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Highlander Folk School
Related threads:
Fire at Highlander Center (4)
FBI files on Highlander Folk School (11)
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Subject: Highlander Folk School From: Rick Fielding Date: 20 Sep 99 - 10:58 AM Hi. I'm trying to put together an episode of "Acoustic Workshop" dealing with "Highlander Folk School"in Tennessee. I'm in possession of some recordings that would be appropriate. Certainly some by Guy and Candie Carawan, Pete Seeger, and the Rev. Kirkpatrick would help tell the story, but any help would be appreciated. If I could find tapes of Nimrod Workman or Phyllis Boyens, or even some info on the time that Lee Hays or Rev. King spent there. If Guy or Candie sees this and would like to contribute any thoughts or personal memories, I know that we Mudcatters would appreciate it. Rick |
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Subject: RE: Highlander Folk School From: Wally Macnow Date: 20 Sep 99 - 12:30 PM Rick, Am I mistaken or were Don and Hedy West involved in the Highlander school as well? Wally |
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Subject: RE: Highlander Folk School From: Sandy Paton Date: 20 Sep 99 - 12:52 PM Don West ran a "folk school" at Pipestem, WV, at which his daughter, Hedy, was an occasional participant. Don was a poet, union organizer, and all-around activist, but I'm not aware of any formal connection he might have had with Highlander. Wasn't Hamper McBee, who recorded an album some years ago, connected with Highlander in some way? Can't remember the label. Sandy |
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Subject: RE: Highlander Folk School From: Wally Macnow Date: 20 Sep 99 - 12:53 PM Thanks, Sandy. I confused the two schools. Wally |
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Subject: RE: Highlander Folk School From: Frank Hamilton Date: 20 Sep 99 - 03:58 PM Rick, I'm pretty sure the Wests knew of Miles Horton's work. Don might have been a guest there. I know that Hedy would have know about it. Don't know whether you're gonna' get Guy on a computer. Candie has one at work. I know they would love Mudcat if they had the time and the technical inclination or even if they had a personal PC. There is a wire recording that Guy has of Ramblin' Jack, Guy and I during a summer (probably '54) when we were passing through. Nimrod has been recorded on Folkways I believe. I think Guy produced it. On it, Hazel Dickens, Mike Paxton (no relation to Tom I think) who wrote a great song called 30 Inch Coal and others. You'd want to check out also, recordings of Zylphia Horton, Miles wife who was an accordianist and singer of folk songs. She was a catalyst for the musical activities that ocurred there. I didn't spend much time there but I knew Miles and he is a personal hero. He did so much for the Civil Rights Movement if nothing else than acting as a mentor for Rosa Parks prior to her historical bus protest. "We Shall Overcome" was originated at Highlander as I understand it as an anthem for the tobacco workers union. (How it got started in the Civil Rights Movement is another story and one that will probably never be agreed upon.) I don't think Lee Hays spent much time there. He was from another "Folk School", the Ccmmonwealth Labor School in Arkansas. BTW, Highlander was originally called Highlander Folk School but the distinction was clear. Miles thought of a folk school as a place for local people in the local culture to become activists in their community. I had quite a talk with Miles about this. I was talking about a folk music school and he had less interest in that. As he said, succinctly, one time, "Some of my best friends are musicians." The implication is that music was not a priority for him except as it acted as a social catalyst to employ activism in labor and social issues. Miles did more for this country than many people I have ever met. Frank Hamilton
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Subject: RE: Highlander Folk School From: Frank Hamilton Date: 20 Sep 99 - 04:01 PM BTW I misspelled Myles name. (Was thinking of Miles Davis I guess.) Frank |
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Subject: RE: Highlander Folk School From: Rick Fielding Date: 20 Sep 99 - 06:51 PM Thanks folks. I spoke to Guy a few days ago, and I won't give up trying to get him to stick his toe in the Mudcat for at least 2 or 3 days. Wonder if anyone's heard anything new about Ed McCurdy's hospitalization. Frank, that wire recording sounds fascinating. Rick |
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Subject: RE: Highlander Folk School From: Rick Fielding Date: 21 Sep 99 - 12:33 PM Sheesh, Oh well, I said I'd try for another day or two. |
