Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-04-04
kENTUCkY'S MOONLIGHT SCHOOL,
BY FREDERIC }. HAsIxI

WASIIINGTON. j.. e., April 3-"No
iiliieracy IN licntucky utter 1900
This is the slogan which appears i'll
newspapers. on gAtcDusts, telegraph
the Blue Grass state. You cant cscape
II. For sou are not in kentucky five
minutes before some proud citizen
sidlcs up 10 YOU and says:
some campaign were wagin. down
here. eh' Ever hear about our moon
light schools"
In Kentucky everybody is "a self
appointed publicist and apostle OF
lcarninS-thc whole state il inspired
And no wonder. for not only has their
slogan rcvcrbcratcd throughout Ken
lucky. hut II has been heard in sew
"ni""E other states well, all Of
which have established moonlight
schools
1t all came about through a woman
a rather small, dark eyed Kentucky
woman. with the pluck and clear vision
OF q pioneer Her name is Mrs. Cora
wilson stewart. and She started tho
no illitcracy" campaign while super
ntcndcn, of public schools in Rowan
County.
In Kentucky. IN a great MANI
other states. considerable per cent
of the adult population In tn" rural
communities * illitcTatcs. For OK
ample. one night Mrs Stewart attend
ed 4 rural school entertainment. whore
IN the course of the program "a young
man with very good tenor voice
sang pleasing ballad. which was his
own Improvisation. After tho pro-
gram VAS over, Mrs stewart shook
hands with the young man and con
graduated him. II .ahould like to
have copy OF your song" shc said
'it YOU VIII write it down for me
III" Young man hlushed. then smiled
ErimlS. II can neither read nor
write n" said often think Of
songs. but forget them while waiting
for some one TO come along ANA write
them down"
Iinndicnp Of IIii,-rncy.
Mrs. stewart was appalled,. Here
WAS man with decided talent, who
was capa bio of giving somcthin. TO the
world, handicapped because he was
! hopelcssly :ilitcrate Then came Tho
inspiration. Was ii. after all, hope
less Was there not some way in
wh:"h these adults--old. middle. ced
and young could be laugh; to read
| and write? Mr.. Stcwar, estimated
that There were l,l52 such iiiitcratcS
in her county alone.
y meeting OF public school teachers
was called. and Mrs. Stewart laid the
situation before them. She told thcIn
about one Old woman who hought a
sp"llcr and sat up until midnight study
ing so that she could learn 10 read.
letters received from her daughter.
who was away AZ school! She told
/ them OF big. stalwart farmer. who's.
eyes had filled with tears as he said {;
| II would give twenty years OF my Iiio
, the young man and his songs, which
J wcr" irrttricvably lost because he
! could not write them down. The teach
| erS. hearing these things, were also
! inspired. and the upshot OF the matter
was the establishment of the moon
| light school.
! This simply meant that tn" public
day schools were kept open during the
/ bright moonlight nights OF the Ken
/ lucky autumn by volunteer teachers.
| who called on the various iilitcratcs or
/ their communities and induced them to
| attend. AZ the beginning there were
! many doubts as to the plans success.
! The teachers thought they knew a
/ thing or two about that iuVincibie
! Kentucky pride. But from the begin
| ming the moonlight school was popu-
lar. People came. and in great mum
! hers. They came down the rugged
( mountain trails, women carrying their
! babies, and old men hObblins OH canes.
Soon 200 persons were enrolled in the
/ midnight schools, the youngest OF
| whom was eighteen and the oldest
: eirhty-SiX.
B-gnn to Carve Names.
| During the first few weeks OF tn"
! experiment the trees and fences ana
/ walls Of the barns began to blossom
out with singular decorations. Ia
/ their enthusiasm over their ncwly-ac-
/ Gnllcu ktuWltuSt, Tue Ptop'' We y
| carving their names i'll large irregular
/ letters on every available wooden sur
! face. Many who had boarded snaii
! sums Of money under the kltchtn
I hearth did some rapid eXcaNatihs ana
( opcncd bank accounts. II was so fas-
4 cinatimg to he able to Wfitc your own
! name on check!
+ Besides the three RS, the ihoohlSnt
! schools taught agriculture. horticni-
I turc. road building and nome ccoh"h'
. les Magazilcs and newspapers began
! to mako their appearance III the va
! rious households. and in Washington
the Department OF Agriculture was
swaInpcd with requests from Rowan
County for farm bulletins. Special text
/ books were provided which would APP
neal especially TO the moonlight pu-
! pills.
! SO the moonlight schools grew ana
nourished each succeeding season. and
! with them grew the ambition OF the
Rowan County school teachers. they
were now determined to Danish illit-
eracy from the entire county. There
were still many persons who. for VA
| rious reasons. refused to attend the
schools. so IL was decided 70 take the
, schools TO thcm-fis urativcly, Of course
Some teachers canvasscd the whole
county, invading the hiding places OF
the most stubbornly elusive illiteratcs
and made q list Of the names of these
persons, together with all the mfor-
! nation obtainable concerning their pc
| culiaritics and ccccntricities. There
after, when an illitcrate proved obdu-
rate and insisted that he did not want
to BIO educated. the teachers consult cd
the details Of his history as appearing
on the list in an endeavor to find some
means of appealing to him.
Diplomacy Wins the stubborn.
young man, who had been very
successful I'm winning over the difficult
i1lttcratcs OF his district. one day APP
| peared In the county euperintcndent's