!US PRICE Vf01/Pco3 Plus Postage

DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 211 243 MC C13 C47

AUTHOR Rankin, Dorothy, Ed. TITLE Country School Legacy: Humanities on the Frontier. INSTITUTION Mountain Plains Library Association, Silt, Colo. Country School Legaty Project. SPONS AGENCY National Endowment for the Huaanities (NFAN), Washington, D.C. PUB DATE 81 NOTE 70p.: For related documents, see RC C1.3 048-058 and RC 013 070-084. Photographs will not reproduce clearly. !US PRICE vF01/pCO3 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Acculturation: Community Centers; Community Schools; Cultural Backgrounds Cultural Education; Curriculum; *Educational History; Elementary Secondary IducOion; Ethnic Groups; *One Teacher Schools; Oral History: *Rural Education; *Rural Schools; School Buildings: *School Community Relationship; *Small schools; State History; Teacher Batkground; Teacher Education; Teacher Qualifications; Teacher Role; United States History IDENTIFIERS Colorado; *Country School Legacy Project; Historic Sites; Kansas; Nebraska; Nevada; North Dakota; South Dakota; Utah: Wyoming j ABSTRICT As late as 1938 there were 200,000 cue -zoos schools scattered throughout the United States. By 1978 there were little more than 1,000 in operation. Primary-source research cz rural education has now been conducted by 23 researchers in Colorado, Kansas, Nebragka, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming, sponsored by the Mountain Plains Library Association and funded by the National Endowment for the Husanities. Using information from oral histories, treasured msentoes, speeches, newspapers and other published sotto.., school records, swigs,and photographs, this volume presents historical vigaettes cf many aspects of rural education from the late 1800's to 1980. Chapters focus on: country school architecture: elements of country school success (sasplo diploma, examination questions, games, class pictures): teachers (their role, rules, restrictions, salaries, training, certificates) : the major role played by rural schools in imparting American culture to immigrants; the multi-purpose role of country schools as community centers used for voting, dancing, card-playing, socializing, debating, church, weddings, funerals, and civic meetings; and present day contributions, implications, and trends for the country school. The addresses of Country School Legacy Archive Repositories where additional materials may to sent are listed. (NEC)

sesseee**************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDR$ are the best that can be made * * * P from the original document. eoles******************************************************************* BEST AVAILABLE

OP EDUCATE* IIATIONAL INSTUUTII OP EDUCATION "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE NMI EDUCATIONAL NESOUNCES INFORMATION MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY CENTER 41110 Thls document hes boon nottoducad to raietvod from ihs person ut ottionismion reri Cvd - d it ANfilratchemise hove bona mods to Imp.** teproducton outlet

POI* of vivo o. opiverts owed in this docu- NIE TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES ment do not nscossonly niespostit oIftclst INFORMATION CENTER IERIC." paSidon or policy if FR COUNTRY SCHOOL LEGACY ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF Project Director: Andrew Gulliford Colorado Mountain College/Silt Elementary School Silt, Colorado r Media Director: Randall Teeuwen Photo America Fort Collins, Colorado Exhibits Director: Berkeley I.obanov Denver. Colorado Fist al Agent: Joseph Edelen I. D. Weeks library University of South Dakota Vermillion, South Dakota

COUNTRY SCHOOL LEGACY: HUMANITIES ON THE FRONTIER The Mountain Plains Library Association is pleased to he involved in this project documenting the country school experience Funding of this project from the National Endowment for the Humanities, cost sharing and other contributions el tabled us all to work with the several state-based Humanities Committees as well as many other state and local libraries, agencies and interest x1 citizens We are deeply impressed not only by the enthusiasm for this work by all concerned but by the wealth of experience brought to bear in focusing attention on --and recapturingthis important part of history, and how we got here This project seems to identify many of the roots and -charac- ter formation" of our social, political and economic institutions in the West. i...iready the main Project objective seems to be met, stimulating library usage and increasing circulation of historical and humanities materials in this region. Public interest is rising in regional, state and local history. Oral history programs are increasing with greater public participation. The study ofgenealogyand the search for this informationis causing much interest in consultingand preserving historical materials. What has been started here will not end with this project The immediate results will tour the entire region and be available for any who wish the program, film, and exhibit. There will be more discussion ofand action onthe issues involving the humanities and public policies, past and present, The Mountain Plains Library Association is proud tobe a partner in this work, the Country School Legacy, and its contribution tounder standing humanities on the frontier Joseph J Anderson Nevada state librarian Past Ptcsident Mountain Plains Library Association 3 GOUNTRY SCHOOLLEGA:. `Humanities on the Trontier

Project DirectorAndrew Gulliford Media DirectorRandall Teeuwen Exhibits DirectorBerkeley Lobanov

ABSTRACT

"Country School Legacy: Humanities On theFrontier" represents original research by 24 librarian/researchersand humanities scholars on six ir...)ortant themes: CountrySchools as Historic Sites; Country Scnools as CommunityCenters; Teachers: Their M Roles, Rules, and Restricitions;Reading, Writing, 'Rithmetic E and Recitation; Country Schoolsand the Americanization of Research was sponsored < Ethnic Groups; and Country SchoolsToday. by the Mountain Plains Libraryassociation under the direction w of Andrew Gulliford,and4275,000 in funding was awarded by 4 the National Endowment for theHumanities.

t The research focusesprimarily on the states of: Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, NorthDakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. In each state all sixsub-themes have been x research is reflected in the 2 throughly researched, and that reports written for theproject. 6 1,500 pages of comprehensive Of special note are theauthentic manuscripts ofretired teachers z who vividly tell of theirrural school experiences. 2 the Publicity about the project hasoccurred in: History News, g The Christian National Retired TeachersAssociation Newsletter Heritage,SnallifForum, The 1- Science Monitor, American Education, UtahPreservation/ Restoration, m Interstate Compact for est and Education Week andhundreaTRFewspapers acrossthie A film is also availE.ble. Contact: Project Director, 2 Midwest. 81652. R Country School Legacy,Box 305, Silt, CO,

SPONSORED BY THE MOUNTAIN PLAINSLIBRARY ASSOCIATION Ilarvlay Itaneso, Colonido, Nuintsks, Nevada,North Dakota. South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming COUNTRY SCHOOL LEGACY: HUMANITIES ONTHE FRONTIER

3 IrilliglIP11.111w

COUNTRY SCHOOL LEGACY WORM BOARD COUNTRY SCHOOL LEGACY PROJECT STAFF

Colorado Humanist Dr: Gail Parks Charles H Johnson. Director Rural Education Wnter/Consultant Colorado Association for Local History S Darlene Ammons Trevihans, VA Denver Basque Studies Program University of Nevada Brenda Hawley Researchers Reno Assistant Director for Non-Public Services Joanne L Dodds and Edwin Dodds Ftnrose Public Library Vkstem Research Room North Dakota .64 Colorado Springs, Colorado Pueblo Regional Library District Humanist Pueblo Dr Warren Henke Delmont R Oswald Bismarck Community College Pat O'Neill Bismarck Director Free Lance Writer/Journalist Utah Endowment for the Humanities Parachute Researchers Salt Lake City U.-oh Dan Rylance Kansas Chester Fritz Library Dr Fred Schroeder Humanist University of North Dakota Director Dr Paul A Hack Grand Forks Humanities Program School of Educ on UnAersity of Minnesota The University of Kansas Mary and Robert Carlson Duluth, Minnesota Lawrence Glenbum South Dakota Joseph J Anftrson Researchers Donna R Jones, Director H 'marust Nevada State Libranan Pioneer Memorial Library ert Blakely Carson City, Nevada Colby Jry Department Madison State College Everett C Albers Sarah E Judge Madison Execute e Director Government Documents Librarian North Dakota Committee for the Kansas State Historical Society Researners Humanities & Putlic Issues Topeka Caroline Hatton. Librarian Edgemont Schools Bismarck, North Dakota , - Nebraska Edgemont Humanist --Dr-Frank Fuller Dr Ernest Grundy Philip Brown North Texas State University English Department Ftiblic Services Librarian Denton, Texas Kearney State College South Dakota State University Kearney Brookings

Researchers Utah Jim Demen Director Humanist BelleviR Public Library Jessie Embry Bellevue Charles Redd Center for Western Studies Brigham Young University Sandra Scofield Provo Chadron State College Chadron Researcher Scott Birkinshaw Nevada Stewart Library Humanist Weber State College Dr Wilbur S Shepperson Ogden Chairman, History Department University of Nevada Wyoming Reno Humanist Robert J Barthel: Researchers Language Arts Division Nancy Cummings Director Northwest Community College Flamingo Library Powell Las Vegas Researchers Dorothy RItenour Milton Riske Nevada Humana Committee Retired reacher Las Vegas Cheyenne

Hazel Potter Ruby Preuit Retired Librarian Retired librarian Reno Wheatland

6 Photo-asNage Used On the Exhibit Exhibits

Coixaclo Indian Park Schoolhodse 1974 Mary Cornish Sedalia Design Consultation and FaaricatIon &Malta School 1976 Mary Cornish Sedalia Condit Exhibits Child at Blackboard - 1981 -- Marilyn McLaughlin Beulah Condit Corporation ` Marble Game 1981 Marilyn McLaughlin Beulah Denver, Colorado Teacher's Certificate !rirose Public Library Colorado R Paul Jones President ltiem Van Dyke The Silver Spruce 1928 Pueblo Regional Library Robe,t C Anderson, Design Director

Donations Teacher's Professional Interest Certificate McGuffeys Eclectic Readers Teacher's Temporary Certificate Primer Through The Sixth Revised Edition Teacher's County Certificate cnd Reward Card 1891-92 H Brat ley Ford County The Elementary Spelling Book Reward Card 1892-93 H Watley Sedgwck County Noah Webster, LL D

By Mr WR Lawson Nebraska 'award of Merit 1938 Shirley Davey Columbus Senior Editor Report Card 1939-40 Shirley Davey Columbus Educational Literary Advisory Abraham Lincoln Postcard 1912 Shirley Davey Columbus Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Award of Merit 1938-40 Shirley Davey COlumbus loxington School D'Str/Ct Bond 1898 Dawson County Historical Society And the Cattle Ate the School Teacher's Contract 1888 Dawson County Historical Society Lexington By Nebraska State Education Association Certificate of Award 1929 Milton R:ske Wyoming Lincoln Nebraska True Love Card Shirley Davey Columbus Perfect Attendance Certificate 1933 Lydia Coucerhan Peru The Rural Schoolhouse Teacher's Second Grade Certificate 1886 Dawson County Historical Society By Hammermill Paper Company Lexington Erie, Pennsylvania Diploma of Honor 1924 Wilfred Karsten -- Fairs Gay Richardson County Diploma 1930 Wilfred Karsten Falls City Inclusions Teachers Second Grade County Certificate 1924 Arlene Jaen Peru Copybooks and Quill Pens Hand-made by Washburn-Norlands Foundation North Dakota Notice of Apportionment of State Tuition Fund 1899 Livermore Falls, Ma,. e Souvenir from Teacher 1928 Elsie Bentsen -- Ray Souvenir from Teacher 1923-24 1924-25 Gladys Ganser Jarnestovm After School Souvenir from Teacher -- 1924-25 Alice Conitz New Salina Harvey Dunn c Souvenir from Teacher 1927-28 Bernice Weber McCJusky South Dakota Memorial Art Center Brookings, South Dakota

Slates and Slate Pencils First Grade Certificate 1919 Dorcthy Franzer Cloquet Minnesota South Dakota H R Mack and Company, Inc Souvenir from Teacher 1912 -- Herb Blakely -- Madison Boston Massachusetts

Palmer Method Werner School Book Company 1899 Schoolbooks Four Great Americans James Baldwin Writing Lessons for Primary Grades Herb Blakely Madison, South Dakota The A N Palmer Company Baldwin School Readers and Mental Anthmetic Two pages from Graded Work in Mary Cornish -- 1918 Arithmetic SW Baird American Book Company 1897 Astor House Museum Sedalia, Colorado Golden, Colorado Second Book Published by the State of A Song for February The Music Hour Lyn Spenst, Director/Curator Kansas Topeka Kansas 1937 Karen Hauptman Denver, Colorado State Seals - Office of the Secretary of Sta Nevada North Colorado Kansas Nebraska, Nevada, North Text The Country School Legacy staff Colorado,. Kansas, Nebraska, Dakota South Dakota Utah and Wyoming Dakota, South Dakota Utah, and Wyoming

