Appalachian Folk Schools and Their Scandinavian Precedents

Scope: 

The Scandinavian folk schools were created to instill national pride by preserving traditions and customs of native life. These Scandinavian schools were used as a model for the creation of similar cultural education and preservation centers throughout Appalachia. This document contains sources related to folk schools within the Southern Highland region, including the Highlander Folk School and the John C. Campbell Folk School. Also included are references to Scandinavian folk high schools as a basis for comparison. Not included are references to American but non-Appalachian adaptations of the Scandinavian schools, such as those found in the Pacific Northwest or in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Some important sources are not currently available within the Appalachian Collection. Full citations are used to facilitate interlibrary loan, and access numbers for WorldCat are given when possible.

Introductory Text: 

Shapiro, Henry D. Appalachia on our Mind: The Southern Mountains and Mountaineers in the American Consciousness, 1870-1920 . Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1978. 376 pages. ASU APP COLL STACKS: F217 .A65 S52. See pages 231-242.

Library of Congress Subject Headings: 
  • Adult Education -- Social Aspects -- Southern States
  • Adult Education -- Tennessee -- History
  • Appalachian Region, Southern
  • Civil Rights -- United States
  • Community and School
  • Culture -- Appalachian Region
  • Culture -- Southern States
  • Denmark -- Social Conditions
  • Education
  • Education -- Denmark
  • Education -- Norway
  • Education -- Philosophy
  • Education -- Scandinavia
  • Education -- Southern States
  • Education and State -- Norway
  • Education Equalization -- Norway
  • Educational -- Sociology
  • Folk High Schools
  • Highlander Folk School (Monteagle, Tenn.)
  • Highlander Research and Education Center
  • Horton, Myles, 1905-
  • John C. Campbell Folk School
  • Mountain Whites (Southern States) -- Bibliography
  • Progress
  • Rural Schools -- United States
  • Social Movements -- United States -- History -- 20th Century
  • Working Class -- Education -- Tennessee -- History
Clipping Files Subject Headings – W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection: 
  • Folk Schools
  • Highlander Research and Education Center
  • John C. Campbell Folk School
Library of Congress Call Numbers: 
  • F217
  • LB885
  • L112
  • LC191 , 427 , 5301
  • LA225-230
  • LD2241 , 2601 , 7501
  • LA861-891
  • Z1251 (Reference)
Books: 

Folk Schools in America:

Campbell, John C. The Future of the Church and Independent Schools in Our Southern Highlands . New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1917. 19 pages. ASU APP COLL STACKS: LC427 .C2 1975.

Campbell, Olive Dame. I Sing Behind the Plough . Reprinted from the Journal of Adult Education , 1930. 12 pages. ASU APP COLL STACKS: LA225 .C14.

Educational Resources of Village and Rural Communities . Joseph K. Hart, ed. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1913. 277 pages. ASU MAIN STACKS: LB1567 .H4.

Foght, Harold Waldstein. The American Rural School, Its Characteristics, Its Future, and Its Problems . New York: The Macmillan Company, 1910. 361 pages. ASU MAIN STACKS: 379.173 F68A.

Morgan, Lucy. Gift from the Hills: Miss Lucy Morgan’s Story of Her Unique Penland School, with LeGette Blythe. Including an Epilogue . Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. 331 pages. ASU APP COLL STACKS: NK410 .P4 P45 1971.

Mountain Milestones . Penland, NC: Penland School of Handicrafts. ASU APP COLL, CLOSED STACKS (noncirculating): TT23.2 .M685 1949.

Shapiro, Henry D. Appalachia on our Mind: The Southern Mountains and Mountaineers in the American Consciousness, 1870-1920 . Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1978. 376 pages. ASU APP COLL STACKS: F217 .A65 S52.

Stokely, Jim. To Make a Life: Settlement Institutions of Appalachia . Berea, KY: Settlement Institutions of Appalachia, 1977. 65 pages. ASU APP COLL STACKS: HV4183 .S76.

Whisnant, David. All That is Native and Fine: The Politics of Culture in an American Region. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press . 340 pages. ASU APP COLL STACKS: F217 .A65 W47 1983.

Highlander Folk School:

Adams, Frank. Education for Social Change . New Market, TN (Route 3, Box 370, New Market, Tenn. 37920): Highlander Research and Education Center, 1972. (non-ASU).

_____. Unearthing Seeds of Fire: The Idea of Highlander . Winston-Salem, NC: J. F. Blair, 1975. 255 pages. ASU APP COLL STACKS: LC5301 .M65 A3.

