college would lead him to creating folk schools to help certain causes.
Don West was one of the founders of The Highlander Folk School in Monteagle, Tennessee in 1932. He worked with men like Myles Horton and James Dombrowski in order to open the school. Along with the other founders, West wanted to open this school to help organize workers that wanted to create unions; they were trying to give them training and support. The school was initially created to help rural and industrial workers. Not only did they teach these workers how to form labor unions to protect themselves from employers, but these workers were given educations. Don West and his associates assisted in the education of local workers, so that they may know the basics for a workforce. By teaching worker basic education skills, the people that attended the school were given another way to prevent employers from taking advantage of them. Don West left The Highlander Folk School a year after opening it to the public but he did not stop educating workers on how to better their situations. West opened his own folk school in Georgia, where he continued to advocate labor movements and he took a further interest in political movements.