7 Forarord

The original inspiration for this As T. S. Eliot said. "We shall not project came from an article titled cease from exploration and the end gEsr COPT MAU "Educational Legacy Rural of all our exploring will be to arrive One -Room Schoolhouses" by Dr where we started and to know the Fred E H. Schroeder published in place for the first time" Historic Preservationin1977 The Country School Legacy staff Thanks to the sponsorship of the is to be praised for their dedication. Mountain Plains Library Association perseverance, and enthusiasm.I and funding by the National Endow- have truly._ enjoyed working with ment for the Humanities Division of each and every one of the huma- Public Programs and the Library nists and researchers. Thanks go to Program, major primary-source Colorado Mountain College and Silt research on rural education has Elementary School for providing now been conductedby 23 me with a leave of absence to direct researchers in eight stptes. this grant I am also indebted to my In archives designatedat' the wife. Stephanie Moran. who "- back of this booklet, oral histories. endured interminable telephone school records, photographs. and calls and weeks on end when I was personal country school accounts away from home on the trail of one- are to be found for the slates ofNorth room schools Dakota. South Dakota. Colorado. Looking to the past, I would like to Wyoming. Nevada. Nebraska, Kan- dedicate this booklet to Mrs. Esma sas and Utah. Lewis who taught school In Joseph Edelen. MPLA Executive Garfield County. Colorado for sixty Secretary. is to be commended for years. Three generations of his role as Fiscal Agent for the students are in her debt. $275,000 eighteen month grant Looking to the future. I dedicate The carefully composed exhibits this booklet to Dan Vogeler and his were designed3y Berkeley students at the Brown's Park one Lobanov, and the superb room school in northwest Colorado May all the country schools in this Randall Teeuwen, Esther Candle'', (81), documentary film is the work of a and Andrew Gulliford at the Lad.. major new filmmaker, Randall nation continue to offer an excellent education within a warm frame- School, Nablonal Historic Site, Browns Teeuwen Park, CO. Hundreds of former students. work of close personal and retired teachers, librarians, and local community ties historical society officials have In the words of Dr Fred spent countless hours volunteering Schroeder: their time on behalf of the project But the farther I travel from The Country School Legacy is that quaint and fragrant indeed richer thanks to those indi- beginning, the closer is my viduals, professional and non- affinity to the goals of the professional, working and retired. resourceful and Idealistic who agreed to be interviewed, to rural teacher for whom no Identifyformer schools, and to subject. course or age was meticulously comb through school separated fromits neigh A records. hors, and with whom the The exhibits. the film, this booklet, school day became an invi all serve as precursor to the seminar tatlonto circles of exper discussions which will be held at ience, widening outward over 264 sites throughout eight from the common room so states. The seminars will be coordi- thatchild. community, nature. books and imagina nated by staff members and will fea- tion were unifiedin an ture panel discussions on adventure of growing and contemporary and historical learning snx.t in, thanks gnlin Arnold Dollase, themes inrural education. The western c olorarkr Hurst Commul Mies seminars will provide not only an Program funded by the Kellogg opportunity for personal sharing Andrew Gulliford Foundation WCRCP was Instrumental and reminiscing, but also a serious Silt. colorado In assiming with the original graft mot. 1,081 appik ;Won and in helping to grant evaluation of the role of the country administrative costs school in the community.

8 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Country School Architecture 6 12 Lighting 13 Construction Plans

Country School Success 15 19 Children's Games

Country School Teachers 22

Rules for Teachers 23 F 25 Teachers' Salaries

A Letter horn Mabel 26

Teacher Training and Certificates 27 28 Diary of Anne Webber 31 The Blizzard of 1858

Country Schools and Americanization 33

Country Schools as Community Centers 37

Teddy R(.,SeYelt Visits the Blue Goose S( tux)! 39

45 Country Schools Today .01 Commencement Speeches iolci 48, 49

Poet In Residence at 0 Countrti hool 54 by Dr Donovan Welch

Country, School i,egacv Aichive Repositories 54 55 Glossary of Terms 56 Our Little 'ournru Schtroi by Stephanie Moran

Editor and Layout Artist: Dorothy Rankin cover Photo: A South Dakota Schoolin 1902 Courtesy of the South Dakota State HistoricalSociety Hack Photo by Andrew Gulliford

9 COUNTRY SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE

After one look at the building, l was sure l had lost my mind. It was built of rough boards with double-boarded walls with tarpaper between the boards We had a small box hearer to hear the building which It didn'tdo incold weather When it was really cold we moved the desks up as close as we could to the stove Olive Salladay, Teacher, South Park, Colorado. 1927

At the turn of the century, the United States days in Scotts Bluff county, Nebraska, a school Nebraska to teach in Daniel. Wyoming she had 200.000 one-room schools, but now there was ouilt in 1886 with walls of baled straw a found her school had four walls but no roof. It are little more than a thousandinoperation sod roof and a dirt floorIt was sixteen feet was spring and the ranchers were taking their VI/hat happened to all of those simple. white. long, twelve feet wide, and sewn feet high cattle to the summer range They stopped their frame buildings that dotted the prairie or were Within two years cattle had devoured it work to board the root but the mail-order tucked away in narrow mountain valleyb? Writing in Sod Walk: The Story of the roofing paper did not aline before a heavy They had names like Brush Creek School, Nebraska Sod House. Bober L VVelsch states rain When the rain splashed down between Fairview Broken Bone, Windy Fbint. Pagoda. December first saw the new sod the boards, the teacher taught from under her Dunkley, Sleepy Cat, Elk Head, Moon Hill, and schoolhousereadyforits umbrella and the children continued their Fly Gulch One school in Hamilton County fifteeo-year-oldteacherinshort work sitting under their desks Nebraskanear CedarHill eamed the skirts and long braids The little, In wooded areas along the Missouri, the nickname "Pokey Hood*" unpainted rickety table and equally Platte and other streams, log cabins would From 1870 until 1940, the one-room school feeble chair had been salvaged from usually be built for the students Mrs George played a vital part in the settling of the Ameri- the unoccupied sod cabin of my HaightofMadison County Nebraska can West Rural Amenca was raised in a coun- grandmother,Mrs Martha Mapes, described the log school she attended. which try school, and those values and traditions thesquare, wood-burning stow was constructed about 1871 which made up our combined heritage were had I been lent by Reverend William Mr Hutchins hSuled logs from tne taught by teachers in isolated communities on Elliot, fatherof W C Elliot of Mason Elkhorn River, he then hewed off vast sweeps of the mountains and plains The City six wooden benches had been both sides, put them on top a e buildings remain as silent testaments to a made to accommodate not only the other and filled the openings with nation of immigrants bent on success sixIpupilsbut the people who grass and mud For the roof he put No one knows how many one-room would come there to attend church on poles, trash and grass and lastly school buildings still stand State historical services or community affairs At the dirt There was one window and a societies are ignorant about an architectural training school we had been taught door large enough for a barn feature in their state's history that is absolutely hove to make a crude blackboard by The first year we had no floor, but pivotal to the development of rural western applying a compoundchiefly of the second they sawed slabs and states Consequently those schools that are soot or lampblackto a kind of placed them round side down not burned Or demolished arebeing building paper When six feet of this Benches were made of slabsalso, destroyed by simple neglect and natural had been put in place arid a box of with four sticks driven in for legs and deterioration chalkpurchased, the equipment unless we sat just so, down all Architecturally the schools are as diverse as was complete would go which often happened as those who built them All of them are made The home-made benches varied, as we youngsters of this rudely con- from whatever materials were at hand three had backs while three had structed but were in for a good time waod, stone, logs, adobe, brick, and sodThe none and the only boy, Ed Cooper, occasionally firstNebraska schools were little more than contended that he should occupy If green wood was used small branches sod huts with dirt floors, crude doors, and one of the most comfortable ones, would continue to sprout from inside the leaky roofs In one Kansas sod school, a snake so a compromise was necessary As walls once fell tr:ough the roof, landed ontnepot- there were no desks, the writing les- Nellie Carnahan Robinson taught in the bellied stow, and began to sizzle son was a protracted one, each Disappointment Creek Valley in Southwest In 1E1136 a sod schoolhouse in CuS County, child in turn sitting on the teacher's Colorado in 1897 As a teacher new to the area, Nebraska was all the communi uld afford), chair at her table to laboriously write she was not impressed with her little log by 1902 the citizens of Ca North Dakota inhis copybook scnool bad built a high school .w mingly beau- The floor was dirt and during the I am sure there was not another tiful in its design and massne in its propor- schoolhouse in the whole country tions The immigrants were here to stay cold winter of 1884 the teacher's feet were frostedLater a quantity of asprimitiveasthis oneThere The line blurs and the definitions blend as to couldn't have been It was made of what constitutes a country school, but the str, was put on the floor which made it warmer but proved to be a logs and had been built in a day by rationale is the same in every state A com- breeding place for fleas This was the men in the settlement The munity with n - chool. was a community with dimensions were about fourteenby a future Unlike the East where the settlers not conducive to quiet study but did affordthe children some bodily sixteen feet The logs were chinked built churches first, in the West all manner of activity and daubed with adobe mud !n men were to be found who spoke a variety of If fleas frequented dirt floors in. the winter many places the mud had fallen out , languagesand held quite different religious when spring thaws came the sod-school If a child wanted to look at anyone beliefs Schools therefore took priority In the floorsweoften "slick as grease" But there passing, he would peek between years from 1875, schoolhouses were erectedin werere calamities the logs Nebraska at the rate of approximately one The roof was made by first placing a cacti dayand for the next quarter century. a In LeLe Your Light Shine the story is retold of new schoolhouse was erected every two Now when Hannah Johnson arrived from layer of poles across which was the 10 ceilingThe poleswere then pastures and hay fieldsof the The 'poor widow' constantly quar- covered with straw and over the Campstool Ranch to the north reled with this one and that one, straw was a thickcoating of adobe Chokecherries, gooseberries, straw- indeed finally wasting her entire mud From the edge pole on each bemes, and wild roses grew along property :n lawsuits While warring side were unfinished boards There the banks of Lytle Creek Our drink- with the chairman of the school was very little slant to the roof, but it ing water came from the clear, cool board. she declared she was going kept out the rain stream to make the schoolhouse into a Country schools represented the ultimate in washhouse Since it was on her On some days we had occasional utilitarian architecture Frame buildings often land, it belonged to her, she said showers of dirt when a wood rat One day, she actually boarded the wduid be prowling around up there cost no more than a few hundred dollars in materials. All labor was donated, and school morning train for Elko to tin,lig back The floor was of unfinished boards, supplies were scavenged in at least one Ne- the sheriff on the afternoon train to and if a child Cropped a pencil, he put us off as trespassers Now, we had learned to be quick to renew or vada mining camp, schoolchildren had the dubious distinction of sitting on abandoned know that had the schoolhouse it rolled through the cracks under the been on a concrete foundation, it floor At times we would have a gen- dynamite kegs instead of desks! The schools often moved around a great might be proved to be attached to eral upheaval at the noon hour when deal, too As populations changed in farming the land It was. however, on piles of theboyswouldtake up the or rnining communities, the school buildings, rock at the four corners and the mid- floorboards and reclaim the erasers, built without benefit of foundations, plumb- dle of the long sides There was no pencils, chalk, and various other am- ing, or wrong, would be put on skids and time to get a legal opinion As soon des the wood rat had hidden under moved to adjacent communities Most of the as the train had vanished around the there bend, several teams of draft horses In Wyoming. more often than not, the mows met with the mutual approval of local school boards, but occasionally clandestine appeared as by magic. The school- school was a log building Walls covered with moves occurred at night Children would walk house, the pupils and the teacher all muslin or burlap moved frequently when mice to school the next day only to find their school rolled off and down the road a quar- came inside to explore the interior building another mile or two down the road ter of a mile to a bit of railroad prop- Even though the schoolhouse itself might Alice Marsh described an incident in "Fifty erty The fence around the old lot be made of rough cut logs, its setting could be Years Ago in Currie Nevada" which illustrates was replaced, and every trace of our one of natural beauty which made up for the a community's attachment to its schoolhouse occupancy was removed When the crude architecture &cording to Mary A. Riley. Apparently, the schoolhouse was on the prop- snertff stepped from :ne train that The setting was Very picturesquea afternoon, the school was in session little valley with forested hills all erty of a widow who was not particularly enchanted with the school as usual, and he could find no sign around, Devils Tower to the west. of its ever having been on the lot n nmrocks to the east and the irrigated

Jerre Cr00% Log School Maggio* Coan4y) School District OS,Cok. 11 01111..Caosses novo, to mouth tilfarrvs Canyon by ths oftaway Road MM 11100..Dosisigo ft build is noso40110.1 1 HO& arid fon CountyRoad SI% Log school was sold to Mrs. Skintyro for S15.00. BEST COPY kVAILABLE _

for

..4:.,10,10.11100146.0%., Thomas County Dugout School, Kansas

+4, - Allv12:4111411186ass.. ,,,, =-:4- 4-X -

Sod school house, Logan County, Neb. (The teacher had a bed - and cooking utensil* in the building)

e "." IT.

