Chapter I: Preface

Many requests have come for a book telling the story of the moonlight schools. Teachers have expressed their need of such a book for their inspiration and guidance, and the general public has evidenced a desire to know more of the dramatic story of the origin, development and goal of these schools.

“I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience,” said Patrick Henry. The crying need of “the lamp of experience” to guide the teachers who are engaged in the fight on illiteracy impels the author to present the experience of years of strenuous campaigning against illiteracy in book form and likewise to show forth the achievements of adults who have passed from the darkness of illiteracy into light through the portals of the moonlight schools.

This book is purposely written in simple language and kept free from technical terms. It is a message to the teachers of every land and would be as easy and accessible to those who have had little preparation for teaching as to those who are experienced and trained. Not for the teacher alone is it written but even those who are not engaged in teaching will find a message, it is hoped, within its covers.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. THE PEOPLE WHO GAVE THE MOONLIGHT
SCHOOLS TO THE WORLD 1

II. THE ORIGIN OF THE MOONLIGHT SCHOOLS 8

III. SURPRISES OF THE FIRST SESSION 14

IV. PIONEER METHODS IN DEALING WITH
ILLITERATES 21

V. A MOONLIGHT SCHOOL INSTITUTE 32

VI. THE RESULTS OF THE SECOND SESSION 38

VII. TO WIPE OUT ILLITERACY THE TEACHER’S
GOAL 47

VIII. THE MOVEMENT EXTENDS TO THE WHOLE
STATE OF KENTUCKY 57

IX. THE FIRST TEXT-BOOKS FOR ADULT
ILLITERATES 70

X. MOONLIGHT SCHOOLS IN WAR TIME 81

XI. MOONLIGHT SCHOOLS IN RECONSTRUCTION
DAYS 106

XII. THE ILLITERACY CRUSADE SPREADS FROM
STATE TO STATE 124

XIII. THE PURPOSE OF THE MOONLIGHT
SCHOOLS 145

XIV. THE NEED OF MOONLIGHT SCHOOLS 167

XV. THE CALL OF THE ILLITERATES 189

ILLUSTRATIONS

The Spelling Match _Frontispiece_

FACING PAGE

They Came Carrying Babes in Arms 16

Young Men and Women Whose Chance Had Come 18

Arithmetic Was a Popular Study 28

A Man Aged 87 Entered and Put to Shame the
Record of the Proud School Girl of 86 of the
Year Before 38

They Were Schoolmates, and That is a Tie That
Binds 44

Letter From a Home Department Pupil 45

A Class of Moonlight School Pupils All Past 50
Years of Age 48

Letter Written After Three Lessons 80

Letter Written After Six Lessons 80

Letter From Pupil After Attending Full Session
of Moonlight School 80

Letter From Man of Draft Age 94

Letter From a War Veteran 108

Letter From a Student in Prison 118

Letter From an Alabama Pupil 124

Letter From an Alabama Pupil 125

Letter From a North Carolina Pupil 126

A North Carolina Moonlight School 128

Oklahoma Moonlight School 130

Letter to the State Superintendent of Schools,
Oklahoma 130

A Class of Mexican Mothers in California Learning
to Read and Write 132

Letter From New Mexico Moonlight School 132

Letter From a Georgia Moonlight School 134

Jewish Mothers in New York Improving Their
Education 140

Mother of Twelve Children Learns to Read and
Write 190

Alex Webb, Aged 98, Who Learned to Read and
Write in the Moonlight Schools 192