Bledsoe, Thomas. Or We’ll All Hang Separately: The Highlander Idea . Boston, Beacon Press, 1969. 266 pages. ASU APP COLL STACKS: LC5301 .M65 B55.

Culture: The Roots of Community Spirit and Power: The Highlander Culture Program . New Market, TN: Highlander Research and Education Center. 20 leaves. ASU APP COLL STACKS: LC5301 .H552 1988.

Glen, John M. Highlander: No Ordinary School . 2nd ed. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press. 413 pages. ASU APP COLL STACKS: LC5301 .M65 G55 1996.

Horton, Aimee Isgrig. The Highlander Folk School: A History of its Major Programs, 1932-1961 . Brooklyn, NY: Carlson Pub. 334 pages. ASU APP COLL STACKS: LC5301 .M65 H67 1989.

Horton, Myles. Bill Moyer’s Journal: An Interview with Myles Horton: The Adventures of a Radical Hillbilly, Part I and Part II . New Market, TN: Highlander Research and Education Center. pp. 248-285. ASU APP COLL STACKS: KF4749 .H67 1983.

_____, Judith Kohl, and Herbert Kohl. The Long Haul: An Autobiography . New York: Doubleday. 231 pages. ASU APP COLL STACKS: LC5301 .M65 H69 1990.

_____ and Paulo Freire. We Make the Road by Walking: Conversations on Education and Social Change . Philadelphia: Temple University Press. 256 pages. ASU APP COLL STACKS: LB885 .H64 W4 1990.

Refuse to Stand Silently By: An Oral History of Grass Roots Social Activism in America, 1921-64 . Eliot Wigginton, ed. New York: Doubleday. 430 pages. ASU APP COLL STACKS and ASU MAIN STACKS: HN57 .R38 1991.


John C. Campbell Folk School:

Brownlee, Frederick Leslie. The John C. Campbell Folk School, 1925-1952 . Brasstown, NC: john C. Campbell Folk School, 1952. (non-ASU).

Coolidge, Ruth Dame. Vibrations from a Danish Bell . S.l.: s.n., 1945. 10 pages. ASU APP COLL STACKS: LD2601 .J79 C66.

The First 40 Years: John C. Campbell Folk School . McNelley, Pat, ed. Brasstown? NC: 1966. 81 pages. ASU APP COLL STACKS: LC5301 .B85 M23.


Scandinavian Folk Schools:

Begtrup, Holger, Hans Lund, and Peter Mannich. The Folk High Schools of Denmark and the Development of a Farming Community . London: Oxford University Press, H. Milford; Kjøbenhavn: A. Busck, 1926. 168 pages. ASU MAIN STACKS: LA875 .B4.

Brickman, William W. Denmark’s Education System and Problems . Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, Office of Education, 1967. 46 pages. ASU MAIN STACKS: L112 .B7.

Campbell, Olive Dame. The Danish Folk School: Its Influence in the Life of Denmark and the North . New York: The Macmillan Company, 1928. 359 pages. ASU MAIN STACKS: LA875 .C3.

Chapman, Eunice. Report of Scandinavian Study-Tour for the Ministry of Education in Denmark, the Ministry of Education in Finland, the Ministry of Education in Iceland, the Ministry of Church and Education in Norway, the Board of Education in Sweden, 1957. With the Approval of the Council on Evaluation of Foreign Student Credentials . New York: American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers, 1959. 126 pages. ASU MAIN STACKS: LA861.82 .C5.

Davis, David C. L. Model for a Humanistic Education: The Danish Folk Highschool . Columbus, OH: Merrill, 1971. 132 pages. ASU MAIN STACKS: LC5256 .D4 D3.

Dixon, Cyril Willis. Society, Schools and Progress in Scandinavia . Oxford, New York: Pergamon Press. 193 pages. ASU MAIN STACKS: LA861.82 .D5 1965.

Foght, Harold Waldstein. Rural Denmark and its Schools . New York: The Macmillan Co,, 1915. 355 pages. ASU APP COLL CLOSED STACKS: LA872 .F65 1915.

Huus, Helen. The Education of Children and Youth in Norway . Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1960. 247 pages. ASU MAIN STACKS: LA891 .H8.

Knight, Edgar Wallace. Among the Danes . Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press; London: H. Milford, Oxford University Press, 1927. 236 pages. ASU MAIN STACKS: LA872 .K5.

Manniche, Peter. Denmark: A Social Laboratory: Independent Farmers, Co-operative Societies, Folk High Schools, Social Legislation; with 150 Photographs Illustrating Life and Conditions in Denmark . Copenhagen: G. E. C. Gad; [London]: Oxford University Press, 1939. 215 pages. Available through interlibrary loan from UNCA and WCU. HN546 .M3.