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Subject: RE: Highlander Folk School From: Susan A-R Date: 21 Sep 99 - 09:43 PM It never ceases to amazeme thatin my brief (seven month) stay in appalachia, I spent a day with Guy Carawan at a local (Clintwood VA) senior center playing and listening to music, went to a conference in KY where I spent a fairamount of time with Rev. Kirkpatrick, and encountered a number of other fine musicians of lesser note. It's where the fiddle came back into my life. Rick, let me know when this one will be aired/archived. I WILL figure out the damn audio for this one. Susan A-R (Motorboat??) |
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Subject: RE: Highlander Folk School From: Lorne Brown Date: 21 Sep 99 - 09:48 PM Hi Rick - Ed McCurdy is home but confined to bed. I spoke to him on the phone and he tried to sing me "The Three Ra'ens". He certainly appreciated the good wishes from you and the other folks at Mudcat. Can 't say when he'll be able to get around; he's very weak. Lorne Brown |
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Subject: RE: Highlander Folk School From: Rick Fielding Date: 21 Sep 99 - 10:12 PM Thanks Susan and Lorne. I'll let you know Susan. What's the "motorboat"? |
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Subject: RE: Highlander Folk School From: Susan A-R Date: 21 Sep 99 - 10:22 PM Ah Bootsie, funny you should ask. |
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Subject: RE: Highlander Folk School From: Hedy West (inactive) Date: 24 Aug 00 - 01:28 PM Wally, Your posting is ancient by now; but, I answer anyway. My father, Don West, was the original conceiver of Highlander Folkschool, and my mother, Constance West, named the school. My father had just returned from studying Elsinore, Denmark, where he had studied Danish Folk Schools, and he set out in his native Southern Mountains with the intention of founding a folk school on the Danish model. Myles Horton heard of my father, for he seems to have had a parallel intent. He asked my father if he could join in my father's effort, for my father had found a venue and a donor in Monteagle, Tennessee (Highlander's original location). Together my father and Myles worked a while. Those were turbulent times, and my father was pulled away to work on the Angelo Herndon case in Atlanta. In later days Myles air-brushed my father's name from Highlander as well as he could, because my father was too "red" for Myles' taste or pragmatism at the time. That's the skinny. But, I'm NOT at Mudcat to write this, I'm trying to figure out how to expose a specific hoax. So I'll get on with it. All the best. Hedy West |
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Subject: RE: Highlander Folk School From: Giac Date: 24 Aug 00 - 03:40 PM refresh |
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Subject: RE: Highlander Folk School From: Sandy Paton Date: 24 Aug 00 - 03:54 PM Hedy: That explains why I'd never known that your father was the original force at Highlander. I'm glad you could clear up the record and give credit where it's due. By the way, one of my sons went down to Pipestem, years ago, with a church youth group. Significant experience for him. . Nice to see that you're checking in on the Mudcat now and then. We'd love to hear more from you here. Sandy |
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Subject: RE: Highlander Folk School From: Sandy Paton Date: 24 Aug 00 - 08:41 PM Actually, I think I've been a unfair to Myles Horton. I just dug his autobiography out of a large, neglected pile of books in my office and discover that he gives much credit to Don and Connie West when discussing the start of Highlander, including the fact that one of them (he couldn't remember which) came up with the name of the school. Dr. Will Alexander had suggested that he get in touch with Don West when he expressed a desire to work with someone from the mountains. Let me quote a bit: The two of us (Myles and Don) drove around East Tennessee in Don's old car. One night we ended up staying with Rev. Nightingale, who suggested we talk to Dr. Lilian Johnson. She wished to retire, and had a place in Grundy County near Monteagle that she wanted to turn over to someone interested in carrying on her community work."
He goes on to say: "We had just made up the name 'The Southern Mountains School' for our fund raising letter. After we moved down to Tennessee, we kept the same name until Don and his wife, Connie, decided we needed a better one. I didn't care what we called it, so when Don or Connie came up with Highlander -- I'm not sure which one of them thought up the name -- I decided it was right."
