The Southern Summer School for Women Workers in Industry


Home	The Southern Summer School for Women Workers in Industry: Background Information Browse Southern Summer School for Women Workers in Industry materials Browse Mary Cornelia Barker papers Additional Resources on the Southern Summer School for Women Workers The Southern Summer School for Women Workers in Industry was part of the Affiliated Schools for Workers, Inc., which included the Bryn Mawr School for Women Workers, The School for Workers in Industry at the University of Wisconsin, and the Summer School for Office Workers in New York. The first session of the Southern Summer School for Women Workers in Industry was held in 1927 at Sweet Briar College in Virginia. Later, most sessions were held in various towns in North Carolina including Burnsville, Arden, Weaverville, and Little Switzerland. Mary Cornelia Barker helped to found the school in 1927 and served as its central committee chairperson for 15 years. She also served on its advisory committee for the last few years of its existence. The school became co-educational in 1938 and changed its name to the Southern Summer School for Workers, Inc. It disbanded in 1951. The Southern Summer School for Women Workers in Industry offered six-week summer sessions for young women, aged 18-35, with approximately 25-45 students attending each session. Women lived on-campus and participated in classes with a focus on economic and labor history, the promotion of labor activism, and collective organizing. Additional subjects included health, English composition, public speaking, and drama. Students were required to have at least a 6th grade education and two years of work experience in industry, such as the tobacco and textile industries. The school raised money throughout the year to provide full scholarships for students for room, board, tuition, and to help offset lost wages. The purpose of the school was to offer continuing education to women who were unable to complete their educations due to financial reasons. It was common during this time for young women to be unable to finish school because their families needed them to work. The Southern Summer School for Women Workers in Industry provided some basic education to these women which focused on the role of the laborer in society and the social, economic, and historical factors that gave rise to the industrial economy. As Louise Leonard McLaron wrote in “Workers’ Education in the South,” “At present the greater need…is for workers’ education, the aim of which is to teach workers to think clearly concerning their own economic problems as a basis for activity in a labor movement directed towards a better social order.” (p.2). The Southern Summer School for Women Workers in Industry intended to provide a “social education” that addressed the rise of an industrial economy and significance of workers’ rights in the “new” industrial south.
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The Southern Summer School for Women Workers in Industry:
Background Information

Browse Southern Summer School for Women Workers in Industry materials
Browse Mary Cornelia Barker papers
Additional Resources on the Southern Summer School for Women Workers

The Southern Summer School for Women Workers in Industry was part of the Affiliated Schools for Workers, Inc., which included the Bryn Mawr School for Women Workers, The School for Workers in Industry at the University of Wisconsin, and the Summer School for Office Workers in New York. The first session of the Southern Summer School for Women Workers in Industry was held in 1927 at Sweet Briar College in Virginia. Later, most sessions were held in various towns in North Carolina including Burnsville, Arden, Weaverville, and Little Switzerland. Mary Cornelia Barker helped to found the school in 1927 and served as its central committee chairperson for 15 years. She also served on its advisory committee for the last few years of its existence.

The school became co-educational in 1938 and changed its name to the Southern Summer School for Workers, Inc. It disbanded in 1951.

The Southern Summer School for Women Workers in Industry offered six-week summer sessions for young women, aged 18-35, with approximately 25-45 students attending each session. Women lived on-campus and participated in classes with a focus on economic and labor history, the promotion of labor activism, and collective organizing. Additional subjects included health, English composition, public speaking, and drama. Students were required to have at least a 6th grade education and two years of work experience in industry, such as the tobacco and textile industries. The school raised money throughout the year to provide full scholarships for students for room, board, tuition, and to help offset lost wages.

The purpose of the school was to offer continuing education to women who were unable to complete their educations due to financial reasons. It was common during this time for young women to be unable to finish school because their families needed them to work. The Southern Summer School for Women Workers in Industry provided some basic education to these women which focused on the role of the laborer in society and the social, economic, and historical factors that gave rise to the industrial economy. As Louise Leonard McLaron wrote in “Workers’ Education in the South,” “At present the greater need…is for workers’ education, the aim of which is to teach workers to think clearly concerning their own economic problems as a basis for activity in a labor movement directed towards a better social order.” (p.2). The Southern Summer School for Women Workers in Industry intended to provide a “social education” that addressed the rise of an industrial economy and significance of workers’ rights in the “new” industrial south.