Highlander Research and Education Center's Audiovisual Materials, 1937-2008

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Summary

Creator:
Highlander Research and Education Center (Knoxville, Tenn.).
Abstract:

Audiovisual materials created and compiled by the Highlander Research and Education Center, formerly known as the Highlander Folk School, a social justice leadership training school and cultural center located outside of Knoxville, Tenn. Highlander was founded in 1932 by white activists and educators, Myles Horton, Don West, Jim Dombrowski, and others as an adult education center based on the principle of empowerment. In the 1930s, Myles Horton and other Highlander members worked towards mobilizing labor unions across the southern United States, and later in the 1950s worked closely with civil rights leaders to host workshops and training sessions, laying the groundwork for many of the movement's initiatives, including the Montgomery bus boycott, the Citizenship Schools, and the founding of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). The collection contains archival audio recordings, motion picture films, and video recordings created by Highlander members and staff, as well as their library's audiovisual reference collection of materials created by outside sources. Both series of audiovisual materials mirror the educational work and mission of Highlander, whose members and staff were interested in using media and teaching media production to document and support social justice initiatives across communities. Materials found in the collection document Highlander's Citizenship Schools during the civil rights movement, their work with labor struggles in the 1970s, and later their work with immigration, globalization, and environmental causes from the 1980s to 2000s. The collection also contains materials documenting Highlander's work with international communities in Latin America and India in the 1980s and 1990s, including video recordings related to the Bhopal Union Carbide Plant Disaster of 1984. The majority of the materials were produced or compiled by Highlander educational and library staff after the center relocated to its current location in New Market, Tenn. in 1972, but the collection also includes audio recordings and motion picture films related to the early years of the Highlander Folk School. Recordings of folk music, protest songs, labor songs, and African American religious songs were a large part of the civil rights movement and appear within the collection. Of particular note are audio recordings on acetate disc and transcription disc of radio programs, recorded songs, and voices of leaders from the civil rights movement, including Esau Jenkins, Septima Clark, Rosa Parks, Zilphia Horton, and Highlander co-founder, Myles Horton. Other notable materials found in the collection include video recordings created by Highlander Research and Education Center staff, which consist of interviews with educators and activists; footage of rallies, protests, and hearings related to Highlander initiatives; footage of Highlander events, such as meetings, anniversary events, conferences, concerts, and workshops; and video elements and copies of documentary productions produced by Highlander, including video productions on immigration, coal miners, traditional music and ballad collecting, occupational health and safety, and participant observation, among other topics. Additionally, the collection contains scattered supporting documentation found with select audiovisual materials, including transcripts, tape logs, clippings, correspondence, photographic materials, and other printed materials. The Addition of December 2020 consists of audiovisual materials donated by John Gaventa, who from 1976 until 1993 worked as the director and co-director of the Highlander Research and Education Center. These materials primarily document a strike involving the Tennessee Nuclear Services workers, as well as Highlander's international work in Nicaragua and India.

Extent:
1500 items (2.0 linear feet)
Language:
English ; Spanish.

Background

Biographical / historical:

1932-1940s—The Founding of Highlander and the Labor Years

In 1932, activist, Myles Horton, educator, Don West, and Methodist minister, Jim Dombrowski, and others founded the Highlander Folk School in Monteagle, Tenn. Myles Horton and other Highlander members focused first on organizing unemployed and working people, and by the late 1930s Highlander was serving as the de-facto CIO education center for the region, training union organizers and leaders in 11 southern states. During this period, Highlander also fought segregation in the labor movement, holding its first integrated workshop in 1944.

1950s-1960s—The Civil Rights Movement and the Citizenship Schools

Highlander's commitment to ending segregation made it an important incubator of the Civil Rights movement. Workshops and training sessions held at Highlander helped lay the groundwork for many of the movement's most important initiatives, including the Montgomery bus boycott, the Citizenship Schools, and the founding of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Highlander worked with Martin Luther King, Jr., the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Guy and Candie Carawan, Septima Clark, and Rosa Parks, among others. Rosa Parks attended a workshop at the Highlander Folk School shortly before refusing to give up her seat on the bus in Montgomery, Ala. Zilphia Horton, the music and drama director at Highlander and Myles Horton's wife, heard the song "We Shall Overcome" at a workshop at Highlander. She later taught the song to Pete Seeger who popularized it around the country. "We Shall Overcome" became one of the anthems of the civil rights movement. Zilphia Horton died in 1955 in an accident. In 1961, after years of red-baiting and several government investigations, the state of Tennessee revoked Highlander's charter and seized its land and buildings. The Highlander Folk School reopened the next day as the Highlander Research and Education Center. From 1961-1971, it was based in Knoxville, and in 1972 it moved to its current location near New Market, Tenn.

1970s-1990s—Appalachian People's Struggles and Supporting Local Communities in a Global Context

In the late 1960s and 1970s, Highlander played a role fostering organizing in Appalachia, supporting anti-strip mining and worker health and safety struggles, among other efforts. In the 1980s and 1990s, Highlander expanded its work to support grassroots groups fighting pollution and toxic dumping, and supported the emerging anti-globalization movement by sponsoring workshops on economic human rights and trade and globalization issues and by forging connections with international activists and organizers. In January 1990, Highlander co-founder, Myles Horton died of brain cancer.

2000-Present—Twenty-First Century Highlander

Today, Highlander is continuing to fight for justice and equality, supporting organizing and leadership development among Latinx immigrants and young people, encouraging the use of culture to enhance social justice efforts, and helping organizations in diverse constituencies develop new strategies and alliances. Highlander has prioritized programming for organizing and leadership development; strategic efforts and programs to develop tools and mechanisms needed to advance multi-racial, inter-generational movement for social and economic justice in the southern United States; and supported and connected organizations from the Deep South, Appalachia, and immigrant communities.

Historical note edited from timeline found on Highlander Research and Education Center's website in January 2020.

Scope and content:

Audiovisual materials created and compiled by the Highlander Research and Education Center, formerly known as the Highlander Folk School, a social justice leadership training school and cultural center located outside of Knoxville, Tenn. The collection contains archival audio recordings, motion picture films, and video recordings created by Highlander members and staff, as well as their library's audiovisual reference collection of materials created by outside sources. Both series of audiovisual materials mirror the educational work and mission of Highlander, whose members and staff were interested in using media and teaching media production to document and support social justice initiatives across communities. Highlander also believed strongly in using media as an educational and reflection tool to connect people with one another around common issues. Materials found in the collection document Highlander's Citizenship Schools during the civil rights movement, their work with labor struggles and environmental work in the 1970s, and later their work with adult and youth leadership programs, immigration, globalization, and environmental ethics starting in the 1980s. The collection also contains materials that document Highlander's work with international communities in Latin America and India in the 1980s and 1990s, including video recordings related to the Bhopal Union Carbide Plant Disaster of 1984. The majority of the materials were produced or compiled by Highlander educational and library staff after the center relocated to its current location in New Market, Tenn. in 1972, but the collection also includes audio recordings and motion picture films related to the early years of the Highlander Folk School.

Highlander's Archival Collection, or those items created by Highlander and its staff, consist of audio recordings, motion picture films, video recordings, and scattered photographic materials and supporting documentation related to Highlander's educational work as a research and education center. Per the suggestion of white documentarian and social activist, George Stoney, Highlander staff began using media, particularly video, as an educational and organizing tool. With the advent of new video technology in the 1970s, Charis Horton, the daughter of Myles Horton, John Gaventa, Richard Greatrex, and others, began shooting and editing video on site, as well as hosting media production workshops at the Highlander Research and Education Center and beyond. Video recordings make up the bulk of Highlander's archival collection, which for the most part, are arranged alphabetically by format. Highlander's archival collection also includes supporting documentation found with select audiovisual materials, as well as access to Highlander's public facing website, which has been web archived with support from the University Libraries at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill since 2013.

Archival audio recordings include radio programs, recorded songs, interviews, and events created by the Highlander Research and Education Center. Recordings are arranged by format: acetate discs, transcription disc, wire recordings, open reel audio, audiocassette, 8-track tape, and MiniDisc. Recordings of folk music, protest songs, labor songs, and African American religious songs were a large part of the civil rights movement and appear within the collection. Of particular note are the acetate disc recordings of radio programs, recorded songs, and voices of leaders from the civil rights movement, including Esau Jenkins, Septima Clark, Rosa Parks, Miles Horton, and Zilphia Horton; wire recordings documenting a strike in Lumberton, N.C.; and audiocassette recordings of interviews with educators, organizers, and activists, including African American civil rights activist, Cora Tucker.

Archival motion picture films consist of undated 16mm and 8mm films documenting Highlander events and daily life, including footage and home movies of council meetings, programs, and Highlander activities at Johns Island, S.C. and Mexico. Films are arranged alphabetically.

Video recordings make up the majority of Highlander's archival collection. The bulk of these recordings consist of footage of Highlander Research and Education Center sponsored events, such as meetings, anniversary events, conferences, concerts, and workshops on a wide variety of topics, including leadership, empowerment, organizing, labor, mining, occupational health and safety, environmental justice, and using or incorporating music and media to support or further social justice initiatives. Other video recordings contain footage of rallies, hearings, and meetings related to Highlander initiatives, as well as interviews with educators, activists, organizers, and staff members, such as Myles Horton, May Justus, Rose Sanders (now Faya Ora Rose Touré), and Tom Ludwig. Of particular note is footage from a strike in Stearns, Ky. involving the United Mine Workers and the Blue Diamond Coal Company; interviews and congressional hearings related to a strike involving the Tennessee Nuclear Services and workers making uranium bullets; and interviews and footage related to the Bhopal Union Carbide Plant Disaster of 1984. The collection also contains video elements, such as masters, unedited footage, and rough cuts, as well as copies of edited documentary productions produced by or related to the Highlander Research and Education Center. Subjects of these productions include immigration, coal miners, traditional music and ballad collecting, occupational health and safety, public health, and participant observation, among other topics. Video recordings, which are arranged alphabetically, are on VHS, U-Matic, MiniDV, Hi-8, Video8, and 1/2" open reel video.

Other archival materials include scattered photographic materials and supporting documentation, such as transcripts, tape logs, clippings, correspondence, flyers and newsletters, as well as access to Highlander's public facing website, which has been web archived with support from University Libraries since 2013. The website of the Highlander Research and Education Center contains information about the center's mission, staff, and history; information on various regional, national, and international programs; events announcements; photographs; videos; news stories; and other resources.

Highlander's Reference Library consists of audiovisual materials and supporting documentation created by outside sources, filmmakers, and documentarians. Highlander Research and Education Center's educational and library staff compiled the library reference collection for educational purposes. Materials include audio recordings, motion picture films, video recordings, and scattered supporting documentation found with select materials. Highlander staff used their library's reference collection for educational and reflection purposes, screening materials for visiting groups and Highlander workshops, as well as lending materials to screen in communities, schools, and off-site classrooms. Materials are in English and Spanish and are arranged alphabetically by format.

The reference library's audio recordings consist of scattered oral histories, musicals, lectures, and radio campaigns. Subjects of these recordings include globalization, imperialism, organizing, labor struggles, and labor songs related to occupational health and safety.

Motion picture films found in the library's reference collection consist of educational films, propaganda films, and documentaries on 16mm and 35mm filmstrip. Subjects of these films include the civil rights movement, segregation, labor struggles, labor unions, strip mining, education, agriculture, manufacturing, and media production, among other topics.

The reference library's video recordings comprises the bulk of Highlander's Reference Library. Videos consist of educational films, documentaries, interviews, and lectures related to Highlander's work and interests with social justice movements and initiatives, including labor struggles, the environment, globalization, media production, and education and empowerment, among other topics. Many of the video materials found in the reference library are Spanish language, focusing on labor, literacy campaigns, environmental concerns, and regional artistic traditions of Mexico and Central America. Video recordings, which are arranged alphabetically, are on VHS, U-Matic, MiniDV, and 1/2" open reel video.

The reference library also includes scattered supporting documentation, such as teacher manuals, guides, pamphlets, tape logs, and notes and memos, found with select audiovisual materials in Highlander's reference library.

The Addition of December 2020 includes video and audio recordings and supporting documentation donated by John Gaventa, who from 1976 until 1993 worked as the director and co-director of the Highlander Research and Education Center. These materials consist mostly of archival video recordings of interviews and congressional hearings related to a strike involving the Tennessee Nuclear Services workers, as well as archival video recordings documenting Highlander's international work in Nicaragua and India. The addition also includes reference audiovisual materials, including dubs of radio and television features and interviews related to Highlander and an independent documentary made by The Documentary Guild on the Tennessee Nuclear Services workers.

Acquisition information:

Received from Susan Williams in June 2002 (Acc. 099266) and April 2019 (Acc. 103573, 103622). Received from John Gaventa in December 2020 (Acc. 20201211.1). Website harvested using Archive-It, beginning in October 2013 (Acc. 101945).

Processing information:

Processed by: Allyn Meredith, June 2004

Encoded by: Allyn Meredith, August 2004

Finding aid updated by Amanda Loeb in 2014 because of addition.

Updated by: Anne Wells, March 2017; Anne Wells, Anicka Austin, Melanie Meents, Phillip MacDonald, January 2020; Anne Wells, January 2021.

Preservation of and access to the original deposit of the Highlander Research and Education Center's Audiovisual Materials was made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Archival processing of the April 2019 Addition was made possible through a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Since August 2017, we have added ethnic and racial identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual's preference for identity information to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.

Sensitive materials statement:

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Access and use

Restrictions to access:

Access to audio or moving image materials may require production of listening or viewing copies.

This collection has restrictions on duplication and digitization. In accordance with United States copyright law, audiovisual materials found in Series 2 and select audiovisual materials found in the Addition of December 2020 may not be duplicated or digitized for remote users.

This collection contains materials that are accessible only on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Access to audiovisual materials found in Series 2 and select audiovisual materials found in the Addition of December 2020 is provided in the Special Collections Research Room at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. For further information about access to these restricted audiovisual materials, contact Research and Instructional Services staff at Wilsonlibrary@unc.edu

Restrictions to use:

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

No usage restrictions.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], in the Highlander Research and Education Center's Audiovisual Materials #20361, Southern Folklife Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Location of this collection:
Louis Round Wilson Library
200 South Road
Chapel Hill, NC 27515
Contact:
(919) 962-3765
wilsonlibrary@unc.edu