MOONLIGHT SCHOOLS
Stewart, Cora Wilson.
New York: E. P. Dutton & Company, (1922). First edition. 8vo, xiv, 194pp; navy blue cloth stamped in gold at front and spine; pictorial dust jacket with illustration of a "Moonlight School", its students entering through the bright light of the open door. Illustrated with black and white photographs and reproductions of student writings. Acid toning to pastedowns near gutters, likely from glue. Jacket worn with a 2" closed tear at top edge of join of front flap, a jagged 1" tear (closed) at front panel’s top edge and small nicks at corners. Generally very good. Cora Wilson Stewart (1875-1958), educator, was born, bred and schooled in Kentucky. She taught elementary school, but her aptitude for school administration soon became apparent. Rowan County voters elected her as their Superintendent of Schools for a four-year term in 1901 and again in 1909 (this prior, of course, to Kentucky women having full suffrage). Her personal life proved less successful than her professional. She married A. T. Stewart in 1901. Their only child, a baby son named Holley, died and the marriage foundered. Yet she retained her passion and commitment to Kentucky schools. She regularly rode horseback through the mountains to visit the area's remote schools and knew, to the bone, the extent of illiteracy among mountaineers. Their homes were often miles from schools. Young students had to navigate challenging terrain which became impossible during the snows and ice of winter months. And families often needed their children to work their farms. Stewart thought literacy, and the opportunities it afforded, could alleviate the entrenched poverty she saw everywhere in the Kentucky hills. During her second term as superintendent, she decided to persuade her teachers to join in an experiment: opening up Rowan County classrooms at night for adult literary classes. They anticipated the 'moonlight schools', would attract perhaps 300 students the first year. 1200 enrolled. For many, simply knowing how to write their name was exhilarating. The experiment rapidly made an impact beyond county boundaries. The Kentucky legislature set up a commission in 1914 on adult illiteracy. Wil Lou Gray, inspired by Stewart’s efforts, pursued similar work in South Carolina. While some contemporary scholars argue that educational histories neglect the impact of Stewart and her focus on rural illiteracy, there is no doubt she was a pivotal figure in broadening the concept and mission of American education. MOONLIGHT SCHOOLS is a significant primary document and an often poignant account of Appalachia. WOMAN'S WHO'S WHO OF AMERICA, p. 782. See also: Baldwin, Yvonne Honeycutt, CORA WILSON STEWART AND KENTUCKY'S MOONLIGHT SCHOOLS: Fighting for Literacy in America. (Item ID: 15092)
$350.00
