# John C. Campbell Folk School

The John C. Campbell Folk School, also referred to as "The Folk School", is located in Brasstown, North Carolina. It is the oldest and largest folk school in the United States. It is a non-profit adult educational organization based on non-competitive learning. The Folk School offers classes year-round in over fifty subject areas including art, craft, music, dance, and nature studies. Established in 1925, the Folk School's motto is "I sing behind the plow".
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a national historic district in 1983. The district encompasses 19 contributing buildings. Notable buildings include the Farm House (pre-1925), Keith House (1926–1928), Log House Museum (19th century, 1926), Mill House (1928), (Former) Milking Barn (now Clay Spencer Blacksmith Shop, c. 1930), Hay Barn (1931), Tower House (1933), Rock House (c. 1932), and Hill House (c. 1932).
The Folk School has more than 800 week-long and weekend classes year-round in traditional and contemporary arts, including blacksmithing, music, dance, cooking, gardening, nature studies, photography, storytelling, and writing. The 300-acre campus includes a history museum, craft shop, nature trails, lodging, campground, and cafeteria. The school also holds a regular concert series and community dances. The Folk School engages the community through a variety of dance teams including: Rapper Magic Sword, StiX in the Mud Border Morris, Dame's Rocket Northwest Clog, Rural Felicity Garland, and the JCCFS Cloggers.
The Folk School hosts more than 6,000 adult students and 100,000 visitors per year.

## History of the Folk School

After spending eighteen months traveling between Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland, visiting local schools along the way, Olive Dame Campbell and her colleague Marguerite Butler, began forming the John C. Campbell Folk School in 1925 in Brasstown, North Carolina, along the Cherokee County and Clay line. This folk high school, or folkehøjskole, was dedicated to her late husband John C. Campbell, and was based on the Danish Folk School style of non competitive education, where no grades were given. Instead, students and teachers formed a community that worked together to help each other advance in various crafts such as blacksmithing. It was originally founded with an emphasis on agriculture and "the doing of life's work."
John C. Campbell, (1867–1919) was an American educator and reformer noted for his survey of social conditions in the southern Appalachia. He was born in Indiana and raised in Wisconsin; he studied education and theology in New England.
At the turn of the century, the Southern Appalachian region of the United States was viewed as being in need of educational and social missions. Recently married to Olive Dame of Massachusetts, John undertook a fact-finding survey of social conditions in the mountains in 1908–1909. The Campbells outfitted a wagon as a traveling home and studied mountain life from Georgia to West Virginia.
While John interviewed farmers about their agricultural practices, Olive collected Appalachian ballads and studied the handicrafts of the mountain people. Both were hopeful that the quality of life could be improved by education, and in turn, wanted to preserve and share with the rest of the world the crafts, techniques and tools that the people of the area used in everyday life.
The Folkehøjskole had long been a force in the rural life of Denmark. These schools for life helped transform the Danish countryside into a vibrant, creative force. The Campbells talked of establishing such a school in the rural southern United States as an alternative to the higher-education facilities that drew young people away from the family farm.
Several locations were under consideration for the experimental school. On an exploratory trip, Miss Butler discussed the idea with Fred O. Scroggs, Brasstown's local storekeeper, saying that she would be back in a few weeks to determine if area residents had any interest in the idea. When she returned, it was to a meeting of over 200 people at the local church. The people of far west North Carolina enthusiastically pledged labor, land, building materials and other support.
The school was initially geared to students aged 17 to 35 who would study for a year or two at a time. The campus included men’s and women’s dormitories, a dairy barn, poultry houses, and a saving and loan association. Early classes included gymnastics, public health, history, geography, literature, and folk dancing. The Brasstown Carvers formed at the Folk School in 1929. A wood-carved mule from the Folk School stood on President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Oval Office desk in the 1930s. The Folk School also operated a creamery in the 1930s. It was equipped to churn 6,000 pounds of butter a week, one-third of which was sold to businesses in Atlanta. The creamery produced ice cream and whole milk as well.
As late as 1934 the Folk School and Brasstown operated in its own time zone. At that time Cherokee County operated on Central time and Clay County ran on Eastern time. Due to frequent gatherings at the Folk School, Brasstown clocks were set half-way in-between to avoid confusion. When it was 1 p.m. in Murphy and 2 p.m. in Hayesville, it was 1:30 p.m. in Brasstown.
Since 1937, the Folk School has also hosted an annual summer arts program for youth called Little Middle. A dramatic reading of A Christmas Carol has been performed on campus each December since 1949. The Fall Festival is the Folk School's largest annual event, attracting thousands of people to the campus for crafts, food, and folk demonstrations. The festival has been held every year since 1974, except for 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Folk School has hosted its annual Winter Dance Week between Christmas and New Year's Day since 1979. During the 1980s, the Folk School had its own theatre guild performing plays on campus. The Brasstown Follies, a community variety show, has been produced on campus every December since at least the early 1990s, hosted by Carl Dreher. The Folk School launched its annual Friends & Family Day in 2022 for the community to tour studios and see demonstrations. In early 2022 the Folk School opened Olive's Porch, a studio space and retail shop, in downtown Murphy.

## Class types offered

Craft classes include: Basketry; Carpentry; Glass beadmaking; Blacksmithing; Bookbinding; Broom Making; Dollmaking; Dyeing; Felt Making; Furniture Making; Lace; Leather; Metalwork; Needlework; Quilting; Rugs; Sewing; Soap Making; Spinning; Weaving; Woodturning; and Woodworking
Art classes include: Calligraphy; Clay; Drawing; Enameling; Glass; Jewelry; Kaleidoscopes; Knitting; Marbling; Mosaics; Painting; Paper Arts; Photography; Printmaking; Sculpture; and Woodcarving.
Other types of classes include: Baking; Cooking; Dance; Folklore; Gardening; Music; Nature Studies; Storytelling; and Writing.

## Accolades

The Folk School was named one of “100 Best Vacations to Enrich Your Life” by National Geographic magazine in 2007 and named “Best of the Road” by Rand McNally Atlas in 2005.

## Campus buildings

Note: Dates of construction given when known
* Book & Paper Arts Studio (2019)
* Field House (2008)
* Willard Baxter Woodturning Studio (2006)
* Painting Studio (2005)
* Davidson Hall (1999)
* Olive D Campbell Dining Hall and Craft Shop (1992)
* Log House (1988)
* Pitman Fiber Arts Building (1983)
* Little Rock (1981)
* Hubbell House (1972, renovated 2007)
* Festival Barn (1971)
* D. X. Ross jewelry & Metals Studio (1970, expanded 2011)
* Clay and Enameling Studio (Bef. 1969)
* Orchard House (1954)
* Open House (1947)
* Ironwood Forge (1933–1946)
* Woodworking Studio (1945, expanded 1997)
* Rock House (C. 1932, remodeled in 1990s)
* Hill House (C. 1932, renovated 2011)
* Woodcarving Studio (1932)
* Big Barn (1931)
* Francis Whitaker Blacksmith Shop (1930, expanded 2010)
* Mill House (1928)
* Keith House (1927, expanded 1929)
* Farm House (Bef.1925, renovated 2002)

### Other buildings

* Maintenance Building (2004)
* Bidstrup House (1982)
* Little House (1981)
* Campground (1970s)
* Log Barn (1970)
* The Cottage (1960s)
* History Center (1939, renovated 2018)
* Log Cabin Museum (1897, reconstructed 1926)

## Directors

* Olive Dame Campbell (1925–1946)
* Dagnall Folger (1946–1950)
* Howard Kester (1950–1951)
* George Bidstrup (1952–1967)
* John Ramsey (1967–1973)
* Wayne Kniffen (1973–1974)
* Gus and Maggie Masters (1974–1976)
* Esther Manchester (1976–1980)
* Bob Fink (1980–1985)
* Bob Grove (Interim) (1985)
* Ron Hill (1985–1991)
* Perry Kelley (Interim) (1991–1992)
* Jan Davidson (1992–2017)
* Phil Mattox (Interim) (2017)
* Jerry Jackson (2017–2023)
* Bethany Chaney (2023–present)

## Notable alumni and educators

* Aubrey Atwater – folk musician
* Jason Bivens – Forged in Fire champion
* Georgia Bonesteel – quilting teacher
* Frank Brannon – book and paper artist and teacher
* Cynthia Bringle – pottery instructor
* Olive Dame Campbell – founder
* Claire Cunningham – CEO and founder of Lessonface
* Bob Dalsemer – former music and dance coordinator who was an internationally known square and contra dance writer and caller
* Loyal Jones – folklorist and writer
* Bettye Kimbrell – quilting teacher
* Homer Ledford – instrument maker and bluegrass musician
* Susan Morgan Leveille – weaving teacher
* Dan Levenson – music instructor
* Deborah Needleman – former editor-in-chief of WSJ and T: The New York Times Style Magazine attended in 2018
* John Jacob Niles – composer and singer who first performed I Wonder as I Wander at the folk school
* David Rakoff – writer, editor, and former board of directors member
* Harley Refsal – wood carver
* Jean Ritchie – singer, songwriter, and Appalachian dulcimer player
* Heidi Swedberg – actress and musician
* Doris Ulmann – photographer
* Francis Whitaker – blacksmith