Highlander Folk School historic marker located on US Hwy 41 just east of Monteagle, Tennessee. Photo by Jimmy Emerson, DVM / Flickr (noncommercial use permitted with attribution/no derivative works).
Marker Inscription
HIGHLANDER FOLK SCHOOL
1932-1962
In 1932, Myles Horton and Don West founded Highlander Folk School, located 1/2 mile north of this site. It quickly became one of the few schools in the South committed to the cause of organized labor, economic justice, and an end to racial segregation. Courses included labor issues, literacy, leadership, and non-violent desegregation strategies, with workshops led by Septima Clark. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, John Lewis, and Eleanor Roosevelt found inspiration for the modern civil rights movement there. Opponents of its causes tried to close the school.
LOCATION: Historic marker is located on US Hwy 41 just east of Monteagle, Tennessee.
Highlander Research and Education Center
The struggles of the people for better working conditions, equal rights, and better environmental care reflected the struggles of the Highlander Folk School itself; in 1960 it was closed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. However, Highlander simply changed its name to The Highlander Research and Education Center and relocated from Monteagle to Knoxville and then to New Market, Tennessee. Highlander continues to strive against social injustice in today's society.