Description
A transcript of a Guy Carawan recording of May Justus titled, "Growing up In the Great Smokies."Guy Carawan was a folk musician and served as Highlander's musical director following Zilphia Horton's death. Carawan is credited with turning We Shall Overcome into a Civil Rights anthem after learning the song from Zilphia Horton at Highlander. Carawan met his future wife Candie Anderson, a Fisk exchange student and an early white participant in sit-ins, at Highlander. Later in life, the Carawans lived near Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market, where he died in 2015. May Justus was a teacher and children's book author from Tennessee. She was born in Del Rio, Tennessee, in 1898. She graduated from the University of Tennessee and published her first book in 1925. Most of her books were set in Appalachia, telling stories of the people and culture of East Tennessee. Justus was persuaded by Dr. Lillian Johnson to help run Summerfield School in Grundy County. In 1932, Myles Horton and Don West took over Summerfield School and opened Highlander Folk School in its place, and Justus left to teach at a local public school. Horton eventually persuaded Justus to return on a volunteer basis, where she served as secretary-treasurer until the school was closed by the state in 1961. At Highlander she became close friends with Septima Clark. Justus published over 60 books in her lifetime, centered on Appalachian folklore, culture, and people. She died on November 7, 1989.
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