Paulston, Rolland G. Other Dreams, Other Schools: Folk Colleges in Social and Ethnic Movements . Pittsburgh: University Center for International Studies, University of Pittsburgh, 1980. 279 pages. ASU MAIN STACKS: LC191 .O84.

Rust, Val D. The Democratic Tradition and the Evolution of Schooling in Norway . New York: Greenwood Press. 333 pages. ASU MAIN STACKS: LA891 .R87 1989.

Thomsen, Ole B. Some Aspects of Education in Denmark . Toronto: Published for Ontario Institute for Studies in Education by University of Toronto Press, 1967. 105 pages. ASU MAIN STACKS: LA872 .T44.

Bibliographies: 

Appalachian Bibliography. Morgantown: West Virginia University Library, 1968, 1972, and 1980. ASU APP COLL STACKS: Z1251 .A7 A6.

Appalachian Outlook. Morgantown West Virginia University Library. 1964 -- present. ASU APP COLL STACKS: Z1251 .A7 A55.

Bibliography of Southern Appalachia. Charlotte T. Ross, ed. Boone: Appalachian Consortium Press, 1976. ASU APP COLL OVERSIZE: Z1251 .A7 B5x.

Bullock, Meriel. An Annotated Bibliography of Relevant Research on the Appalachian Region . Nashville, TN: Tennessee State University. 3 vols. ASU APP COLL STACK LA230.5.A6 B85 1985a. (ASU has vols. 1 and 3).

Edwards, Everett Eugene. References on the Mountaineers of the Southern Appalachians . Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Library. 148 pages. ASU APP COLL STACKS: Z1251 .A7 E28 1935a.

Paulston, Rolland G. Non-formal Education: An Annotated International Bibliography . New York: Praeger, 1972. 332 pages. ASU MAIN STACKS: Z5811 .P27.

Journals: 

I Sing Behind the Plow: John C. Campbell Folk School . Brasstown, NC: The School. Nos. 4-25, Oct. 1927 - May 1941. ASU APP COLL CLOSED STACKS: LD2601 .A3 I2.

Mountain Life & Work . Berea, KY: Berea College. v. 1 - 64, 1925 - 1988. ASU APP COLL STACKS:
GR103 .M5. Issues contain frequent articles on folk schools in Appalachia.

Audio and Video Sources: 

Bill Moyers’ Journal: Adventures of a Radical Hillbilly. Part one and part two . New Market, TN: Highlander Research and Education Center, 1981. 1 videocassette (120 mins). ASU APP COLL VIDEOS: VC 306.

Conn, Philip W. Our Appalachia . 8 videocassettes--a series of 30-minute oral history programs focusing on various aspects of Appalachian and/or Eastern Kentucky life. 1993. vols. 2 and 3 feature education. WorldCat accession #28240659. (not at ASU--may be available through interlibrary loan).

You Go to Move: Stories of Change in the South . New York: First Run; Icarus Films, Distributors, 1985. 1 videocassette (87 mins). ASU APP COLL VIDEOS: VC 167.

Other Sources: 

Culbertson, Anne E. Music and Dance at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina, 1925-1985 . Thesis (D. Mus. Ed.)--Indiana University, 1986. 157 leaves. ASU APP COLL MICROFILM: MicF 390.

Durham, Frank Dallas. Opposition in Process: The Press, Highlander Folk School, and Radical Social Change, 1932-1961 . Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1993. 228 leaves. ASU APP COLL MICROFILM: MicF 212.

Glen, John M. On the Cutting Edge: A History of the Highlander Folk School, 1932-1962 . Thesis (Ph. D.)--Vanderbilt University, 1985. 758 leaves. ASU APP COLL MICROFICHE: MicF 385.

United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. FBI File, Highlander Folk School, [1936-1972] . ASU APP COLL MICROFILM: MicF 500.

Washington, Booker T. How Denmark Has Taught Itself Prosperity and Happiness: The Rural high Schools Which Have Made a Nation.” The World’s Work . New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1900-1932. ASU APP COLL MICROFILM: [roll number]: v.21-25, Nov 1910-Apr 1913. See v. 22: 14486-94.

Theses and Dissertations (with WorldCat # if available). Non-ASU (most are available through interlibrary loan):

Bedeau, Felicity Rose. The Recent Evolution and Characteristics of the Swedish Comprehensive School System as a Mirror of Swedish National Goals. Dissertation: Thesis (Ph. D.)--Claremont Graduate School, 1980. 168 leaves. WorldCat accession #6594810.