Id , c. 1 evade

12 - First *whoa on Cottonwood Creek, Denio, Nevada Claim shack used q a school, South Fork of Bad River, S.D. c. 1904 8 CS4204 .4 I" I at o Courtesy of Aeusw'a Hiutoncal Society 40 Photo Csarttray of Minds Motoricel Ibeirty Photo Courtesy of State Historical Society of North Dakota CEST COPY AVERT,

zeal of the Legislative Assembly behalf of education, by carryingto effect the school law and inaugurat- ing a puL .c school system in every county of the Territory In discharg- ing this duty, we shall not only remove a great barnerwant of schoolsto the rapid settlement of the country, but will be developing an educational system among us, for then Lure, of greater value than the gold of our mountains, and a better safeguard to society than the electivefranchiseorstanding arm.es Country schools were a common sight on theprairielandscapeof North Dakota Although wood construction was most com- Cleveland Consolidated School, Nelson County, N.D, mon early records compiled by the Supenn- tendelt of Public Instruction indicate a variety of building materialsIn1894. 273 schools were built in North Dakota Of that total, 263 were frame, 5 were stone,I was sod and 4 town Strange,toothesheriff because the settlers were eager for schools for were of log constructionBy 1906, North couldn't find a single person who their children, but also because of shrewd Dakota had 3,700 schools Of that total, 3,554 had ever seen the school on that fiscal behavior on their part They voted bonds were frame, 103 were stone or brick, 9 were spot to run over a long period so that the settlers sod and 34 were of log construction By 1914- Rural schoolhad to be located within who would come later would bear the larger 1915 the last year that such statistics were walking distance or at least pon, 9cling dis- part of the expense There would also be compiled, North Dakota had 5,150 frame, 252 tance of the homes of the pupas In the -itor- immediate income to some of the early settiers stone or brick and 19 log or stone schools rat era, South Dakota tended to re, as they hired out to haul lumber from a rail While the earliest participants of the country Eastern dimensions of two by three n a head and to aid in construction school legacy experienced some variety of school district Brookings County along the In Colorado, recognizing that the improved constructionandarchitecture,later Minnesota border developed an aerage of property in most areas of the state was min- generations did nctStandardization was five schools per standard congressional town- imal and that additional sources for school established by the second decade of the 20th ship of thirty-six square milesDistrict sizes financing would not only be desirable but century Planbooks for the construction of ranged from four square miles to twelve probably necessarythe secondTerritorial schools and the passage of state laws aimed square miles Legislature, when it c conned in mid-summer at uniformity promulgated by the State Supenn- Further west in South Dakota t' ?re tended to 1862, provided for the following supplement tenclent and administered by the state's fifty- be still fewer schools per township, but this to school fundsTrot hereafter when any three county superintendents, carried out the state of nearly 80000 square miles still devel- new mineral lode, of either gold bearing process Yet, if standardization eliminated th.s oped 5,011 one-teacher rural schools by 1916, quartz. silver, or othcr valuable metal, shall be local variety of architecture, it also est...)lished a when the number was at or near the peak discovered it this Territory, one claim of one common legacy which was experienced by The upsnot of the density of schoolhouses hundred feet in length on such lode shall be all rural school children over the next that developed was that the number of fami- set apart and held in perpetuity for the use ant, thirty ..w-irs The comrr 'n sense of the white, lies and the amount of wealth to underwrite a benefit of schools in this Territory It was framed, one-room sc. within walking dis- school building vere not large Costly build- anticipated that this innovative approach by tance of the family farrrvas duplicated in every ings onen were clearly beyond the means of the Territory would facilitate the educational township of the state nom 1915 until the end of tbe tax base and the legislature saw fit to enterprise in the area while, at the same time, World War II protectdistricts against thefoolish reducing the tax burden on individual plop- In Wyoming, to obtain standardization cer- extravagance of a temporary majority even erty owners tain physical element of the school had to be after the grinding poverty of the first years of W J Curtice, the first Territorial Superinten- met This included well sites, good outdoor settlement had been overcome dent of Common Schools, responded to his bathrooms, playgrourxi equipment, flag pole, Buildings intended to last indefinitely how- new position with the follOwing charge to the and other additions to the structure that made ever soon followed Neighborhoods often public to carry out the most important phase movementofthebuilding a more built these Schoolhouses before most of the of the first school laws complicated and expensive procedure than it settlers wer: out of their initial dugouts, sod- It now remains for the people and ad been in the past dies or (Ian shanties It has been suggested their duly chosen school officers, to Schools were named after geographical that s phenomenon occurred not just immitate(sic )the commendable points or other landmarks, and names like 14 BEST COPY ULM

Eagle's Nest 'Paradise Valley" and 'Cot- tonwood" wereduplicatedmany times throughout the state There was also a ten- dency to name the school after the family who 'orated the land or upon whose land the schcYo' was moved Changes in land owner- ship would then mean a renaming of the school Another custom was to name the school after the children attending This was fairly common on theso-called "ranch" schools A large family moving into the district could change the name of the school by the sheer number of children from one family that attended it Undoubtedly the first white frame country schools followed the universal design of v11- lage churches that earlier had housed schools Such churches typically had long rectangular floor plans with windows on two sides and an 01, entrance at one end above which was the belfry Often school built ,-)gs were little more than one room with an entry way, a pot- bellied stow, and a blackboardYet the Paragon School at the Pioneer Museum near GunnisonColorado boasted a huge oell rower, large classrooms and even A Queen Anne -style turret with three cLrved vvindowsl The architecture of most country schools Barnes County School (Album #66) N.D. was strictly venacular Any special embellish- being spruced up and repc,ired M excellent In the words of Dr Alan Miller, who spear- ment usually centered around the bell tower Nook by Goldie Piper Daniels titled Rural headed moving the Plymouth School to the It is alto- The bell was essential not only to call children schools and Schoolhouses of Douglas Fort Hays State University campus, to school but also it someone was lost or hurt County, Kansas does a superb job of docu- gether appropriate that we dedicate this stone or if a prairie fire was coming perilously close mentingschoolsnear Lawrence.Kansas schoolhouse, in the spirit of our pioneering Many mining camp residents rushed to the many of which were stone ancestors, to the frontiersmen of tomorrow mine if the bell pealed ominously in the mid- College campuses with one-room schools our children May they learn that their suture is dle of the day Women clutched their infants include Chadron State College at Chadron, In understanding their past and feared for the depth of the caw-in and the Nebraska and Emporia State Uniwrsity at safety of their husbands Emporia, Kansas The Plymouth School at Fon Material for this section not otherwise cre- But the school bell also rang at Christmas, Hays State University in Fort Hays, Kansas was dited came from Dr Ernest Grundy, Kearney, and it was a constant source of cdmmunity constructed of post rock limestone Phi Delta Nebraska, Jim Denier). Bellevue, Nebraska, Dr pride any schools built simple roofs over the Kappa sponsored its resurrection on 'campus Paul Hack. Lawrence, Kansas, Milton Riske, bells Other schools had elaborate bell towers and faithfully helped to mow the 3,000 Cheyenne Wyoming, Robert Barthell, Powell, Denver. with ornate gingerbread woodwork or hori- stones Wyoming,CharlesJohnson, zontal slats to keep the oirds out Schools can be found at the Friends of the Colorado, Jessie Embry, Provo, Utah, Philip _Al manner of state and local historical Middle Border Museum, in Mitchell, South Brown, prookings,SouthDakota, Dan societies have collaborated in the preservation Dakota, South Park City at Fairplay, Colorado, Rylance, Grand Forks, North Dakota. and of country schools In Maine, Norlands District Pioneer Village at Minden, Nebraska and at Andrew Gulliford Utah #7 School at Livermore has been restored as Madison, South Dakota Schools have been Excerpts were previously publi:,hed in Spring, 1981 and part of a living history program Students who moved to the museum at Lusk. Wyoming, the Preservation /Restoration, visit for the day sit on benches, write on states, Thresher's Museum at Rugby North Dakota, AndCat*Ate the School by the Nebraska use goose quill pens, and take trips to the Centennial village di, Greeley Colorado, city State EducationalAssociationforthe functional outhouse park at Ranger and at Limon, Colorado, and Nebraska Centennial At Lonsdale, Minnesota a country school- the county fairgrounds at Arniclon, North Additional references include "Educational house is being renovated into a cultural arts Dakota Legacy Rural One-Room Schoolhouses" by center by a non-profit corporation oedrcated Dozens of country schools are being pre- Fred E H Schroeder inHistoric Preservation, to the restoration of old District 76 Bodega serxed, renovated, and restoredInterested July-September, 1977, and "What You Can Bay rn California boasts a magnificent two- local history associations are intent on preserv- Learn From Your Rural School" by Fred E H. story school now transformed into an art ing the Country School Legacy because they Schroeder in HistoryNews,April1981, pub- gallery and elegant cafe feel it was an Integral chapter in the settling of lished by the American Association For State Across the United States schoolhouses are the frontier and Local History 15 11 ----7-EMIPYAVAILABLE

I I A

Barnet County School (Album 100) N.D.

A South Dakota School in 1802 CROSS LIGHTING In a building without electricity and with no budget for kerosene, lighting presented a serious problem. Most schools thereiore, had windows on the east and the blackboard on the west. Some schools had windows on both skies. but for years the Kuhn School, ND notion prevailed that if light came from two sources students doing written work would ruin their eyes. A few brave districts tackled the problem by putting windows to the north for a constant. even light, but the building must have been freezing colt in the winter. It is ironic that in so many of the schools I in beautiful mountain valleys or out on the high plains windows were placed only on one fide of the building. The pupils were forced To face the front of the classroom where the morning light illuminated the I blackboards while autumn's magnincent colors in the high country changed behind the student's backs. Says Nora Mohberg. retired teacher from MK Mlitior. North Dakota. **The country so nool house was the most utilitarian building Imaginable but in most instances it had one serious drawback. That was the :_ross lighting that often injured the eyes of the students without being noticed at the time. If the windows were in the north and south walls, the damage was not st great. But windows on the east and west often cr-ated reflections that were Injurious to the eyes of the students although no one really understood wnat was happening at that StoMINnt, N.D. thine.* The typical oneroom schoolhouse was a Warne structure no larger than,24 by 36 feet for the most part, which sat on an here or soof ground whose sod often produced no trees nor supported a fence. Usually one Qr two privies slouched In a corner of the schoolyard,but far too often to suit the educators there were none at all "Too much cannotbe said against the barbarous custom of providing no place of retirementwha- tever," wrote the Nebraska superintendent in 1872. "Oneprivy is scarcely better than none." he said, "and (In) some respects worse. How many ruined characters can trace theirdownfall to the scenes of their e,Priy schooldays, where, through force of circumstances,they lost that delicate.sense of modesty so essential to guard the virtue of the young." Nor did the one-room schoolhouse compensate in beauty onthe Inside for what it lacked on the outside. A potbellied stove occupied the center of the room and patented, store-bought desks stretchedin rows in front of the teacher's desk and blackboard which were located atthe end of the room opposite the door. In the better schools,wainscoting, rising two feet from the floor, guarded the walls, which by the 1890's were often adorned with pictures and mottoes. But evenin these school rooms, the maps, charts, dictionaries, and other apparatusthat educators believed necessary for good instruction were oftenin short supply. And not until the 1890's did uniform textbooks begin to replacethe vast assortment of schoolbooks country school children wereaccustomed to take to school. Wayne E. Full(' "Country Schoolteaching on the4- Sod-House Frontier" Arizona and the Wes' Summer1975

COUNTRY SCHOOL HOUSES We have elsewhere ii;sens:cd the subject of sullool houses in general.We have introduced a cut for a countri school house, which has been kindly furnished by the American Journal of Education, believing it will be of value to thou who contemplate the erection of such a building. This house should be 28x40 on the ground, height of ced- ing at least 15 feet.The school room wilt then be 28132, the two wardrobes each 8x9 ; the entry 8:10.The parti- tions and walls will, of course, lessen these dimensions to the extent of their thickness.This house will accommodate fifty pupils.For a very small district the building may be 24x32.Teachers' platform 6x10, or 51o, 8 or 10 inches high.Wainscoting should extend entirely around the rooms and entry.Black boards of liquid slating entirely around the school room in width nos less than 41 feet ; 5 feet is still better. The uppermost foot and a half is very useful for permanent copies in writing ,nd drawing ; and for other uses.The windows should be so constructed that they may be let doer from the top.The heating should be by furnace, or by a ventilating stove.John Groositts, 889 Main street, Cincie- nail, manufactures a school stove for fifty dollars, which economical, and salient; by it, pare air is taken from the outside, heated and introduced into the school room, thusaf- fording complete ventilation.Even country districts e35 well afford this luxury.Indeed they cannot afford tod. t without it.We should be glad to see every country district IV 4. in Colorado build u goodschool house as is representedII, the out;and as muelgbetter as can be afforded. All of which is respectfully submitted. Bmof 7VAII 11011,10E M. if tt,x, sapciatencout P Wit Instramo 17 It t BEST COPYAVAILABLE

...Anyspecial embellishment usually centered around the bell tower. The bell was essential not only tocallchildren to school, but alsoif someone A were lost or hurt or if a prairie firewas coming perilously close.

