author
Cora Wilson Stewart
1875–1958
A Kentucky educator and reformer, she turned schoolhouses into evening classrooms and helped launch one of America’s best-known early campaigns against adult illiteracy. Her "Moonlight Schools" began in Rowan County and became a model far beyond the state.
1 Audiobook
Moonlight Schools for the Emancipation of Adult Illiterates
by Cora Wilson Stewart
About the author
Born in Rowan County, Kentucky, in 1875, Cora Wilson Stewart became a teacher, school leader, and one of the most recognized advocates for adult literacy in the early 20th century. She is best remembered for creating the Moonlight Schools in 1911, opening classes at night so working adults could learn to read and write after their daytime labor was done.
The idea was practical and humane: use local school buildings, rely on volunteer teachers, and meet people where they were. What started in eastern Kentucky quickly drew wide attention, and Stewart’s work helped inspire broader literacy efforts across the United States and beyond. She also made history as the first woman elected president of the Kentucky Education Association.
Stewart wrote and spoke widely about education, always treating literacy as a path to dignity, independence, and fuller participation in civic life. She died in 1958, but her work still stands as a powerful example of how a simple local idea can change countless lives.