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Subject: RE: Highlander Folk School From: Rick Fielding Date: 25 Aug 00 - 02:18 AM I'll be there in October Sandy...and I'm dyin' to see the book. By the way, does a "New England legend" like yer good self get a free copy of the new Bill Monroe biography? Rick |
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Subject: RE: Highlander Folk School From: Hedy West (inactive) Date: 25 Aug 00 - 12:47 PM Sandy, The letter in the 1990 book strikes my ears as Spin-to-cover-old-spin. I remember Myles' startled reaction in the early 60's when I asked him why my father wasn't mentioned in his film of the history of Highlander. His answer then was that Don had been more interested in Georgia. That didn't explain why there was no mention. In the years that followed Myles developed other explanations, for he & my father were thrown together in public forums. From a 1975 interview with my father: Don West: I came back (from Denmark) in 1931 and I taught over at Hindman Settlement School at Hindman, Kentucky on Troublesome Creek. My wife and I were teachers there - the first teaching we ever did...I had gotten a scholarship to go over to Denmark. When I graduated from Vanderbilt, I was interested in starting a folk school...The secretary of the Congregational Church in the South was...Fred Ensminger...I had become ordained...as a Congregational minister. Fred knew about my interest in folk schools. He told me that up at Monteagle on the Cumberland Mountain was an old lady, Dr. Lillian Johnson, who had a farm. She had been trying to do a community job and she was old and he thought she wanted to retire and might be willing to turn that farm over to me for a folk school. It had some buildings and nice things. He wanted to take me up there to meet her. He and I went up together and we talked to Dr. Johnson and she agreed that she was unable to carry on what she wanted to do. She wanted to retire and she'd turn the farm over to me for the school I wanted to start...She was wiling to give us a deed and she eventually did. We just got the agreement on the first meeting. After I finished at Vanderbilt, we went up to Monteagle and started the program of the Highlander Folk School... We were talking one evening about what we were going to call it and my wife, Connie, suggested, "Why don't we call it Highlander?" It was high there and we were conscious of the Highland Scots...My wife is the one who chose the name. Along about that time, there was a conference over at Blue Ridge, North Carolina, a YMCA conference. I went over. I was speaking and participating in it. While I was at the conference, I had a call from Asheville, North Carolina. He said, 'This is Myles Horton. I hear you are starting a folk school and I'm looking around for a place in North Carolina to start a school myself. I'd like to meet you.' So he came over and we talked. After I finished the conference, he asked if I'd be willing to go with him to look in North Carolina for a site that he might start on. We spent two ro three days riding around. He had gone to Union Theological Seminary...in New York. I had gone to Vanderbilt. He had friends, a couple of girls with him riding around in the car, trying to find a place. We didn't find anything that was suitable so I inveited him to come over and see our place. He looked around and he liked it and he said, 'What about coming in as your partner here at this place?' So I said, 'OK'... We were just getting started. Interviewer (Alexander Baskin): But actually you were the innovator and the founder and you were the person who made the connection with getting the property. Don West: Oh yes, absolutely. Baskin: Had Horton had any experience with the Danish folk school at this point? Don West: He had been to Denmark also...We had not met, but we had both been to Denmark and we had been both wanting to do the same thing...(It was) A common interest. So we began and the first year we didn't have too much activity. ...We put on the first letterhead that the purpose of Highlander was to educate rural and industrial leaders for a new social order. that's a quote on our letterhead. Myles Horton and Don West, co-directors of the school. I had classes out at Gruetli and Palmer and Tracy City...We had classes around in the community. The first year we didn't have an influx of students. Well, Highlander never has had an influx of students...It's developed as a conference type of thing - weekeend and weeks workshops... So we started there at Highlander and after about a year had passed, I read a story, an article, in a paper about a young black man being arrested in Atlanta. His name was Angelo Herndon. He had been a leader of the unemployed there. That was in the Depression when a lot of people were out of work. The mayor of Atlanta had made the statement that, 'Nobody in Atlanta is hungry. If they are, come up and tell me about it.' So Herndon had gotten together about 2,000 black and white hungry people and they'd marched up to the governor's office to tell him about it. He was arrested and charaged with inciting insurrection. I believe, under an old pre-Civil War law...He was charged with conspiring Baskin: But there was no destruction of property and no physical injury? Don West: No, not at all. So he was arrested and put in Fulton Tower, that was the famous jail there in Atlanta., He