Myles Horton

RADICAL HILLBILLY

Assumptions of Androgogy

1. The Learners Need to Know

This PowerPoint may reveal aspects about Adult Education which

may not have been thought of. Looking at the experience of Miles
Horton and seeing what sorts of conflicts he faced and overcame

5. The Learners Orientation to Learning

Learning about Myles Horton will help future educators see an

example of someone who dedicated their life to adult education.

Early Life

Born in 1905 Savannah Tennessee

Raised in a poor family, both parents were school teachers.

Grew up with a heavy focus on God and community

Formative Years

By 1924 attended Cumberland College in Tenenneesee

Taught bible classes to poor people during college

After Cumberland he attended the Union Theological Seminary in

Manhattan.

Heavily influenced by Reinhold Niebuhr, Christian advocate for

the poor

Idea

Inspired by stories of Danish folk schools Myles decides to learn

more

This journey eventually took him to Denmark himself

Experienced Danish Folk Schools first-hand

Inspired to open a Southern

Mountain School

Economic Situation

Company Towns

Companies would buy out an area and build a town.

Everything in the town would be owned by the company

People paid the company for everything

Turned residence into indentured servants

Establishment Of Highlander

1932 establishes a small institution northwest of Chattanooga

Tired to emphasize traditions of the mountain people.

Focus on storytelling, folk songs and drama.

Another emphasis was placed heavily upon leadership and

speaking out to for the poor.

Expansion of Highlander

Began to train union organizers

Invited both Black and White to participate in contrast to Jim

Crow

Exposed to the black revolution

By 1950 he had shifted his view from the Union to civil rights
issues

Civil Activism

Highlander Folk School became a principle

meeting location for Civil rights activists

Many famous black activists came

Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Andrew

Young etc.

lived in an atmosphere or equality with

members of the other race.-Rosa Parks

Opposition to Highlander

Repeatedly faced accusations of being a communist

Was attacked and beaten by the KKK

Highlander was raided by the State troopers

And repeated attempts at its closure by the state

Was tried as a communist by the supreme court

Outcome of Highlander

Building was padlocked in 1960

Re-opened in Knoxville Tennessee

Eventually moved to New Market

By 1971 there was a return to Appalachian focus

Later Life

Myles continued to work for others

Focusing on empowering the mind of people to have the capacity

to make decisions for their communities

Staunch advocate of peoples experience, that people can learn

from their own experience

Believed so strongly in personal empowerment

Facilitating the learning so others can learn for themselves

Myles had strong feelings towards telling people what to do or

creating a sense of dependency.

In the first place, I don't know what to do,' Myles replied, 'and if I
did know, I wouldn't tell you because if I had to tell you today, then
I'd have to tell you tomorrow, and when I'm gone you'd have to get
somebody else to tell you.

Convictions
"You have to take sides and know why you're taking sides," Myles
often said. "There can be no such thing as neutrality. It's a code
word for the existing system

To get something like this going in the first place you have
to have a goal. That goal shouldn't be one that inhibits the
people you're working with, but it should be beyond the
goal you expect them to strive for. If your goal isn't way out
there somewhere and isn't challenging and daring enough,
then it is going to get in your way and it will also stand in
the way of other people. Since my goal happened to be a
goal of having a revolutionary change in this country and
all over the world, its unlikely to get in the way in the near
future.

Resources

Myles Horton. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://
www.biography.com/people/myles-horton-21385743#beliefs-expa
nsion-and-legacy
Retrieved from http://www-personal.umich.edu/~
hfox/horton.html
http://www.uawregion8.net/Activist-HOF/M-Horton.htm