Bell, Jason D. From Hand to Eyes, From Plow to Prize: Highlander Folk School and the Citizenship Education Program . Dissertation: Thesis (B.A.)--Eckerd College, 1994. 125 leaves. WorldCat accession #30771120.

Billesbach, Ann E. The Danish Folk High School: Its History and its Transplantation to the United States, a Thesis . Dissertation: Thesis (M.A.)--State University of New York College at Oneonta. Cooperstown Graduate Program, 1982. 84 leaves. WorldCat accession #9781772.

Camery, Lura G. The Danish Folk High Schools and their Significance for American Education ... Dissertation: Thesis (M. A.)--Claremont Colleges, 1940. 117 leaves. WorldCat accession #4888562.

Canfield, Alvah T. Folk High Schools of Denmark and Sweden: Their Development and their Present Status . Dissertation: Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Buffalo, 1980. 152 leaves. WorldCat accession #7042111.

Davis, David Charles L. The Danish Folk High School: An Experiment in Humanistic Education . Dissertation: Thesis (Ph. D.)--United States International University, 1969. 166 leaves. WorldCat accession # 4527764.

Heath, F. D. Folk High Schools of Denmark . Dissertation: Thesis (MA)--Bishop’s University, 1936. 84 pages. WorldCat accession # 925803.

Henderson, Jon E. The Folk High School: A Historical-Descriptive Analysis of the Folk High School Movement Throughout the World with Particular Emphasis on the Folk High School Movement in Norway with Implications for Canada . Dissertation: Thesis (M. Ed.)--Western Washington State College, 1976. 97 leaves. WorldCat accession # 29040034.

Larson, Dean Gordon. A Comparison of the Spread of the Folk High School Idea in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and the United States . Dissertation: Thesis (Ph. D.)--Indiana University, 1970. 268 leaves. WorldCat accession #12378055.

Leskinen, Heikki. A Critical Appraisal of Selected Finnish Folk High Schools . Dissertation: Thesis (Ph. D.)--Indiana University, 1968. WorldCat accession #33144945.

Lord, Richard Dennis. Ideology and Practice: The Danish Folk High School . Dissertation: Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University, 1975. WorldCat accession #7756150.

Meridith, C. E. The Status of Certain Folk Schools in the United States . Dissertation: Thesis (M.E.)--Oregon, Dept. Education, 1943. 85 leaves. WorldCat accession # 29149142.

Morris, Aldon Douglas. The Rise of the Civil Rights Movement and its Movement: Black Power Structure, 1953-1963 . Dissertation: Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Stony Brook, 1980. 679 leaves in 2 vols. WorldCat accession #24123476.

Oldendorf, Sandra Brenneman. Highlander Folk School and the South Carolina Sea Island Citizenship Schools Implications for the Social Studies . Dissertation: Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Kentucky, 1987. 151 leaves. WorldCat accession #24472063.

O’Keefe, Laura Katherine. Growth is the Reason for Being: An Experiment in Education at the John C. Campbell Folk School . Dissertation: Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1992. 64 leaves. WorldCat accession #26524526.

Petty, Anne W. Dramatic Activities and Workers’ Education at Highlander Folk School, 1932-1942 . Dissertation: Thesis (Ph. D.)--Bowling Green State University, 1979. 233 leaves. WorldCat accession #7531617.

Spencer, Louise. The Folk School: Education for Social Change . Dissertation: Thesis (M.S. Ed.)--Bank Street College of Education, New York, 1982. 80 leaves. WorldCat accession #30930714. (non-ASU).

Terrell, Freida Morgan. An Historical and Contemporary Study of the John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, North Carolina . Dissertation: Thesis (M.S.)--University of Tennessee, 1969. 161 leaves. WorldCat accession #6033184.

Zacharakis-Jutz, Jeffrey T. Straight to the Heart of a Union, Straight to the Heart of a Movement: Workers’ Education in the United Packinghouse Workers of America between 1951 and 1953 . Thesis (Ed. D.)--Northern Illinois University, 1991. 293 leaves. WorldCat accession #25625429.

Books on WorldCat, with Accession Numbers, available through Interlibrary Loan:

Bay, J. Christian. The Folk High Schools and Rural Life of the Scandinavian Countries. Proceedings from the Conference for Education in the South. Jacksonville, FL, 1911. Accession #28564075.

Biggers, Bill. The Brasstown Carvers: John C. Campbell Folk School . Brasstown, NC: John C. Campbell Folk School, 1990. Accession #27339751.

