Don West (educator) facts for kids

Donald Lee West (June 6, 1906 – September 29, 1992) was an American writer, poet, and teacher. He was also a trade union organizer and a civil rights activist. He helped start the Highlander Folk School, a famous place for learning and social change.

Early Life and Learning

West was born in Devil's Hollow, Gilmer County, Georgia. His parents were sharecroppers, which means they were farmers who rented land and paid with a share of their crops.

Even in high school, West showed he was willing to stand up for what was right. He led a protest against a movie called The Birth of a Nation. He was later expelled from high school and also from Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee for leading protests. However, he eventually returned to Lincoln Memorial University and graduated in 1929.

He then studied at the Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville. There, he was influenced by the Social Gospel movement. This movement used Christian ideas to help solve social problems. While studying, he became a Socialist and joined workers' strikes in textile factories and coal mines.

West traveled to Denmark to visit their folk schools. These schools helped adults learn and get involved in their communities. When he returned, he and Myles Horton co-founded the Highlander Folk School in Monteagle, Tennessee. West stayed there for a year before starting his own Southern Folk School and Libraries in Kennesaw, Georgia.

Fighting for Change and Writing Poems

Donald Lee West was often accused of being a Communist, but he always denied it. He said he never officially joined the Communist party. However, he did work closely with people he knew were Communists. He believed in working together for social causes.

He spent his life writing, giving lectures, and supporting important social issues. One of these causes was defending Angelo Herndon. Herndon was on trial in Atlanta for trying to cause a rebellion. West also helped lead the Kentucky Workers Alliance.

Later, West worked in churches in Ohio and Georgia. He taught and became a public school superintendent. He even joined the faculty at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta. During a time called "Red-baiting" (when people were unfairly accused of being Communists), he had to leave Oglethorpe. But he kept editing religious publications and teaching creative writing.

He was called to speak before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee and the House Un-American Activities Committee. These groups investigated people they thought might be Communists. West did not end up testifying before the House committee.

In the 1940s, his book of poems, Clods of Southern Earth, became very popular. It sold tens of thousands of copies. He was also featured as a character named "Tod North" in Clancy Sigal's novel Going Away (1961).

Later Life and Legacy

In 1964, West and his wife, Connie West, helped create the Appalachian South Folklife Center. This center was located in Pipestem, West Virginia. One of their two daughters was Hedy West (1938–2005), who became a well-known folksinger.

Donald Lee West passed away in Charleston, West Virginia, in 1992. His work as a writer, educator, and activist left a lasting impact on civil rights and social justice.

Selected Works

• Crab-Grass (poetry) (1931)
• Songs for Southern Workers: Songbook of the Kentucky Workers Alliance. (1937; reprinted, Huntington, WV: Appalachian Movement Press, 1973)
• Clods of Southern Earth (poetry, drawings by Harold Price) (New York: Boni and Gaer, 1946)
• No Lonesome Road: Selected Prose and Poems, ed. by Jeff Biggers and George Brosi (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2004)