&Men School, Kansas. 1804-1907

Barclay School, Clover, NEV

I-

Wit &hoot tionas, Irousergids Comity, V 190e &ISA lira Moo& WY0 i JIMA COUNTRY SCHOOL SUCCESS

The doss work is showingmore and more those who are earnest abouteir education, those who have a determined purpose to get all there is to be gottenout of ayear's school work mid those who are careless seemingly, or do not desire to benefit themselves with these opportunities so freely offered. The nicespringdays require an effort for boys to tear themselves awayfrom their tops;and horse shoesandcome to school Yet he who does so conquers in manhood, and yes in womon hood, too, for in the intellectual realmrn has found his peerintoomati From theRifle Reveille, Rifle. Colorado,i8.96

You can see them in the photographs They among thebest educatedpeople upwere needed in the hayfield, it were dusty, dirty little urchins in torn and faded I've ever known was necessaryfor them to ride coveralls who attended sch-lol barefoot or Of course there were numerous fac- (horsebackusually not for more wore Oki, vdom out work boots The girls tors responsible for the quality of than six or eight miles) or perhaps dressed in nand-me-downs, and often you education that came outofthis board with some family in town and can tell members of the same family because system attend winter school in town their clothing was cut from idenlical cloth Firstthere had to be a dedicated If in Colorado older boys rode many miles to They were poor Their parents had almos, no teacher, and one that really knew school and then proceeded to help the money, what they had was invested in land how to organize and supervise younger children, the same was true in South andfarming equipment Educat on was a lux- Dakota Floyd Cocking in Memoirsof South Secondthequalityof textsused, ury, but they scnmped and saved because they Dakota RetiredTeachers vivdly recalls his first wanted their children to do better and have 'McGuffels Fifth Reader' wa, tar year teaching at the Pringle School in Custer more opportunity inthe rugged, new moun- superior to anything that the average County high school student is exposed to tain and plains states One of my seventh grade girls was today By 1900, Nebraska Kansas, and Iowa had pretty sharp and I had to hustle to the highestliteracy rateinthe country Whydd Thirdthe indivtdual personal keep her busy and challenged And country schools succeed despite poorly heated attention received by the pup! (this then I found thy- solution Two of my buildings, few books and school supplies, relates directly to the teacher's capa- fifth graders seemed to need more underpaid teachers and no electric lights or bilities as 'supervisor, most of the personal help than I had time to give central plumbing? In the words of Mrs Mar- actual teaching of the younger child- so I had Anne start helping them garet Darien of Basait, Colorado, who aught ren was done by the older students. Within a week, she was my full- at the one-room schoolin Emma. "The whoby the time they had finished fledged teacher aide during parts of younger ones listened to the older ones recite the eighth gradewere well quali- the day She loved it So did 1 And They were real interested in their social studies fied to be teachers themselves) everyone profited from it Of course, and history and we used to have physiology in Fourththealmostunlimited she did not get paid But she got a those days They picked up a lot of things" opportunity for the 'gifted' pupa to better education, Children in a countryschoollearned inde- advance By having the chance to It seems we were to teach about six pendently, and they progressed at their own hear older students recite (after their or eight subjects to each grade level pace Often anyone or two children attended own assignment was completed) it That would make twenty-five or each grade, so the pressure for competition was not uncommon for children in thirty classes a day during 3 period remained rntrlitnal though everyone wanted the fifth or sixth grade (and some- k from eighttillthreeCould you to achiew Most lessons were memorized and times even younger) to have mas- believe our shortest class was only children knew what was to be expectedinthe teredpractically everything five minutes? That was spelling And next grade because they had heard their elder presented to the seventh and eighth our longest was twenty minutes brotders and sisters recite lessons the year graders That was because I believe in a good before Many of the country school in this math background Some other dou- it bling up had to oe done soot put the In an age beforecalculatorsstudents area were summer schools as excelled at mental arthmetic and in the ability would have been impractk alfor fifth and sixth grades together in the to add long columns of figures in Melt heads in chidren to commute (by the means same class for h story the first semester and covered the fifth grade work a ,matmr.ofseconds As for literature,A7ple- availablein those daysafoot or toris Fifth Reader,required in the eighth grade, horseback) during our severe winter The second semester vve did the months In my own case it would sixth grade wont listsin the table of contents such literary gems have beenimpossible torid? the as"Liberty or Death" by Patrick Henry, "Dia- The county superintendent prepared three miles thru the hills with three o logueWith theGout" by Oliver Goldsmith, the final exams, mailed them to the "Sr etch on Brutus" by William Shakespeare, four feet of snow covering a trail that president of the school board who and Nathaniel Hawthorn's "A Rill From the wasn't even kept open in winter delivered them to the teacher the Town Pump Some schools were located so that day of the final ex. m, After the stu- EliltMayfrom the Saar S Ranchnear Springs, all the pupils were witnin reasona- denthad written theexamtnandh, Colorado, explains the success of country bi or riding distance along the papers were returned', to the schoolsin thIS way maintained of course this was often county office for marking t1nd if the knew many of the people who justfor horse -drawn sledtraffic1 grades were too low, the student received their eoucationunder such roads, and were conducted as win- flunked out and had torepeat conditions ,and(as Mc as ter schools another year The system seemed `well-rounded' educationis In some cases, wherethebdys of a to encourage both the student and concerned) most of them were family- -say, from the fifth grade on teacher to do a good job 15 s.. 1!. -ANNE111

"MotettaTrtitit00).

9.4490/.Tivrtweiv::.-.,,../.."..A.e. ktreJon Womnly,A;4ader,

(tierce/tyke/ kage*monicello'r litinftual and regular Minium

/see retny en,/weal lirre/We obit:ear,' c rXtrer "el/ ,141 ,deoefo' pei,erthIleel

Sfivw,ert ,jegl4, rely, "Air Wary /.9

Questions like this tested whether or not the Course of Study had been followed They SCHOOL DAYS were "Quarterly Uniform Test and Review Questions.December. 1910" fromSouth First, can anyone tell why the oneroom country schoolis fam- Dakota their first Grade VIII arithmetic A man bought oils? That's right; it is where minions of Americans had at a sale a team of horses for 5375 brush with education, where they first had to learnthat Montana The terms of the sale were. 1 year's is west of Mississippi, that nine times nine iselghty-one, and that time at 6.% interest, or 2% off for words which ought to end In "Ible" Invariably double-cross you cash. The man accepted the latter a end in "able' condition and went to a bank and borrowed just enough money to pay An'&what else? Yes, becauit was to schools like this that some the cash amount paying 8% interest of our mast successfcitizens trudged heroic distances Did he gain or lose by choosing the throngh snow piling h her every time they tell It....it Is agoQd second condition, and how much'? thing, that Mrs. McGuir loves tie'work,for-this weather-beaten Grade VI-spelling Spell ten words tc schoolhouse has all tshortcomings of its kind, The plumbing be pronounced by the teacher from is outdoorsthe was bowl on the porch, someonehas to tote a list made up by her from those .Joe,the sve. The pay Is thin soup; it has been as low words quite generally missed when coa r Big the regular lessons Were gnen, but $420 a year. and ,tven now is only $878 a year. which have since been studied NORMAN ROCKWELL VISITS A Grade VI reading You will write from COUNTRY SCHOOL memory one stanza from either November 2. 1946 "BarefootBoy,""TheChildren's Hour," "Ode to a Waterfowl," or "Star Spangled Banner" The Norman Rockwell Book Indianapolis, Indiana. Grade III geography: Write how you Curtis Publishing company, Inc, I977 could make a little prol of water from running in the street or road 20 after a rain If you have ever seen a lake or a stream of water, tell how you think it came there, Y

Class of Fillmore School, Utah

Ameba Agency &Mal, S.11. UN Imo dog4swit hens. far afew years. BP. J. Bruner, 2j. COPY AVAILABLE 17 Wrda Arnold in Our Yesterdays described taking the final eighth grade examination in South Dakota Boys Will Be Boys. .. . In the spnng of 1922 a decree went outfromsomewherethatall In Wyoming several times rattlesnake killing wasmentioned as seventh and eighth grade pupils a recreational pursuit, but not as frequently asdrowning out and must go to the county seat to wnte catching gophers. This was not an activity that today's physical their final examination. Tocwere education would sanction, but in the .aast there were different sets four of us from Lameiohr hoot of rules and sidelights to the "sport." A water pail and access to Mason Peterson, Peter Steger, Evelyn water was needed. When the rodent was seen racing into oneof Maxon and me. Poor little country the many gopher holes on the prairie, the alarm was sounded.All kids VW were ail afraid of the big holes Intim immediate area would be plugged with dirt and rocks city The idea of arFiNIAL test was After a bad enough But to have to write and bUckets of water poured into the gophers' sanctuaries. suchatestinastrangebig number of pails went down, the gopher emerged to keepfrom buildingohnotMissCarter drowning, and would race for his life. There were severalvariants assured us we all knew enough to of the rules. Some students of Wi.ilarns School in Albany County pass. Theo gave us added relief by recall roasting captured chipmunks. Another in Lincoln County offering to go along and just be tells of holding a wire noose over the hole and catching the emerg- there. VW all passed ing gopher, then branding the critter with a small iron or wire. The noon meal was a break in the schoolday's hard work Once lunch was eattn, the Milton Riske children played games, with the teacher usually playing .with them For these children so isolated on their ranches, this playtime must have been very good for them and filled a real social need Sometimes recess would be skipped so the whole school could take a longer noon hour and go to a nearby pond to skate or a hill to slide down There were no hot lunch,programs in those days Most lunches consisted of a jelly sand- wich with an apple or a plain piece of cake ora cookie; no waxed paper wrappings in those days Fried-egg sandwiches were big, with homemade bread. Sometimes biscuits, corn- breack or cold pancakes were all some children had, with laid instead of butter Times were tough In one community the five or six mothers took turns sending the ingredients for a hot dish, which the teacher heated on a kerosene stove. and all the children shared. Often it was only plain potato soup, milk and potatoes were two things most people had plenty of. but sometimes it was vegetable soup. maca- roni and cheese, or hot cocoa. Dorothy Harmon in Our Yetsterdays said' .. Often ourbread was frozen at goon, as we had to leave it (our lynches) in the anteroom qut there `'was a huge stove in the ceititer of the room. We would toastour bread on top of the stove, and at least we had hot toast. The buttei,would melt and smoke but Mrs.-ran Pelt neverizirdonything about it Faye Gashatt Lewis in Nothing to Make A Shadow adds A concomitant of rural schooldom was the dinner pall..a lard or sytup pail, a half-gallon size for one person, a gallon size for several11,t always preferred to take individuat 22 pi ^ - 1-,41rc,'T se 4. J 'VAIL

14/boevtr you are. be noble. Diamond Flat School, Wyo. 1918-19 'Whatever you do, do Well. V' ltinenever you speak, speak kindly. COUNTRY SCHOOL GAMES Go& joy wherever you dwell (- With no money for playground equipment or even a bat andball dur Ing the early years of country schools, studentsandleaChers had to Invent inexpensive games that could be-played by students ofall ages. Crack the WhipAll the students held hands in a long line. Thestudent at one end would pivot and all the students would swingback and forth until the student at the end of the line lost his gripanci thewhip had been thetISMMAAAAMIAPAIfthAs. cracked. Porn Porn Pull AwayTwo !inert students formed oneither side of HERR SCHOOL NUMBER TWO one student who was "1r He call d any playerby name and said, "Ted District No. 11 Leigh. Porn Porn Pull Awayt Come away, or I'll fetch you away?"Then the Harris Township, Sheridan County, student must run across the line and not be tagged by the one whois "It." North Dakota Steal the Bacon Similar to Porn Porn Pull Away in that twolines of students are formed, but instead of a student being 1r a cap orscarf is 1927 -1928 placed in the middle. At a signal from the teacher one stud,., it runsfrom A LyENnt-Teacher for the next each side to grab the cap. The winner then gets to signal "go" PUPILS round. Annie OverStudents divided up on both sides of the oneroom Lena Herr Elmer Herr school. A shident with a ball would yell, "Annie, Annie Over"and throw Olga Herr Elsie Herr the bill over the root Whoever caught it would run around theside of the Reuben Herr Lydia Herr schI and try and hit a player from the opposite team. Ernest Herr Theodore Herr x and GeeseOften played in the snow, alarge circle is tramped Johnnie Herr wn with spokes in it like a wheel. A fox ispicked from one'bf the SCHOOL HOARD s dents and he tries to tag one of the geese asthey run in groups of John J Men. President thes and four's down the trail with their hands oneach other's! shoulders. The goose who is tagged becomes the fox and the gamestarts Anna Halbeck, Treasurer Pearl Lather, Clerk all over again. ---o--- The origin of the phrase "toeing tbe line" comes from miry schools Peter HaibeckJake Houser, Directors where a chalk line was often drawrvon the floor.Ctn.,ren who were .0.0.e,m,poune.r.."Awri..."00.,wavunoinnewolotews reciting had to keep their toes ontheline to avoid twisting their bodies around as they recited. Smithsonian, March, 1981 23 19 BESTCISIANALLABLE,

,Girls skiing in Jackson, Wyo.

lunchesIraitthat was dluxury Country schools in Colorado were the pro- from- cattle received the same medicine that Mothet war, not much in favor of as ducts of new settlements in the mining camps the livestock would have hadboric acid Stan it meant five dinner pais to be and new homesteaderson the recalls "We would be put in Jail today for the scrubbed out each evening and well Whether in the mining camps or on small, nursing we did in those years, but what were aired for the next day so usually she 160-acre farms, living was marginal at best, and we to do? No organized healthservices reduced the number to two or three young boys zither started work with a pick and existed' at the most The enjoyment of these shovel or took turns behind a plow OA of The children were quick tempered and school lunches had to be sharply necessity, girls stayed at home to help With mischievous Many a faint-hearted teacher left whetted by hunger for they were raising the children, growing gardens, feeding in disgrace early in the term because of a partic- anything but palatable in their own stock, and canning fruit ularly raucous prank devised by the older boys right The flavor of sandwiches is not Education was a k:,Ty, and teachers and Olive Sallady who taught in the Bach Valley improvedbyremainingpacked county officials had to :-.eg parents to let their School in Colorado remembers. "My first few tightly in a pail for a half day even if children attend school on a regular basis Some weeks were pretty hecticI was greatly relieved the glass of fruit sauce or preserves schools only opened their doors after the peak any morning I didn't open my desk and find a has not been spilled over them by farming season, particularly harvest time, was mouse, snake or frog They were all dead, of the swinging of said pail on the way over One log school, still standing near Mont- course By the .time the kids found out that to schoolor by its having been rose, Colorado. only opened during June July didn't frighten me, we settled down kicked over in the rumpus attendant and August During tree other months, school When one child became It sooner or later upon the removal of Wraps and was preempted by too much farming or too the whole school would be itching, scratch- overshoes Cook soclosely much snow ing sneezing, and coughing But. despite the packed go through peculiar sof- Son Leftwich, a former school teacher pranks and the diseases students learned in teningprocessmaking them remembers those days Stan retired as assistant country schools There was a strong desire to altogether different from the crunchy commissioner in charge of field services for the learn and to pass the eighth grade examina- discs Mother had baked The apple Colorado State Department of Education He tions Country schools were a success Stu- if any was probably eaten at recess remembers,inhiS teaching days, actively dents learned riot only the basics but also Other children's food usually looked encouraging parents in his district to send Their those important values of friendship coopera- more attractive` than one's own and children to school On they got to school tion, and compromise there was a universal bartering of however, the first order of business was to take lunches Ttir liquid part of our lunch are of their physical problems He quickly Material for this section not otherwise iden- was cold Alter carried in a pail from initiated a daily cleansing routine Mich tified came from staff member Caroline Hat- a well a half-mile down the NI and included applying salves for head lice, scabies, ton, Edgernont, South Dakota, Joanne Dodds, drunk from a common dipper and impetigo Children who caught pinkeye ueblo, Colorado, and Andrew Gulliford