Borish, Steven M. The Land of the Living: The Danish Folk High Schools and Denmark’s Non-violent Path to Modernization . Nevada City, CA: Blue Dolphin Pub., 1991. 488 pages. Accession #23287610.

Brownlee, Frederick Leslie. New Day Ascending . Boston, The Pilgrim Press, 1946. 310 pages. Accession #1112544.

Cheek, Pauline Binkley. In Response to the Living Word: Experiencing the John C. Campbell Folk School in its Sixtieth Year . S.l.: s.n., 1985. 180 leaves. Accession #14928056.

Christensen, Chris Lauriths. Significance of the Folk School Type of Adult Education . S.l.: s.n., 1938. 28 pages. Accession #36620240.

Christmas Møller, John. Education in Democracy, the Folk High Schools of Denmark . London, Faber and Faber, 1944. 160 pages. Accession #4753283.

Engberg, Poul. The Northern Folk High-school . Odense: Andelsbogtrykkeriet, 1955. 32 pages. Accession #8631992.

Fleisher, Frederic. Folk High Schools in Sweden . Stockholm, Swedish Institute for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, 1968. 103 pages. Accession #143306.

Foght, Harold Waldstein. The Danish Folk High School . Washington DC: Govt. Printing Office, 1914. 93 pages. Accession #29078238.

_____. The Educational System of Rural Denmark . Washington DC: Govt. Printing Office, 1914. 46 pages. Accession #11332977.

Friend, Lloyd L. The Folk High Schools of Denmark . Washington DC: Govt. Printing Office, 1914. 24 pages. Accession #557664.

Grosen, Uffe. The Danish Folk High-School . Odense: Association of High Schools and Agricultural Schools, 1946. 14 pages. Accession #10739962.

Grundtvig’s Ideas in North America: Influences and Parallels . Copenhagen : Det danske Selskab, 1983. 173 pages. Accession #11229786.

Hasselriis, C. H. W. Christen Kold and the Danish Folk Schools . New York: Danish Information Office, 1946. 11 pages. Accession # 27232038.

Johnson, Ebba I. The Swedish Folk High School . St. Paul, MN: College of St. Catherine, 1960. 96 pages. Accession # 17990074.

Jonsson, Johan Vilhelm. The “People’s High-schools” (Folkhögskolar) in Sweden: A Short Summary of their Origin, Organisation, Development and Aims . Örebro: [s.n.], Printed by Örebro Dagblad’s Office,1904. 19 pages. Accession, # 31550258.

Larson, Diane. Freedom to Be, Freedom to Learn: The Spirit of Danish Folk High Schools . A Richter fellowship paper. [Los Angeles]: Occidental College, 1978. 94 pages. Accession #20347848.

Livingstone, Richard Winn, Sir. The Danish Folk Schools . New York: News Background, Inc., 1944. Report no. 15. 1 page. Accession # 20398286.

Horton, Myles and Septima Clark. The Human Frontiers in the Southern Moutains: Statement of Policy of Highlander Folk School . S.l. : s.n., 1968. 11 pages. Accession # 18169225.

Mortensen, Enok. Schools for Life: The Grundtvigian Folk Schools in America . Junction City, OR: Danish-American Heritage Society, 1977. 143 pages. Accession # 4053225.

The New Agenda for the White Southerner in His New South . Monteagle, TN: Highlander Folk School, 1949. 12 pages. Accession # 10822591.

Novrup, Johannes. Adult Education in Denmark . Copenhagen: Danske forlag, 1960. 11 pages. Accession # 4238854.

Rørdam, Thomas. The Danish Folk High Schools . Copenhagen: Det Danske selskab, 1980. 197 pages. Accession #15660688.

Scheid, Paul W. Descriptive Programs of Selected Scandinavian Folk Schools . [S.l. : s.n.], 1956. 33 leaves. Accession # 9843229.

Skrubbeltrang, Fridlev Sørensen and Skovmand, Roar. The Danish Folk High Schools . Copenhagen: Det Danske selskab, 1952. 86 pages. Accession # 36654452.

Stensland, Per G. Adult Education: A Force in Swedish Democracy . New York: American-Scandinavian Foundation, 1945. pp. 117-128. Accession # 29059754.

The Story of an Educational Center for Working People . Monteagle, TN: Highlander Folk School, 1949, 12 pages. Accession # 31391286.

The Swedish Folk High School . [Stockholm]: Swedish National Board of Education, 1986. 50 pages. Accession # 29064445.

Wilhelmsen, Leif J. The Folk High Schools in Norway . London, British Institute of Adult Education, 1948. 5 pages. Accession # 33628825.

Compiled by: 

Compiler: Rob Barham, Spring 1997

Subject: