You Can't Padlock an Idea

"Far too often, advocates of community literacy and civically engaged education have neglected Highlander Folk School. Yet the seemingly modest programs at Highlander proved instrumental in triggering the largest mass movement for human rights in American history. The magic of Highlander transmuted an old song into the great civil rights anthem, "We Shall Overcome." Highlander also spurred bugwood cutters to strike in Tennessee, Rosa Parks to court arrest on a bus in Alabama, and a huge number of African American literacy classes to blossom in defiance of segregation. Years of painstaking archival work inform Stephen Schneider's rich and thoughtful analysis of the 'Highlander Idea' of using theater, journalism, music, and literacy to, in his words, 'make education an agency for social change.' This book will inform and inspire anyone interested in the relation between education and social transformation."—Keith D. Miller, Arizona State University

"Students of 20th century social change in the U.S. know of the Highlander Folk School. But this book deepens our knowledge of its role as a rhetorical incubator, where the persuasive strategies for achieving social change were taught. Schneider skillfully illuminates this most unusual venue for rhetorical education. His account is a pleasure to read."—David Zarefsky, Northwestern University

"Far too often, advocates of community literacy and civically engaged education have neglected Highlander Folk School. Yet the seemingly modest programs at Highlander proved instrumental in triggering the largest mass movement for human rights in American history. The magic of Highlander transmuted an old song into the great civil rights anthem, "We Shall Overcome." Highlander also spurred bugwood cutters to strike in Tennessee, Rosa Parks to court arrest on a bus in Alabama, and a huge number of African American literacy classes to blossom in defiance of segregation. Years of painstaking archival work inform Stephen Schneider's rich and thoughtful analysis of the 'Highlander Idea' of using theater, journalism, music, and literacy to, in his words, 'make education an agency for social change.' This book will inform and inspire anyone interested in the relation between education and social transformation."—Keith D. Miller, Arizona State University