20 -

Emery Climax UT, tam

-When I started school up there in that little or *hole schoi lhouse. the leather, shehad a little hand bell she uould rings hen she let us out for reces, va know? To call us balk to class sby. she'd tome outthere and ring the bell, and s; hen I sent to school tourse that was my first year at school up there. and I tient to school with a little slate and pencil. and of course.being a nice little hos,. I had a little bottle of uater and a rag. so you could wash your slate off and use it again. va knou Course afterwe'd been in school A very short s; bile, ue never carried the water nor the rag around, we rust spit on tne slate and wiped it off with -oursleeves and it vs as lust as good as nest

t.c 21 r44' 25 TEACHERS: NM ROLES, RULES, AND RESTRICTIONS

Jr is quite possible that It was never intended by the good Lord that 1 should be a schoolteacher At least not so soon after the turn of the Twentieth Century when they ux-re definitely a distinct Species .... Early in the I900's, women teachers suffered most of the restrictions of nuns with none of the advantages they enjoyedNobody defined exactly what a teacher's place was but everyone knew she should keep it Maude Frazier Autobiography. Nevada

Imagine a country school! Usually there was and the rest in the afternoon The would post a man on the watcher to make only an old coal stove in the center of the room nervous strain was more than she sure he didn't take a peek *- for heat. A blackboard or two stood against could bear' -Part of the strain just That first night there. it started to rain a little. the West-wan with windows to the east Rows might have been the experience of She was a bit homesick and "felt funny" so she of hardwood seats stuck to the floor and having the ntw first schoolhouse went up to the boarding house where ev- around back were the outhouses' one for the 'blown off by its pins' in September eryone visited and sang By the time she got boys and one for the girls, although the 1906 by one of Rhyolire's infamous back to the tent. it was raining harder the hornets did not care in which one they winds'It was the most unkindest tent was leaking. and she spent the night daubed their nests cut of all, after the trouble over the moving her cot around. trying to find a dry To say teaching conditions were primitive is `start of school, rr)oumed the Herald spot to sleep an understatement From the opening of the But the school was restored to its Vilest after the Crwl War, miners, ranchers, and foundations and education In 1909, Estna Lewis boarded the train in immigrants poured into the nver valleys, tra- proceeded Dongola. Illinois, and at the age of 19, left versed the plains, and climbed the steep The stereotyped role of the country school- home for the first time to teach school at the mountain passes. They brought with them teacher is the single female schoolmarm In mouth of Divide Creek near Silt. Colorado She saloons and dance hail girls, railroads and coal fact, male teachers were much preferred in the stayed with a member of the school board mines, Coke ovens and general stores, but they early schools, party because of tradition and andhisfamilyTothisday, Mrs Lewis also brought their wives. who wanted some- partly because it was thought that they all 'le remembers the sharp, lonely howls of coyotes thing more than tent communities overflow- could controlthe large farm boys who whose yips woLld roll across the mesa on ing with liquor and "fallen angels attended school only in winter Women were crisp, clear moonlit nights Women wanted schools for their children employed primarily to teach in the spring and Mrs Lewis taught for sixty years in Garfield Unlike the East. where churches were the first summer terms when only smaller children County Like countless other country schsla community structures to be built, in the VLtst, were in school According to Wayne E Fuller, teachers. she came into a new country and schools took priority The wives ,ealized they in 1871. 52% of Nebraska teachers and 472% somehow never leftIn VVyoming, there's a were at the edge of civilization and the faster of Kansas teachers were men saying about attractive single female school- they brought culture and decorum to the There were more women than men availa- teachers "Once they get off the trainthey boom areas of the West, the sooner they ble to teach. however, especially in the mining never get back onl" would-feel at home instead of feeling lost in camps. and because of this. salaries were By the time the plains were open to -ettie- some pine woods outpost in the I3nd that unequal In 1880 male teachers in Kansas were ment, thc, schoolmarm was already an estab- God forgot paid about 56 50 more per month, in 1914 they lished feature of Ani,rican education As early In southern Nevada schools had interesting were paid 51700 more In Nebraska in 1914, as 1845, Catharine Beecher, daughter of a beginnings The mining metropolis of Rhyolite men were paid 52189 more a month than prominent New England family of educators was no exception Harold Weight states women and clergymen, called for the recruitment of Rhyolite'sschool system was In spite of the low wanes, women, like women into the teaching professionHer started, according to Peter A Busch, men, were drawn to the West and the new highly influential pamphlet, "The Duty of at the first town meetingheld in a frontiers of bonanza wheat farms and sprawl- American Women to Their Country." decried frame tent when the town was only ing gold camps Usually teachers came from the shortage of teachers on the frontier and a few hours old A miner in back the East. with their steamer trunks, their petti- predicted that men would never fill the gap "It said 'See here boys. if we're going coats. and even a parasol or two! Of these is WOMAN who is to come in at this emer- to have a camp that will win, we got hundreds of teachers who dedicated their gency and meet the demand Woman, whom to have a schoolI got three kids lives to educating the children of Italian min- experience and testing have showr to be the wild as burros and I want to get ers. Mexican laborers. German farmers, Ind best, as well as the cheapest. guardian and ?them in school' A school district Scottish ranchers, a few have become living teacher of childhoodBy the hundreds and was organized that fall but county legends later by the thousands. American women funds were unavailable until after a Ruth Bradley Wilkinson arrived in Ternpiute, especially those of New Englandanswered school census was to be taken Nevada. dressed in a floppy picture hat and the call of Miss Beecher months in the future So Rhyvlite silk stockings As she peered down the road There were others reasons for women to raised funds by subscription, dona- and saw nothing but tents, she sensed she "answer the call"In my home town." said tions, dances and the box socials wasn't exactly dressed the part One of those Elsie Petsel Hallock, in The Sway of the Sch001 School was temporarily discon- tents was her home and her school, equipped Bell,publishedby Ainsworth,Nebraska tinued at the end of April,1907. only with a cot and a stove She ate up at the Retired reac her's Association. when Miss E Louise Resser had to boarding house, one woman and forty-five the only highly respectable Jobs for take hevacation from Rhyolite men Because she. of course, wore dresses, it girls after they graduated from high Miss A'esser has had the WOIK of always was a bit awkward scrambling for a school were nursing, teaching. or three teachers during the past few place at the table To take a shower, Miss clerking in a store Since my dad ran months,' the Herald explained, 'the Wilkinson had to go down to the mill While a general store, and sinceI was enrollment reaching near 90, teach- inside. a man would stand watch so that no somewhatfamiliarwiththat. ing half the pupils in the morning one would take a peek at her Then they clerking wouldn't be any fun, and UST COPY AVAIL:::

I a

Georgia P. Dallintore, Whitt Rock School, CO

RULES FOR TEACHERS 1872

f I refs. e .h tin. veil fill inn,. t. n..him n, o. oh,. 'moors on Imo. nth Noll ite tiossett.eff Fwh n. , a ts ,and bt,oh, er. 1.0. h.thohl.I toe from . m hags so.toils wee of laitanaungt for ht. e3an/fo donneAo et.. bneng 'ran, /he. hr ...II mt. a.....no

I %Ink I .1/ ),14 heffl. nax. o.. tha Idual maw., ho.den on ..tth oh. pole!. In. ...ht.h.t netkr. us/hque,. en . two, frequents pool , sleettl an a netherchoanp Nolleste 'stout reason to I tl. n o 04 01 0i7t, tool. *111, h N,, l I. ron fo nt stetrete, 's 1,1,11411, P e. o 1,140,u, a $11-. te, .11o, h t Ho. ,,nil, ant. nu., onoteett and honest.

a lit.r n hen,. thtt tettI h. . se . nee fps not oh.I I1.11,1. ore h. eel,. Ho. it. hie NI... iorthruil. end uukcau, foul, for fore on, ffiltfe ttr teed h tttlt seers het' in et..toh te es. tto turn. /eta 'rat/apt. week on Ht. pan pe ...dune Hoard of f .lut mum ea 17-year-old Violet Oppedyk Tracht at her first school, NEV AAA AAA A thtesIbilsAlnserhonssras111.41.1bAlheitAAnIndIsslbseistatano ...... 11,111141neinAsIbsinen11^41.8glog x. G' fie.e'L.14", tent!, ft:let+)at% /43 caeca 4 Sailitot 4 g , -4 I 4 ?LACKS"' "ICOND cetct CEITIF1CATL 4 4t.

4 05v,t of items 4 espertntenbent, 4 rhif CCVtintS, Vflat A te c9rim etrec 7 -1.,/t., a r.a., goo6 ttsorca titat,Mit 643 NItilrotort) evanorsattpit or the 6sotscrte.5 1419111-lb f.)1) l'14ttsb ata ttittfcattost, of tete Mato stess6ecert ctststf4 ," I to o SECOND ;NADI 4 S3 tftetefote 2.44.114S clitafirt.2) to tuvat astti TS3oESCt ix tra3 Se.,7141Stl), fOT, 03343 year from tits. .ate, isstletists eertsficate 8e ..cons se.x.4.2) erofinfic,NAM/ 4eilhaffIC,Wow deok-ksektkg Crvil Gorkrwero I. Drawly drk d'd cmgovho Tr 4 4 firalk IMMO, yr Grarodkr 1" U 8 (1, Orikogratky ;IS rooms*"8/ Pkymbgy .7e hawr 4 lAsq twil Art el hacktog 71/ Algebra Cromer, iota, NalkrrtlIkiktiodky 4 tenonesso ts Au reefui at, 13 flat ten ort" setters tie f 4 thiemsfrrefrod 111,RM sass, fee 41.4....Joni, the morel, el /4, err, 4 Ina, 014 the !men el the feet. . IA* CooNfSeporroowleit 'Wks Autrwroft 27 a 11.

rn a

,4tt Frances Johnson in the doorway of Hargreaves School, Wyoming. c. 1911 Slate Creek School, Colorado. c. 1894

fellow wantedtotake me to (It was my understanding by the timeI'dcompleted my center normal training in high school Id another party at another home,I that that was where the teacher's wasn't permitted to go, so I didn't desk was suppose to stay )The still be too young to go into nurse's ask permission again children were used to having their training I was goingtohe respectable and was going to earn a To get to the schoolhouse we rode two-seater deskswith hinged seatsthe way they were They living SoI became a teacher a wooden wagon pulled by two friendly horses, although the grey couldn't be moved There were two I began Therefore in the fall of 1924 one had a physical handicap and other little two-seaters at the ends of teachingschoolintheJames" wasmentallydisturbed,too It two paths out behind the school- District about ten miles nortn of wasn't exactly warm sitting up on a house furnished with last season's Norden Nebraska wooden seat in sub-zero tempera- Sears catalogs I had a room to myself with a cur- tures for the three-mile drive That Lunches were taken ro school in tin tain for a door and a kerosene lamp was the proper place ftx the teacher syruppailsandredrectangular for light upstairs Fora mattress tick to sit-beside the driver lAke, crossed Union Leader pipe tobacco boxes ing had been filled with freshly a lush hay meadow where in the with handles My lunch pail was a mowed hay As nights got colder I spring of the year we could hear and fairly new gallon-sized pail When left the Imprint of my body deep in see grog se and prairie chickens puf- the lunch boxes were opened at the hay The farther I could snuggle fing out 1,)eir necks and booming noon, the odor of escaping mole- down in the hay the warmer it was dancing. and stamping around their cules was sometimes quite so in the mornings I was careful not chosen friends Once in a while overpowering The sulphur smell of to smooth out the imprint of my coyote would be seen, and I learned deviled eggs fighting with that of body --the deeper the dent the bet- to distinguish between the sons of the occasional onion in a hurry to ,er The kerosene lam!) never had a male and female meadowlark escape tight fitting buckets encour- very much oil in it-- a hintI sup- Of course the schoolhouse was a aged us to get out in the air of the pose that I shouldn't have a light on small, one-room, oblong affair with playground as soon as possible after very long a door in the south that didn't quite lunch There were a few play parties that fitor keep out the wind and It was quite usual for teachers' pay to include room and heard with the teacher winter Thekitchen wouldbe weather The room had a round cleared of furniture and the young stow in the center There were six shuttled from home to I Iu. ie usually sleeping neighborhood people would come windowsthree on the east and with one or more of the children She stayed in for games We would sing and three on the westNaturally the longest where there was the greatest number circle around in a manner to con- children faced me at my desk, in the of children and frequently the least room and form with the words When a young north, placed a little to the left of food, 28 BESTCOPY AVAILABLE

