Moonlight Schools of Kentucky: The Lasting Impact of Education
In the early 1910s, as the first world war raged in Europe, a different conflict was being fought in Kentucky: the battle against illiteracy.
The Moonlight Schools of eastern Kentucky were first established in 1911 by Cora Wilson Stewart to promote literacy among adults in the Appalachian region of Kentucky. Around that time, it was estimated that 208,000 adults in Kentucky could neither read nor write, and she was determined to change that. Under her leadership with the state Illiteracy Commission, schoolteachers volunteered nights to teach adults how to read, educating over 130,000 people within their first decade of operation.
Here in Morehead, our Moonlight School is still standing on East First Street. The story of how it came to be here is one of true commitment and cooperation. On Labor Day, September 5th, 1911, the dedicated teachers of Rowan County took to the streets instead of taking a holiday, using the time to raise public awareness of the new opportunity this school would provide. They encouraged everyone to attend the sessions, where students were provided weekly newspapers and copy-books free of charge. Many of the laborers and merchants who learned at these institutions were middle aged, and some students were recorded as approaching 90 years old when they first learned to read and write. More people began to see the value in education, and because of the impact, enrollment soon increased in the day classes for children too. Many of the children who got their education there up to the Great Depression Era went on to become major figures in the "Greatest Generation", becoming our protectors during WWII, innovators for industry in the mid-twentieth century, community leaders, and the ancestors of countless eastern Kentucky natives.
Cora Wilson Stewart’s painstaking efforts, along with countless hours put in with no additional pay from so many teachers who just wanted to help their communities, affected these families for generations. Folks showed what the people of that day called “a modest intellectual urge”: a lifelong desire to get out and learn. A decade later in 1922, Morehead State Normal School, now Morehead State University, became a state institution, offering so many local folks a chance to pursue a higher education.
We remain dedicated to honoring the amazing teachers in our community who continually serve our students, and we’re proud of how far we’ve come in Rowan County. For anyone considering furthering their education, whether that be with higher education, skills training, or more: know that you can be the difference for your family for generations to come, just like the countless folks in our area who learned to read at the Moonlight Schools.
Sources:
Lexington Herald-Leader, "Call For Volunteers to Enlist in Battle Against Illiteracy" (1914). Moonlight Schools Collection. 238.
https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/moonlight_schools_collection/238
Mount Sterling Advocate, "A Worthy Measure" (1920). Moonlight Schools Collection. 147.
https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/moonlight_schools_collection/147
Lexington Herald-Leader, "Mountaineers Learning Their Letters in "Moonlight Schools" of Kentucky" (1917). Moonlight Schools Collection. 284.
https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/moonlight_schools_collection/284
Lexington Herald-Leader, "What Moonlight Schools Have Done in Rowan County" (1912). Moonlight Schools Collection. 222.
https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/moonlight_schools_collection/222