Zilphia Horton had numerous roles at Highlander Folk School, serving as music and drama director from 1938 to 1956. She enhanced the cultural pluralism of the school by developing a curriculum which incorporated and elevated the importance of folk music, dance, and drama. She directed workers' theatre productions, junior union camps, and various community programs; organized union locals; and led singing at workshops, picket lines, union meetings, and fund-raising concerts. She had students collect folk songs, religious music, and union songs around the South, which she then re-wrote or re-worked into protest songs to serve in political struggles, including labor movements and the Civil rights movement.