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PLY gets! Maa }-4ai WP Fn ade ah RES anes ate ea aE * ~ = © AN UP AND COMING DEMOCRACY is not possible with only supine, uncritical carrying out of orders from above; a democracy demands full awareness from all people concerned and full exer- cise, by all, of the rights of citizenship. Willingness for sacrifice will be common only if there is common confidence that the benefits of the future will not be restricted. Realistic education of group leaders will produce intelligent, responsible group action. Therein is assured democracy’s preservation and growth. @ For ten years HIGHLANDER FOLK SCHOOL at Monteagle, Tennessee, has been carrying on a training program for leaders that has tangibly extended economic and political democracy in the sm th. Today that nrooram 1s increasing the yield of the south’ s production lines, clarifying the war ARS AL qa) Lite F VE add AS 2d es WL 45 * ii ype he ed Lalal ~ Eat mas reasons and objectives, making more certain the creation of a better future for the common man. @ FROM THE VERY BEGINNING the school's teaching was limited to the immediate needs and interests of the students. .» discussion class in child psychology grew out of problems facing community parents. + A class in cultural geography came from informal ‘inspection of some European snapshots: the Tennessee mountain folk, many of them rare travelers even to so near a city as s Chattanooga, found their own customs and conditions full of meaning when contrasted with those of foreign peoples. ™: -issian of the Presidential election paved the way for a class in political analysis, with study of the pall tax as it affected class members, the south, the nation. Teachers and students traveled to observe first hand a bitter strike in the coal fields, The handerafts native to the region were revived and stimulated: cha‘r making, whittling, pot- vere, quilt making. A cooperative farm garden was started. Unions were formed among the timber sutte:s and road workers. The workers studied the principles and techniques of unionism, learned of their opportunities and rights restored by the New Deal. Education for use, for action, & THE SCHOOL HAD A HARD BEGINNING, Gradually, through the efforts of Reinhold Nei- hubr, Alva Taylor, Sherwood Eddy, Frank Graham, people began to hear of it. Financial sepport increased until contributions were" sosung from all over the country. Some were large; most small—a JT -. Sve, ten, twenty. The school ..u... then, and has continued to be, win ative expression of its contrib- tors’ creative ideals. us Ome o Lane O iy " = 3 oO Hh Pad bh. 3 3 ref rs & cral-educational projects in 7 Am rica,” wrote John Dewey. Ca] ultcr Rautenstrauch, noted in- dvetuai engineer: “J have found two