Women Help Build a "Nirvana"

ATHENS, GA. -- A doctoral student in the Program of Adult Education at the University of Georgia sought to bring to light the vital role women played in the social advocacy endeavors of one of America’s top adult education organizations.

In her lecture--the fourth program in the Weaving the Threads of Justice series--to a group of 18 at 3 p.m. Sunday in Demosthenian Hall, Colleen McDermott emphasized the exploits of a select group of women who helped the Highlander Research and Education Center become what Tom Valentine, Professor at the UGA College of Education, dubbed “the Nirvana of adult education.”

McDermott’s lecture consisted of her commentary to the documentary Highlander Research and Justice Center: 75 Years of Fighting for Justice. McDermott paused the video at various intervals and pointed out various women who she felt had particularly major impact in Highlander’s accomplishments in the field of social advocacy.

McDermott stressed how all these women perceived their endeavors in “mountain time.” They understood monumental achievements--whether it be social justice or scaling a mountain--required an exorbitant amount of time and effort, and all of them willingly committed both to what they believed in.

The first woman highlighted was Zilphia Horton, who became a labor organizer after unionizing the workers at her father’s coal mine, eventually joining Highlander after a workshop in 1936. McDermott described how Horton’s most significant contribution was her advocacy for hospitality within the organization. McDermott recounted how legendary civil rights activist Rosa Parks, in awe of the harmony in which African-Americans and whites worked and lived together in the school, remarked during her visit to Highlander in the summer of 1955 that this would be the place where change would begin. This peaceful coexistence, McDermott claimed, was a result of the enthusiasm Horton showed for accepting new members at any time.

Estelle Thompson was next in the spotlight. First hired by Highlander as a cook, she would ascend to prominence in 1947 when Highlander was building a daycare center and a library. Thompson was able to read the blueprints and aided in the construction of these buildings. Soon thereafter, she became one of the first women admitted to the Yale School of Architecture. McDermott said this was one of the best examples of how women from Highlander advanced to prestigious futures, even when their origins were humble.

Following would be the woman who McDermott admitted was her favorite subject, Bernice Robinson. During the 1950s, African-Americans in the South were required to pass a literacy test if they wished to become eligible voters. Esau Jenkins, resident of Johns Island, then an impoverished African-American community in the South Carolina Sea, suggested the founding of Citizenship Schools, which would teach impoverished African-Americans in the region the necessary skills to pass the literacy test. What set Robinson apart from all the other teachers, McDermott explained, was the fact that she was not a teacher by trade, but a beautician. Robinson learned alongside her students, McDermott said, and this helped the students overcome their reservations about the school setting, in which they had had unpleasant experiences earlier in their lives. Highlander’s Citizenship School spurred the movement for establishment of various other institutes of education in the South. By 1973, approximately a million African-Americans had been registered to vote.

The final woman discussed was Pam McMichael, current Highlander Director. McDermott discussed McMichael’s ability to unify people of various backgrounds and worldviews for the purpose of achieving on common goal, an aptitude most likely acquired, McDermott said, from her work with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender/transsexual people in Appalachia. The best example of this attribute was on display in the early 1990s when the North American Free Trade Agreement prompted numerous textile factories and mills to shut down in the South and move to Mexico. Highlander traveled to Mexico and observed the horrible working conditions in the factories there. McMichael organized a group of former factory employees from Tennessee who lost their jobs when their workplaces moved to Mexico and employees from factories in Mexico to testify against NAFTA.

The feedback for McDermott’s offering was positive overall. Davy McKie, a 19-year-old UGA student from Commerce, Ga., said he had always known that women were sometimes written out of history and always appreciates when someone like McDermott illuminates their contributions. Samantha Plotino, a 19-year-old UGA student from New Milford, N.J., said she was most encouraged to hear that women played and continue to play a noteworthy part in the struggle for civil rights for all people.