1959 Highlander Way · New Market, TN 37820 · phone: (865) 933-3443 · fax: (865) 933-3424
e-mail: hrec@highlandercenter.org

In a history research class at Middle Tennessee State University, where I am enrolled in a Masters degree program in Public History, I began searching for information about Crawford, a small coal-mining town in the upper Cumberland Plateau. My grandfather, Isaac Newton Bald, was a butcher in the Crawford company store from 1927-1932. While there, he met and married my grandmother, and their first child was born.

Several years ago I visited the area searching for remnants of the mining camp, but there was nothing left to see. I became interested in the life and death of this small town and began my research. In the process I discovered the more significant story of the Wilder Coal Strike of 1932 and the role Highlander Folk School played in the strike. As is the nature of research, I started at one place, and as I dug deeper, a winding historical path led me to this story.

I grew up in middle Tennessee in the 1960s and '70s and graduated from Belmont University in 1984, but I never heard of the Highlander Folk School until later in my life. As I researched the life of Myles Horton and his dream of a Southern mountain school, I developed a great respect for his vision, his heart, and his courage, and what he tried to do to help the miners.

Read Ms. Smith's essay: "Myles Horton, Highlander Folk School, and the Wilder Coal Strike of 1932." (PDF 681 KB)

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