Old Schoolhouse in Glencoe, Wyo. Living rn a single bedroom was not one of 1919 a Nebraska study showed that the the specified rules, it was an econoill'r neces- median age of that state's schoolteachers was Such restncnons left little room for free- only twenty-one sity inthe nottaketheliberty cf An advertisement was placed dom One did 1901 that entertaining Mends nor undertaking any noisy Tonopah, Nevada "Bonanza" in stated they had 20 applicants for the position activity in someone else's privatehome The However,' they were especially room was simply a place to retireafter a day's of teacher work at school During the depression, it was looking for an "old maid" because she would would unthinkable for a couple of young women to probably teach the term out and there he no danger of her getting married in camp live in an apartment where theycould enter- The Reno paper picked up on the story and tain as they pleased Phoebe Nater wrote in Koshapan of her addressed an item to the "Three Old Maids of Reno urging them to. oplyfor the job in Nebraska experiences hopes that they might be able to marry one of Frigid winter weather brought more problems The kitchen door was he Tonopah millionaires this may sound, most sealed shut in below zero weather As humorous as teachers did not marry millionaires, and life and an army blanket was draped of the over the door and tacked in places was not all that glamorous in some to keep the door covered and the Isolated areas of the West In 100 Years on the. cracks around the door sealed over Muddy A L Hafner discusses the problems of to keep out the cold The only other keeping teachers in Moapa Valley, Nevada possible door available in the house There were many teachers brought to the outdoors was the one in the in at the turn of the century, but their teachers bedroom This door was efforts were in vain because of the warped out of shape, just jam it at meanness and trickery played on the bottom as far as it would go them by the students The teachers shut It lacked four inches at the top stayed on the average of two or until John of being closed The door hung with three months orfess icicles and heavy frost, but that did Crosby came 'Johnny Bull' was a himbythe not matter nicknamegiven students He was a large, athletic, Perhaps country school teachers had to muscular man, and was the only contend with poor living conditions because one that was able to control the they were so young In his article on "Country students or scare them into learning School Teaching on the Sod-House Frontier," Male teachers in Nebraska also had to be Wayne E Fuller states, "Both the Kansas and quick with their fists as well as their wits Frank Nebraska school laws required that teachers Grady recalled some features of student began be at least sixteen years old before they discipline to teach, but it was not uncommon forthem to begin at fifteen or even your/ger, particularly The first teacher in Raymond school in the 1870's when the demand forteachers [Nebraska] was run out by the boys, outran the supply But even at the turnof the who used stones as weapons of century and into the early 1900's, Kansas and assault The second met the same Nebraskacountry schoolteachers were gang, but when he had soundly remarkedly young So rapidly did they enter thrashed one boy, and the youth's and lease the profession that their teaching father coming to take up the battle careers. usually cut short by Matrimony, were shared the same fate, the reign of Over by the time they were twenty"As late as terror ended abruptly, and a new 25 2r9 vlt

This is one of the letters written by Mabel Townley to her good friend Helen Myers. Mabel taught in a rural school near Hart- ford, South Dakota. 1899 ,o 1900.

ffegtuatia 17, 1900

91i1 glat

'm ring la Lie "6pelitte &Acid" andelICAPLC4Sin041,Vishituglan's .qiitlfulag. arylgnu come?9-ge Adduct Alma:Led fat,a4.Pilague," gutasg cou/dn't find one tgat suitedme, .2,1ff ga.2,2 just plain g'Qe ertiari tutinin tfie rumple-va inunenseig. g'Qe artf9 Len to to.4.1,once at tWice sinceegtistmas and Ige ruaspects fat tamasuPW cite gioamtg. )at.don.Quurect4.. cotd,tit gorefd. ,LI'm to yetund9. find tg. tliAt 'wagon dial pusses. 94au see, g Want same .Juste and glue fat igutsda9, '4 Rafea rod excuse fat rnanxiety. to get to to.Wn gt wins tge gandWiiting 4an expett to Rae to use gis eap, a tagfe, a cgait, at a sge/ fat a desk. ..c1 don't gette4e g can act .Jute neatf.9 main. las, fat tge mallet, g'm of tail g'rrt easing affrnantgition fatef9, fat g can't cow/ m9seff to lead at Wtita anylging WattgWgife. 9ge dag at scgaafres as tapidl9 as it used to Wfurn Was az srange instead 4 Eulfe. reef considetagfe ride in. Ling agle toscud, Igis, fat tge fitst dog Was a Witaft marttg fon9, and tfte decteahein gatgtg gas gem tegulat and gladuat, Qat.14 raduaP. 9 gen, Wgen tout o'ciackcomes,g ga4ea vampin9 game 4 LI .AMR tge Add-um

(Wfueg afWa9s magi:, me Wandet almril); sflat. gindtruj (and accasionaff9 tgumg ); sWeepmilduat9 bat room; dou tge sguttets, fuck tfu? loot, sgoufdet m9 dinner and win, out. JRta Rt explosion is not meant pt sfang; it is desctipti42e 4 mti teacg Rome, g scuig fatan gout in a room 8 derees Leo) yta, Waft Raul, Watet. tgis time, U is neatl9 sappet time.aftet t mead, wite. .4 eat ertaugg a man,tgete is ortf9an Rout at,rat,Lit and a gaff and gedtime (8:30). OtoW, g &We react 4men .4kt) acqui4altmia at tfvuie fanragesat tge tate 4tolenty add mintitesa dolt .4 Raej41,91,tendaiiftalliAittg account in,a6.4.1 Scitactipapet 4 a rat Lofty/pet wfia geutmea reat, nawtattst gy studying as Re lade to and faun gis gusiness. 9.2e made an .unf,wit,ion,an me,Lt it .ails too duly;it gutuggl an deriessien,. Rat gout, and a Ur, canscientiousfy, at aside fat, igeunan and, 6)mvison, is ftilivied, amktia, gy marline statics and gamins, .428tiek Jaiftpymyto 424, a 44464 nattvw. ma t& me tined, ten, pp, 4 cant 644 titis edii, And 41,ir.g is at peuet. not difftwit to conba and fan van, g do net Rata to Wolf at game, vilitgaut fan,so, good-fat- notgint 0441: it, .Idol Wief g e.2e t a matuit to in a way, usponsigle position? 3o USTCOPY AVAILABLE

Mabel Townaley

and, RULCU144,4 A3,2g4t1 ,C.PLOAULI roleaumf tke samehunch With dour triumphant ininaduction to the "Ototat gentferrum.," came afettet barn 3CePen 5mitg, concessuuj to the ponderous attentions 4 a gafiliteadtil Faeta (tut qiess o4,42rt.s. up to Watt Cind`,191V14141 ES rito4ing undet tg* same toot ..risk the rung man 4 the to4tv' of nui'')Rca./act eensideted ftimseff futaffij squefcgiut and ist gang ,hticA,JeinflenCJ toedrutagout rruj,fottij-rvv-ofd gaegefat ..silk tfuz rod faun, didn't 4? Ao..2 wde to atoof standirl up in a ..2.artn Prim fitst time e,)ort. sa..2 him"' 3Com/ the react ..'eel he imitated of 9R.t. Vo4e 44 hadcompany, tothe concert the next nitjitt, and how' woad a2 ,gotif kettu that ntoututy tut a cLan cofLut ) to 4,guffluer 4t %aka tge next to the fast mitt 4 schoof gcfou Chtistnint so gad to mate my excuus, and Re run?4, came gati! son a,s144i t,JOWeeks ayo..'7 Li readied Lov2nfa.the Put timef%&lee Weef:,, and on ten mutates notate, Went up 1,09)114tcLeff lo attend a 'mutiny the state `N e. ct. COM. 4 ...tgicg. fat next rat. J slava a4st. u,nctii gt seemedsooctil, to ge among students main ei?en, those of hostile colons. SR. threeXattfotd goya Whoate attetulinijgscgoof tgete .Jere setticuifsomeanafro home.

fg,e ARTC1.14mattng tginr intet2 stall mo,42.(.1 Bete a 'La 1g142,2 gunitted at, mate, andPill, fae mi..? tang,. SAR men one 4them, hate to stay up aft :tight to tale case 4 the gagies.eigey, gtuty the 4,4eak, arum in to Warm stem, and it sounds ale a Litman ouitsely ene night Cie foot fatngs in the kitcfun. ,J Pisa na rue tamest.9to one slept much that night. ge chi ken ata glinnUty, to sitout S43 stop. tt C14lt1491(041. oinew ,01141

27 1 respectfortheschool was established The Diary of Anna Webber: (Mother teacher,] 1 W Kerns Early Day Teacher of Mitchell used to pull up the window and spit County a iiik,,Voi tobacco juice cleandown Edited[ by 1 _tia Gravatt Serithsher to in Street .The discipline on passedtheteachers' examinations the whole was pretty good There Introduction teach Brecken given in Beloit, and was hired to were no high-falooting lam, and Anna Webber was born in the district school lying adjacent tothe the teacher could whale the very ridge Mow Lyon) county. September to, little settlement of RItie Hill, Center town- )860. the daughter of WilliamEllswonh devil out of you if it would aid in you and Thankful ()cilia Webber Economic ship The term was for three months. May bnnging (sic) to time circumstances forced the family toleave through July (Mother teacher] was already in the Kansas shortly after Anna's birthThey During the term Anna conscientiously kept a diaryIt is here published, with school on New Years Day, and they moved to Iowa where Anna's mother original spelling and punctuation threw bnmstone-sulphur I reckon died and her father remamed in 1872 the family returned to Kansas, settlingin maintained it's tatted - -down the chimney and The smoked him out, getting possession Center township of Mitchell county and tityriniet1in pan fromKt up-eve Ifish Willi QUM' Cute a percen- county had been organized in 1871 of the premises was settled rapidly in the following years At, 'ol18 1472 lopeka Kansas State His tage of the big fellows considered In the spring of 1881, AntraWebber tixical Six It .1,'15)72 the teacher Public Enemy Number One The worst thing of all was (4.t9 18 when the parents took up the battle il.Jas warm and of the kids That happened quite 9E91 If fR, ts the next to tge tail week At m5111. trt disacpuniagge (gal .4 atm-m.(1 scgta a AUL often and they vowed that if the kids rn9 dread to Etude trui fast 4 gash, to coudn't put the teacher out, they nut aftes Glee am! as .;,aini as it would They usually got the worst of dull come Atlfc (-Lit ',font .Dash this o gad Bette, don me1 it, however .10-,tgls dual Oe had Cornrunat arm gunnel and flte me down to tR4/4aig-log, so In the instance of the McCarthy School, tattalf. cams tip ...lag me at MM. District 29 in Washington County, Nebraska, and 4i la9eil oath the afteinoon gel and.4 as to TAtgloofig as soon at ro,mgfo the teacher found it difficult controlling the :igtrtufml, (14.1)(1 21. seventy -five students The larger boys,who ass cpuncl dawn to1.1111. andelsons fgt. normally would be farmng, attendedduring esiening .41 does not seem steal asfonasomc, .4) I! nice and coot' hits niosninfi,gut .4 the winter season The teacher was dnven out 'tff slo!I so, ttff tga 01dalsame seta Rot comelily wool IC Lin no( Knaw ho.J fni, it Jimmy Van Duesen in taking his placelaid a titste,dall, and flotn thole sunyell a Wee fl 1f:filet. ...rd gun across the top of his desk andsaid, "Boys, iStirtutail itcguott took .glossIn. and .4if rm here for business-to teachHe had no to see teOlitsstes ilittoatikont,.4 Mel tIlltle trouble Neither did Charles Wertz of Richland tf0t1n9 fait thole,than at anti time snug g dectaie if .4 wasn't wocid He frequently took leaves of absence fromhis it gti, 4.1.1tot., 'dock via school to join cattle drives, to hunthorse Fate goon hole g4.141 (Vide tgt, has goon a nice da,f, lot off it gas Bolts thieves, to serve as a payroll courier, and to join (tine, 4 .;',1 didn't Bette anti dinner.1 here is .4 posses searching for criminalsMeanwhile, he a picnic nextZ-7.1aticutali, and .4 4otted fike Ia ts tip fot a lain, and continued to attend college 4')Q need uun to . Itt on no.,tog aEAel can 01 notno do hope 10,2 ,d In Wyoming the younger country-school ogt4a g don 'I god, tAtn1 is iteuigf gaineday,a teachers were the butt of pranks by theolder .4 g(oe to moor) tions in tge children and young men of the district One hale gal IA. Iiine cods( else, of it seems Aral 11,1s is a gold place to {rata. Mils.Kansas and teacher had recently had her hair bobbed, dial iJaal it.4 ',dot in fife agecome the floor the students, to tease her, placed of off of ns, the mop by Marti 19 mop upside down and addressed aistital, gid9 22, the teacher's name 9Cos fdon't gale 4unat One teacher walking in the ianch yard in .4 EtaJa mdif Pout, ileitis MOW 4 scgoof. neJel Jul 11kt, nitj glAttntgustit1L141 her best clothes, was roped by a cowboyand Ulttt g Breeneel;_Ole ati 41 its coot anti pf.sont 1E,, motel," ,4am dragged into a rnudhole Two boys invited Ctlinflanti. Urn sossit tegitOf it to neat Md.Meet','Jha,to another teacher fora pancake breakfast where 3Cettieuncascgocl a:as and .4 ant in they added rags to the barer and oil tothe tiougge arm. do ,A71.15 110I tO ...tug the ffoat lAts ..kntnr, fat tgeo, ts coffee /Mag. 9tudin3 maid hale so smug mote pleaCgtlinj gete ($1.1114(1:1(1,141 .4 A.?e to On occasion a spunky Macher would fight ,rady foe tga picnic tottio....4 41 it an .4. mailmu!fitt gloss, and back At one ranch the hired men would sneak p into the teacher's room and tie her clothes into ilos.2n expect tfu,:t ...)lee gt ytt,stosp supper .4 god a nice scgoof tgis fotenoon, gut it st,a4 hard knots Come morning she had to slip into not so pheasant ig4s ofteinoan Awl do keep fop me5So roantagt °fa sagootgonsa borrowed clothes, overalls usually, to get to gOerfinft, and Iftot 1% not ad (.0 eatta 511 , ',fit 20 4.10 tegotal6 the school The teacher retaliated by dumping did far tgetn, ttir fit& oiscatVert, an entire can of starch into thewash water for grossla to gaud tries moinalf the hired men's long johns! .45 offrnost ides a pessona gualg, i don( dont gull"! fasts' .i:on't Jet gaff inj work Yet the teacher was expected to be the knom? *AA waft' gacons. of 3(ofilas .41 done source of all knowledge, to be ever resotirrp- wafg. kg sincere, and courageous When a patron scamsa41.17 goat to ul maitg. 32 6E3T CMAVAILABLE came to school and wanted to know how to measure the amount of hay in a stack the teacher had better find the answer -.4111111111L___ A teacher soon learned that if a snake appeared in the schoolyard ituatiort had to be attended to immediarry Ac the landlady where a teacher stayed remarked. "'fa teacher hasn't enough sense and know-how to kill the snake, she had better go back where she came from It is 20 miles to the closest doctor and death would arrive first According io Maude Dostrom Frandsen, who taught in rural schools near Brighton, Cniorado, heakh problems were the response brlity_of the teacher "If a tooth needed to be pulled, a sticker removed, a broken fingernail cut, or a stomach was up-set, the teacher rose to the occasion Epidemics could produce a disastrous situation A child came to school with a rash Since the child near, the child was sent home with a note Within the hour the child and the mother were back The mother said, 'If Susie has a disease, she caught it here at school wql stay here' The child was kept isolatedstherest of the day That evening the teacher drove to the County Seat to report the case to the Health Officer The doctor immediately drove to the home of the child and took care of the situation Such inci- dentscould causetensionin the teacher-parent relationship In the case men- tioned, the child had scarlet fever and was the daughter of the President of the School Board Fortunately, no other child contracted the diseaSe The pupils were to be kept sate When a I three-day snow storm made its appearance, the children were kept in the schoolhouse Teacher. at Julian Rainey until help came The teacher followed a fence pupils arrived Any teacher, worth teacher,asidefrom being for one mile to the nearest farmhouse to get The his or her salt, was enterprising teacher, was counselor, mediator, bread and butter for the children During a enough to incorporate some of the nurse, judge, jury, disciplinarian, and storm, a fire had to be kept burning nightand janitor work intotheir discipline day, and the little children had to be com- jack-of-all-trades He or she was also the duly elected Janitor This program forted away from home Teachers had to be creative and innovative. included the housekeeping as well MrRobert Conger from Nebraska as itaittng and maintaining the fire for often they had very little with which to recalledthe many work Pupils sat on crude benches or on the _kV :thecoalstoveOn winter teachers: the temperature on the floor and studied in their laps or rough tables, hair were either of abOut like the outside The teacher's desk an( viedto get there early similar construction, or improvised from the going before the materials at hand One teacher sat on a nail keg, at a desk made from an old organ Everybody realizeda school needed a blackboard and where none was available presto, a blackboard' In one case, it was a throwboard from a cornhusking wagon, supported by stakes driven into the floor, In another the teachers breadboard tacking boards, the Lackboard might be the top of a black trunk nailed to the wall, builder's paper coated with soot and oil,tor even the blackened surface of the heath 4 stove For chalk the tea° ;et improvised with soft, white rocks, such as soapstone Some slate pencils were available Many families brought small slates and pencils with them from the East, and they were also sold in the early Berl* NE e.1 33 29 BEST COPYIVAIMLE

