Impact on Society
"An average of three to each school, one hundred and fifty... was the maximum set. ...,they came twelve hundred strong!"
-Cora Wilson Stewart in Moonlight Schools for the Emancipation of Adult Illiterates
While she went on to national attention, the results of the Kentucky campaign cannot be underestimated. Counties with Moonlight Schools were shown to have a 27.5% higher rate of reduction in illiteracy than those without the schools. However, as stated by historian Willie Nelms, "Maybe its ultimate effectiveness should be measured by the hope it gave to the uneducated. Before the inception of the Moonlight Schools, there were no illiteracy campaigns in the United States, there were no illiteracy commissions, and there were no readers designed especially for adult illiterates."
-Cora Wilson Stewart in Moonlight Schools for the Emancipation of Adult Illiterates
While she went on to national attention, the results of the Kentucky campaign cannot be underestimated. Counties with Moonlight Schools were shown to have a 27.5% higher rate of reduction in illiteracy than those without the schools. However, as stated by historian Willie Nelms, "Maybe its ultimate effectiveness should be measured by the hope it gave to the uneducated. Before the inception of the Moonlight Schools, there were no illiteracy campaigns in the United States, there were no illiteracy commissions, and there were no readers designed especially for adult illiterates."
Navigate slideshow to view "The Cora Wilson Stewart Moonlight Schoolhouse: A Brochure" - courtesy of the Morehead State University Special Collections Library.