[NLA] 20th Century’s Greatest Women of Literacy

[Thomas Sticht]

The 20th Century’s Greatest Women of Literacy

I am presently working on a paper by the above title. I currently have
five women in mind (see below) for their extraordinary contributions to
adult literacy education in the United States in the last century. I’m
wondering if list members think there are others I should consider. You
can write to me off the list at tsticht at aznet.net if you prefer.
Tom Sticht

FYI: The five women I am writing about now include:

Jane Addams, for her start-up of Hull-House to help many of the hundreds
of thousands of immigrants who were coming to America, most of them poor
and undereducated,  adapt to their new lives in the U.S., including the
provision of English language and literacy education to immigrants; for
inspiring the founding of over 400 settlement houses at the start of the
20th century; and for providing the humanitarian underpinnings of the 
numerous community-based organizations that today provide ESOL,
citizenship preparation,  and other services to tens of thousands of
immigrants across the land;

Cora Wilson Stewart, for her start-up of the Moonlight Schools that
provided literacy education to the white and African-American rural folk
of Kentucky; for her work in promoting adult literacy education for
native-born illiterate or undereducated adults across the nation, for
being the first person to address a major political party convention, the
Democratic party, in 1920, on behalf of adult literacy education;  and for
initiating the first national campaign against adult illiteracy;


Wil Lou Gray, for her start-up of literacy campaigns in South Carolina;
her dedication to the cause of literacy education for African Americans
demonstrated publicly by  her leading four thousand black South
Carolinians to the state capitol at Columbia in 1937 to sign the
statehouse register of voters and validate the political power of their
newly achieved literacy; for her leadership as head of adult education in
South Carolina; and for her tireless promotion of the dignity and
intellectual potential of working-class people.


Ruth Colvin, for her start-up of Literacy Volunteers of America which
became a national organization with over 300 affiliates offering
one-on-one tutoring in literacy for both native born and immigrant adults,
for providing staff development and instructional materials to assist
local affiliates work effectively with volunteer tutors in their delivery
of literacy instruction to adults at the most basic beginnings of
literacy; and for lasting advocacy on behalf of literacy education for
under served adults across the nation;


Sharon Darling, for her start-up of the National Center for Family
Literacy (NCFL) and the development of a model of family literacy
education for thousands of family literacy programs in the U.S. and other
nations;  for being the second person to speak for adult literacy
education at a major political party convention, the Republican party, in
2000;  and for her advocacy efforts on behalf of the Even Start and Head
Start legislation providing hundreds of millions of dollars for family
literacy programs across the nation.





































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