was eventually sentenced to 20 years on the Georgia chain gang for his action there. He spent some two years in jail before we were able to get him out. I went down to Atlanta when I heard about Herndon. Baskin: When you read about this case, you were still at Highlander Folk School. You left Highlander to come to Atlanta? Don West: I hitchhiked from Highlander down to Atlanta on the week-end to see what I could find out about it. I was curious...I went on an exploratory trip. I went into a little hole-in-the-wall office. It was the Herndon defense committee. I introduced myself, told them whee I was from, that I was a native of Georgia and I was interestedin what I had heard about Herndon and what about it. ' They said, "We have a meeting coming up here tonight in the Royal Theatre.' It was a black theatre. 'Would you be willing to be chairman of the meeting and make a talk?' Baskin: You walked in and suddenly you were thrust into the position of chairman? Don West: That was it. They didn't have many native white people at all...They had black people. They were sort of impressed that here was a native white man that might be interested. So I went in and I made th talk, chaired the meeting. From what I knew about the situation, it was a total miscarriage of justice and I expressed myself accordingly. Of course, then I was a 'Red.' I found out that - I met Benjamin Davis. He was a Communist. Baskin: Who was later a Communist Party councilman in New York. Don West: That's right, in New York City. And he was a defense attorney...After that weekend down there, seeing what I did, they asked me during the weekend, 'We need very badly to have somebody that knows the people, somebody that is a native here, somebody that might reach the white people as well as the black people a little bit.' They impressed on me the importance of my becoming a part of the defense for Herndon. Baskin: Was the NAACP involved in this case... Don West: Very minor. The International Labor Defense was the main defense there. What we did in Atlanta wasa to organize local support as much as we could, to get local sentiment and local support, financial as well as moral support...eventually the United States Supreme Court declared the Georgia law under which he had been convicted unconstitutional... Baskin: So it took two years to generate through the courts and up to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court acted favorable in terms of Herndon and he was released. Was that the end of the case? Don West:.. Well, yes, as far as the case was concerned. I saw Herndon several times after he was released. He was later in Chicago running a little book store... He wrote a book called 'Let Me Live'...It's a story of his case and his background.. (Hedy: I break off here. The interview is much much longer.) |
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Subject: RE: Highlander Folk School From: Sandy Paton Date: 25 Aug 00 - 01:21 PM Hedy: I wonder if you are working on a biography of your father that will include this information, and more about your Dad's organizational work, his poetry, etc.? I'd sure like to see all of that interview. Thanks for the personal note, by the way, which I have just answered. Shucks, Rick, I don't get nawthin' for free! Keep myself at the door of the poorhouse buying all them durn books! Sandy |
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Subject: RE: Highlander Folk School From: Hedy West (inactive) Date: 25 Aug 00 - 11:20 PM Sandy, I didn't know how to make a line start at the left margin yet. Sorry. That's a pain to read! No, I'm not working on a bio of my father; I am working on a book on my grandmother, my father's mother, with transcriptions of tapes I made from 1955 to 1980, the year she died. Hedy |
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Subject: RE: Highlander Folk School From: Sandy Paton Date: 25 Aug 00 - 11:36 PM Well, keep the idea in mind, Hedy. Rick Fielding and I would both buy a copy, so that's TWO! Sandy |
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Subject: RE: Highlander Folk School From: Art Thieme Date: 18 Jun 02 - 07:48 PM Joe, Thanks! I'd missed this thread----an important one... Art |
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Subject: RE: Highlander Folk School From: Art Thieme Date: 19 Jun 02 - 12:10 AM Whew, just look at the folks having this discussion in this thread. Amazingly influential bunch of names here, huh? I know they don't surface here much these days, but I do hope they are lurking about and, like Abby Sale, find a thread or two worth reading and possibly posting to. Art |
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Subject: RE: Highlander Folk School From: Deckman Date: 19 Jun 02 - 06:26 AM Joe ... Thank you so much for posting this thread. Like Art, I missed it first time around. Those were HEADY times. If you know your history, you have to love these true tales. I'll mail you privatly about some experiences I had with some of these folks and those times. CHEERS, Bob |
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Subject: RE: Highlander Folk School From: GUEST,Lorraine Date: 19 Jun 02 - 07:41 AM Fasinating- Thanks |
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Subject: RE: Highlander Folk School From: Deckman Date: 20 Jun 02 - 01:37 AM |
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