School at Mason Valley, NV. e. 1889

stores "The teachers evidently had nerves of school stood on a hill--utterly naked and Neil Twitehell, who attended rural schools steel," said Frances Humphrey of Nevada exposed to frigio winds" in Nevada, says. "Can you imagine Mat it would be like to The farmer admitted that "the younguns By far the most important part of my have forty slates in action?" have all learned to read tolerably wello-but experience was therelationship Lead pencils were a luxury In 1870 the only you've burned jest too dern much coal this between thestudents and the one in tne vicinityof the Dixon County granary winter That buildin' of your?' is as drafty as teachers the closeness of the school was constantly borrowed by settlers long-handles underwear with the trap door whole community I think that prob- who kept it carefully wrapped in paper down It always takes some more coal, but ably would summarize the best part Quill pens, made by the teacher or older nothin' like you burned up of going to school in Delarrar And students, were more common for wntinq Ink But the farmer liked Haney, so he did a little I'm Sure you'd find that in almost was variously manufactured from pokeweed investigating in Paradise School Districtin any of thelittlecommunities berries steeped in water, from stow soot Eddy County that spring of 1933 Both he and throughout our nationI'm sure it mixed with oil oil by itself, cr from commercial Harvey were happy when the farmer came in wasn't materials I'm sure it wasn't powder to which water was added The one day and announced. "Well yer hired backs the tremendously higher caliber of ing!rtious teacher kept ink from freezing by Seems as how the feller that hauled coal to yer teachers they had because we right burying it in the ashes from the stove or in school got a mite light fingered. Part of each now have some tremendous sand load went into his own coal shed at home teachers with far better preparation Studying out loud was common practice Despite stingy schoolboards, drafty schools than the teachers who some of in fact some considered the child who made and a definite lack of materials, "The teacher them just nad high school educa- the most noise the best student Imagine the made the school" is a common reaction to the tions or just a year of college and yet pandemonium with studier at all levels in all question "Did you get a good education?" they did a tremendous job And I subjects gang on simultaneously Add to this Learning seem! to have taken place in the kind think a lot of it had to do with just the fact that they were often taught to sing of environment most educators can only theo- plain old human relations that took multiplication tables to the tune of "Yankee roe about today one of trust and confidence placethe interactionthe Doodle" and it seems a miracle that *arning The students were eager to learn, and the feelingsand the willingness proceeded But proceed it did teachers felt they had something to give the Local school boards did not help matters students Material from this section riot otherwise much. with theirtight-fisted approach to li?cpleattached much importanceto cited came fromstaff members Charles education and the purchase of much needed education and wanted it for thew children So Johnson, Denver, Colorado, Philip Brown, textbooks and supplies the person to whom they entrusted their Brookings, South Dakota, Caroline Hatton. Harvey M Sietten of Ft Ransom, North childrenwas aculturalleaderinthe Edgemont South Dakota, Dr Warren Henke, Dakota remembers almost not being rehired communityThere was aninterestin Bismarck, NorthDakota,JimDertien because, as the farmer with whom he everything she did or said or wore, especially if Bellevue,Nebraska,DrErnest Grundy, boarded put it, "The board reckons as how yer she were a stranger Those that lived in the Kearney. Nebraska, Milton Riske Cheyenne, a fair to middlin' teacherer, but you've burned community came to become a kind of Wyoming, Robert Barthell, Powell, Wyoming, jest too domed much coal this winter" community fixture She was important to the Jessie Embry, Provo Utah, Nancy Cummings, Slettenreported"atingeof bitterness whole community not just tc the children In Las Vegas, NeVada, Dorothy Ritenour Las creepingthroughshockeddisbelief My sc hool Vegas, Nevada 34 CEST COPYAVAILABLE THE BUZZARD OF All went well and many, students 4-"4 attended and received their elementary education Sadness struck in the winter Of 1888. when 3 severe blizzard raged on the prairies The almost treeless .prairie was covered with a thick blanket of loose Show toien On that fast morning, myrl acts of snow flakes were gently falling The morning dawned, but the sun, as though not willing to look On that fatal morning. was hid behind a dark wall of Clouds The morning c bores were hurnedly done ;int' prepar,inons were male to he off to -ch(Tol. The teat her (James P Cot tont who Wanted at the Albrecht home said when he left for schc x tl IN it morning hope you boys will not be absent" Motherallmorning instinctivelytelt depressed and wished that the boys stay home he father saw nothing onus 1 ualinthe weather «Skink ins aryl j thought it well for the boys to go The younger child, Peter 1Attire( ht consented to stay at home although the thought that he was left behind in his School by his classmates made hun somewhat sad At about eleven o'clock. the heavens bet amt. a Mile c learer but he sat longingly ITN the window looking toward the St4100ih011St Mother. who seemingly read his thoughts sant my chili. i really wish your brother was here with you I (eel %chat-thing in my heartI don't know what it is' Faller was busy outs!. k. Suddenly thr house W.I.% 1111(4with darkness anti the yvtlizzing sound of myriads of snowflakes that were danc Ira; through the air to the music of the great northwest wind almost deaterung Oiler ruched to tiu. door, but saw nothing but a solid wall of moving snow whit it blinded the eyes Mother was excited Atter some time. father rushed in and after regaining his breath said. 'The like has not vet been expenentecl" Storm was Increasing and the inert ury was falling, Mother sob' ier 1"c Th. where is my chtkrr E. 'ening carne sort with pass ing twilight t le storm increased After a estless night the morning dawned Though the fury of the storm was somewhat gone, it was still drifting and very unpleasant Quite early. the' the rough, the hunt was continued I K int unfortunate ones were on the way to father took the dinner pail and hurried off they In the wt.g4hoeise As he openedthe es of their tracks were found, but they meaticiw When they wit there, siTon were lost in the snow drifts Here were horror strici.n, hardlyable to ckitw, he saw the teacher standing all chlklren done After a few moments, the father and there it was plainly seen that five move, for they saw their own were walking side by side, but again the frozen like cattle of the field One fatherIn Silted "Whew is .11-kin'Y' The teacher is It leplied that yesterday they tried to go to us tracks of only three were seen No doubt utgony of his soul (TU! out "Oh, 01xl, the two small boys were carnet I by the mine or thine fault that I find mythree eiriSe neighbor for the night and five of boys frozen like the beasiQ of thefield?" the pupils got separated from the other larger ones The third day, a clear Sunday, lxople soon they were laid side byshe into pupils. and were not heard from since, one grave in the Salem Zion Cemetryto ai=ling them was John went to church in hopes of finding t rt ices Soon the netghborhot Tcf o.mot ised of the lost ones Mr Ooertz. who lived rest In peace about five miles south °f Morton. said that and a hunt for the unfortunate was 111.IZZAPI ol: 1888 from i i entert'oienter begin But on account of the fierce wind his boys found on the tneackiw five c hilt I PJ And &Ming snow not much was (lone ren frozen, but they knew not to whom south Dakota Pioneer ii,storii fly 144011 day which was still very «Tkl and they belonged Soon the father , of the All Trecht 35 31 COr{IN

Cheyenne River School, SD

' _ 1 .-.

Wyatt School, CO 1954 401INTIVY SCHOOLS AND AMERICANIZATION

Depressed and heart sore Peder had drop into the seat He felt utterly sick and weary of everything. All the eyes back of him pricke his neck like pins. Directly in front of him hung the bleiddx)ard: at the top of it was written in a utlful hand. 'This is an American school; in work and play alike eve speak-English only' He read the commandment a feeling of shame

-,_ came over hintand he slunk even lower in his seat From Peder Victorious by 0. E Rolvaag

