Myles Horton born
*Myles Horton was born on this date in 1905. He was a white-American educator, socialist, and administrator.
Myles Falls Horton was born in 1905 in Savannah, Tennessee, to a family of modest means. He had two brothers, Daniel and Demas, and one sister, Elsie Pearl. He grew up near Savannah; his parents were Elsie Falls Horton and Perry Horton, former schoolteachers and members of the Presbyterian Church. His father was a member of the Workers’ Alliance, and his mother was a socially active community member. Before the birth of their children, Elsie and Perry Horton were educators.
When standards for being an educator changed (they now required at least one year of high school education), they lost their jobs because neither had the required qualification. After that, they worked several odd jobs, including working in factories as sharecroppers. Myles’ parents were peace-loving people who tried to raise their kids respectfully, affectionately, and devotedly. They grew up in poverty, but never considered themselves part of the lower class. Elsie Falls Horton helped organize classes for less fortunate individuals and worked to educate them within the community.
Horton left home at fifteen to attend high school and supported himself by working in a sawmill and then a box factory. During this time, Horton experienced union organization by working at a mill and as a factory packer. He demonstrated his activism as a teenager by holding a strike for higher wages at the tomato factory. Horton attended Cumberland College in Tennessee in 1924 and continued his work with local unions. He attended several colleges, including Cumberland University, from which he graduated in 1928, and the University of Chicago. After college, Horton went to work as a secretary for the state Student YMCA.
In 1929, Horton became familiar with social gospel philosophy while studying at the Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He sought to find a way to challenge and change social conditions, and education became his nonviolent instrument. Horton learned about the Danish folk high schools at the University of Chicago. Inspired by his visit to these schools, Horton helped establish the Highlander Folk School, his education center, in Monteagle, Tennessee, in 1932.
He later married Zilphia Mae Johnson in 1935. Zilphia Horton was a constant collaborator with Horton until she died in 1956. Zilphia and Myles Horton had two children. In 1962, Horton married Aimee Isgrig, co-founder of the Highlander Folk School, famous for its role in the American Civil Rights Movement. Horton taught and heavily influenced many of the era's leaders. They included Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, John Lewis, James Bevel, Bernard Lafayette, Ralph Abernathy, John B. Thompson, and many others. On January 19, 1990, Myles Horton passed away at the age of 84.
