Appalachian Studies: Education

The first book-length study of the well-known educational experiment, The Arthurdale Community School illuminates the institution’s history, influence, and impact. Founded on American philosopher and reformer John Dewey’s idea that learning should be based not on competition but on community, and informed by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s guidance, the Arthurdale project sought to enable both children and adults to regain a sense of identity and place by studying the history and culture of Appalachia.

Jesse Stuart began this book in 1932 at Vanderbilt University as a paper for an English professor who asked his seminar students to turn in a maximum of 18 typewritten ages. In the 11 days allotted for the assignment, Stuart crammed 322 pages with the story of his young life.

This book is a history of the school, with special attention given to the years 1920 to 1966, and its attempts to improve the education of African Americans in the South. It also focuses on the school’s beginnings, development, significance to the community, closing, and the integration process and the Rosenwald community today.

In the first full-scale study of Lloyd's life and work and the institution she founded, David Searles shows how this courageous and complex woman struggled throughout her long life against seemingly insurmountable odds to create an institution dedicated to improving life in Appalachia.

Cora Wilson Stewart and Kentucky’s Moonlight Schools examines these institutions and analyzes Stewart’s role in shaping education at both the state and national level.

This book is a memoir of one-room school life in 1929, detailing the first teaching experience of Cratis D. Williams, once America’s foremost scholar on the Appalachian experience. This beautiful story of Williams’ first teaching assignment—a one-room school on Caines Creek in Lawrence County, Kentucky----will be of interest to teachers, historians, genealogists, and general readers.

This book is an edited compilation of Williams’ memoirs of his childhood. These autobiographical reminiscences often take the form of a folktale, with individual titles such as “Preacher Lang Gets Drunk” and “The Double Murder at Sledges.”

Challenge and Change in Appalachia is the story of a groundbreaking center for education that transformed a community. The School's farms and extension work brought modern methods to the area. At the same time, the School encouraged preservation of the region's crafts and music. Today, unique programs for dyslexic children, work in adult education, and cultural heritage activities make the School a model for rural redevelopment.

Cora Wilson Stewart and Kentucky’s Moonlight Schools examines these institutions and analyzes Stewart’s role in shaping education at both the state and national level.