During the nineteenth and twentieth cen- good It was harder if you don't haw immigrants from their native homeland to the Airy, many immigrants came to the United kids. but if you have kids you could northern plains Whatever their reasonsthe States in search o: freedom and opportunity. pick it up from them. too" desire for a new home in a new country, the Many hoped to earn a fortune and then return Learning English was the first step in the promise of wealth, dissatisfaction with condi- Tb the homeland Others planned to stay and Americanization process Many immigrants' tionsintheoldcountry,orpersonal Start a new lifeNearly all, found the new parents were willing to let their children take considerations the immigrants moved into Country difficult to adapt to, the dream of the the step, but they did not want them to lose North Dakota rapidly and in astonishing melting pot where all nationalities blended the native tongue Stella Pappa remembered numbers VW one was quite often a myth, especially for that her teacher in Hiawatha, Utah, got after In 1890, one year after statehood, the foreign Moose who came from Southern Europe, Asia. her and her friends for speaking Greek When born comprised 43 percent of the state's Mica, Mexico, and South America These the teacher questioned the mother, she told 191,000 people The largest immigrant groups groups. along with the American Indians. 'hat it was the teacher's responsibility to at that time were the Norwegians with 25,700 Vette frecpently discriminated against English Margaret Williams Torkelson. a people, 23,000 Canadians. 9,000 Germans, because they were different than the Northern t, er in a two-room school in "Little Ger- 8,000 from England and Ireland, and 4,100 Europeans many" in Logan, Utah, explained how this from Russia Utah's immigration pattern was much like attitude created problems By 1910 the foreign born and their children the rest of the United States The early Mor- There was a real problem with the made up 71 percent of the population, of mons who came to Utah were either from parents who wanted their children which the largest group were q'te Norwegians eastern United States or recent converts from to learn to read in English but to with 125,000. closely followed by Germans England and Northern EuropeAlthough speak' only German in the home with 117,000, about half of whom were Ger- -these early members of the LDS Church They thought the discipline was too mans from Russia At the end of the decade, initially were considered outside the Amelican laxnot strict like it was in the old during which settlement of the state was mainstream, once the Americanization of country completed, the immigrants and their children Uall took place, the Mormons became the Sometimes the cases were so difficult that numbered 432,000 or 67 percent of the popu- vanguard of the Arriencan dream They students who could not pass the English ID lation By this time, 1920, the Germans from accepted the nationaPst code which swept test were considered mentally retarded and Germany and Russia were the most numerous the United States after the I800's that new held back in schoolStill, immigrant parents ethnic group breigrers should adapt themselves to Amen- wanted their children to preserve part of their If the areas that various nationalities settled in North Dakota were coded on a map, the Ca's lifestyle language. heritage, and culture The (peeks, One way that the new immigrants could the Japanese, and the Serbians set up their final product would resemble a mosaic, but change their lifestyle and become American- own schools for their children the mosaic would require subtle shading and ilted was to attend school The educational Nebraska immigrants also had difficulties detail Swedes. Finns, a small colony of Syrians system in the United States helped in the pro- Carl H feterson born in 1868, interviewed for (who erected near Ross the first Muslem MSS of Amencanization by awing onstruc- a WPA protect remembers mosqueintheUnitedStates),Swiss, and othersscattered b0h . m English andinU S history, father used to come to school Estonians,English, fOkernment, and cuNute" The schools also quite often and tell me to go and get themselves throughout the state Illempted to make the immigrants conform to the cattle off the neighbors land The school was the institution that played _American characteristics Sometimes father would come at the major role, directly or indirectly, in impart- Although most schools offered instruction 11 00 a m and by the time 1 would log American culture to immigrants in North fOr children in grades first through eighth, get the cows home it would be Dakota In the company of fellow nationals. Mere were variances on the theme as mrne noon and he would tell me, well it's the immigrant observed the customs of the parents came to !tom the tanguane In dinner time, now you might as well old country and spoke his name tongue at winter when farm work had slackened off. herd the cows this afternoon, then social gatherings and in church Business and *Wets would come. hat in hand, to stand at you can gotoschoolagain legal transactions required an interpreter if Ilhe-back of the room and listen to English tomorrow So it went and the school one's knowledge of the English language was Children accepted these older pupils as they was a side issue rt seemed The insufficient The Immigrants could cling to accepted most everything else For most new- reason the children would be called thee traditions and language, but their child- t:others. the schools were valuable language ontogetthe cows offthe ren were required to attend school. The school Or/ lens Once the children could speak Eng- neighbor's land was thismany placed the children in contact with abet Oh they took their new language skills home times if the parents would go after nationalitiesandwithateacher who Mild taught their younger brothers and sisters cattle that were on the neighbor's instructed them in the English language and alld their parents One Slav woman explained places, they didn't want to get into attempted to foster patriotism As the children value of school in helping the whole an argument with the neighbors, so adopted American manners, their parents learn the new language they would send the children and gradually abandoned their ancestral loyalties I pick up pretty quick, you nothing was said In all,I went to Where the child went, the adult followed know, American language. and I school three winters and finished Teachers frequently found the Icelandic rod Coto to hundred dollars, but the third grade customs disturbingIcelandic women little by little I could speak it pretty Variousforcespushed and pulled maned their original family name aftrr mar- 33 37 nage, a practice some thought Indecent The was that we did not understand the the evening for adults who wished to sharpe' Icelanders' patronymic system, meaning that a language ofthe textbooks their language skills Wither and sister had different surnames, Frequently, when we asked the Motives of adult students were sometimes annoyed some teachers who did not appre- teacher to explain the meaning of more than purely academic Some of the ciate thew ethnic traditions. Icelandic customs words to us. he referred us to the young male homesteaders who attended celebrating Ash Wednesday included one day dictionary and there we found our- school hoped to improve their social life as similar to Halloween when children would selves entangled in a maze of words well as their English by dating the teacher. A collect sweets from adults On Ash Wednes- that had no meaning ID us number were successful on both counts. day it was customary to play practical jokes, Memorization and frequent repetition were Many so-called "school marms" became the favorite being to pin a small bag of ashes the methods commonly used to teach Eng- "farm wives." making marriage a prolific to the back of a man's coat or trousers. the lishIn Frances Hitz's childhood home, only source of Americanization victwn being unaware of his adornment Once Czech was spoken The little English she Gladys Webster asserts that 26 different done to a dignified teacher predominantly knew upon starting school came from her nationalitiesor combinations thereof Icelandic school, the pupils were severely older sisters and brothers who attended attended school with her in Dunn County She punished for a prank that. in their culture, was school before her and occasionally used an believes the children were motivated to learn acceptable humor English word Her first grade teacher, who had English so that they could communicate with Conscientiouscountry schoolteachers come from a Norwegian immigrant family, each other struggled to overcome handicaps to teach knew no Czech at all "How I managed to English to the immigrant children When the learn to read. write, and think in English that But problems of language and learning reacher could not speak the native tongue of first year." she wrote, "I do not know I memo- were minor compared with the problems of the young pupils, an older student would rized the Rose Primer until I knew each page forced conformity to American traditions. One sometimes sent as an interpreter Still, the lack by heart, and to this day I can close my eyes of the misnomers that developed in the twen- of a common language between teacher and and see each page. the word or words, and tieth century was that the immigrants were pupil was the major problem retarding the pictures that were above-the wards" inferior andthat America was for child's educational progress As one former Some accommodating teachers held spe- 'Amencans"those people who were student recalls in Thorstina Walters' book, cial evening sessions for adults who wished to already in this country Modern Sagas: The Story of Icelanders in learn to speak and read English Delrey Web- Many misunderstandingsresulted and North America: ster instructed a 40-year-old Swede in English many school children who may have become In those pioneer days our trouble during recess and often held spelling bees in great successes were former soured on school

4. ST COPY AVAILABLE

-__1111111 "lOr

--tame/Cr-1

Fort Yates, N.D. 1875 because of early confrontations with their English He said he taught his first graders designated by number, but among the local teacher And those who did adopt American English and reading by using pictures of the people some of them were called by names customs readily and spoke English fluently things they knew, printing the name of the like Red Shirt Table day school, Wakpamini often came to disrespect their parents and the thing unuer the picture and teaching them to day school, Wounded Knee, Ogialla Lone ways of "the old country" read those words He used things they under- Man, Porcupine, Wamblee, Potato Creek, and But if Americanization proved difficult for stood deer, chipmunk, skunk, crow, raccoon Slim Buttes On the Cheyenne River reserva- the millions of Europeans who swarmed into tree, at first and then led them to other words tion there were ten one-room schools Cherry America after the Civil War it was even more To his great surpriseit worked and they Creek, Red Stafford, Bridger, IronLightning, difficult for the nabse American Indians They learned Lakotachildrenhadno Thunder Butte, Four Bear Green Grass, Bear were truly caught between two cultures understandings or expenen es which helped Creek, Moreau River, and White Horse On In South Dakota, a 1913 law required that them in their lessons The contents of the Rosebud there were nine day schools Oak- Indian children be included in the census textbooks too often were alien and unrelated creek, He Dog, Horse Creek, Norris, Little which put them under the compulsory attend- to anything in their lives Crow, Corn Creek, Spring Creek, Milks Camp, ance law But in 1915, this law was repealed, Indian students were often late for school and Soldier Creek strong to excuse Indian children from com- because they had been kept up the night In Utah in1928 the Indian Department pulsory attendance in white schools Thus before doing tribal dances So a school super- asked that the San Juan School District make Indian parents Irving off the reservation did not visor insisted that the students dance at arrangements for Indian children to attend the have to send their children to school, and school Reluctantly the teacher agreed Blanding, Utah, schools Plans were made for teachers. school board members, and admin- One morning the teacher had them push the children to go to school and the Bayles' fsbatoe could discourage Indian children from the desks back and dance Indian The next day home was purchased as a dormitory Due to Coming to school and not be breaking any three Indian mothers came to see him, and he health problems and a division of the teachers laws told diem why he had let the children dance on whether the Indians should attend the As the Indians sold their land on the reserve- One mother said she would like to talk with schools, the matter was reco,dered in 1935 Don to white ranchers, some lc school the lady (supervisor) the next time she came and again in 1941 when the decision was districts were established therehey had very to visit school When the supervisor came on Made that no Indian pupils would attend the meager tax support. but a mall one -room her next visit, the teacher told her the Indian Blanding schools SChools were started, Indian children mother wanted to see her and he pointed out Since the Indian children could not attend in the vicinity sometimes attended her house There she was told in quite definite the Blanding-schools, several other plans were Most Madan children of western South terms that Indian children in that community tried The Episcopal Church establis _Dakota staned school speaking only Lakota were to go to school to learn from books and Chnstophers Mission in Bluff which set up a Harold Shunic said that when he started teach- she would please leave the dancing up to school They tried to maintain two teachers ing in 1936 at Cherry Creek day school, the parents. because they had pupils from age one to Cheyenne Riser resersetxxi, only two chicken There were twenty-one day schools on the eighty-five years Helen Sturgis, the principal Of the forty or fifty in that community spoke Pine Ridge reservationOfficially they were of the school, said in 1952 that although the 39 35 :ST COP7AVAILABLE

ttI=111111111.2 Navajo learned slowly they loved the opportunity All the students were beginners in Eng- lish The Navajos loved to learn geography and United States history They were sery eager for school One little sheepholder would come down at night He would take the sheep down to the water and look around to see if \the parents were looking and then run intothe school. grab his pencil, and work feverishly for a few minutes Usually the parents came after him Roxie Copenhaver, the Deputy Superintendent of Schools for Nevada during Workl War It had a strong response to the rtuestkin. Were there any problems with discrimination in southern Nevada then? Her answer 'At that time you never heard of it, didn't know Mat it was I've always thought of the little school at Pahrump where I had to give a graduation talk I was telling about how this little school had all nationalities. We had MexKans, We had Indians, We had Chinese had allthese nationalitiesthis was certainly democracy working Victor School, fall of 1918, Weld County, CO. The small flags represented the Allies in Although in many areas discrimination did World War I. Throughout country schools, WWI and subsequent intense patriotism did exist, and cultural assimilation was a painful, if much to force Americanization of immigrants. not drvisive. process. wherever the school and whatever its'narne, the country school was a community schoolEsen before churches their children had done something that they werebuilt,aschool would be hastily themselves could never do Their children had assembled to meet the needs of district child- graduated from, the eighth grade and had ren Once the building was erected and earned their place among other Americans classes had begun, the one-room school Never more would the parents worry about Material in this section not otherwise identi- fied came from staff members. Mary ano became a source of community pride their place in society Their children would Robert Carlson, Glenburn, North Dakota. Jes- Children worked on the farms but they succeed The farm wo, 'Id be handed down or grew up in school, and eighth-grade com- the boys would become men and work their sie Embry Prove, Utah. Caroline Hatton, mencement became for many the apogee of way up and out of the mine Edgemont, South Dakota. Jim Dertien, Belle- th7educationIt was a solemn day with The country superintendent called each vue, Nebraska. Dr Ernest Grundy, Kearney, starched shirts and clean petticoats A stirring name and handed the pupil a diploma with Nebraska, Nancy Cummings and Dorothy Pledge of Allegiance, loud and robust, began the name of the school district, the place. the Ritenour, Las Vegas, Nevada. and Andrew the ceremonies, followed by patriotic songs date, and the reason for such an auspicious Gulliford like "My Country 'Tis of Thee," "America occasion Momma placed her head in her Portions ofthisessay were originally Beautiful,"andthenationalanthem hands and wept softly until father. his arm on publishedin"Colorado Country School First-generation Italian miners, Slovak farmers her shoulder, urged her to look up at her proud Legacy." People and Policy A Journal of and German-Russian workers stared in pride son or daughter with diploma in hand The Humanistic Perspectives on Colorado Issues. attheirchildren who had learnedthe graduate broke into a grin and mother burst published by the University of Colorado at Denser language and their lessons well into tears Eighth-grade commencement became an grdo importanr rite of passage for those who would lease tneir small community to attend a union high schoolFor otherscommencement meant the end of an education and the beginning of full-fledged duties of manhood or womanhood Hardbitten ranchers who had Pinched a silver dollar until the eagle screamed, who had shown no emotion when the bank had threatened to foreclose, lightning had killed the pnze bull, or hail had destroyed the what drop in a single storm, these men cried ncM'. hats in their hands Not nLh Just a little tear across those dusty. wind-baffled, cheeks For

40 CONINTRY SCHOOLS AS COMMINITY Mr=

We gave programs at different times of the year The whole valley came All the parentsand aunts and grandparents and all After the program we pushed all the desks to oneside and hot, a little dance. The people looked forward to that We had box socials, too,and everybody fixed their box. There was a oneness among the people School was a common goaland everyone wanted to see how their child- participated when he or she had a part in the play. got all dressed up, and went out there and performed The country school was the heart of the commuting People liked to go there and visit friends from up and down the valley. Mrs Margaret Darien. Basalt, Colorado

Most communities used the schoolhouse seats as we could for anybody who the blood-stained floor Mary Riley of Cody remembers attending for all the local activities The schoolhouse was came INke) erased anything we had on the board such as phonics and the Moore Hill School in Crook County the largest burkhrtg available, even though Across the road from the few were Over 20 by 30 feetIt was also a put, "Come one, come all, come schoolhouse was Moore Hill Ceme- symbol of culture in a frontier community short, come tall, come jump the where there were few such symbols And tracks in Etna Hall" They got an tery Cn several occasions when an internment Wok place, school was since there was a feeling that the schoolhouse accordion player He came I can still damissee and the students attended belonged to all the people, everyone felt wel- hear those tunes that he played He the 'burrs°V. mingled with the come there played Lne polka and the Virginia family ano rierxis of the deceased In the history of Mountain View School in reels and all the square dances you and wept, even though we had not Wyoming, Margaret Dempster comments on could think of Those boards just been acquainted with the dead the community participationinschool hopped along with the rest of us ri person programs was really lively There wasn't roe Besides being used fee weddings, church There were many gatherings at the for everybody to get on the not,. the school- schoolhouse during the sears k once VVhad a really good tifre service, autopsies, and funerals, house was always the 'Pulling Place' on elec- Christmas and at the enc the year Every community had one citizen who tion day, and almost any sort of business mere were programs, parties, and could "call" square dances, usually an older meeting or anything that affected or was of dinners.The'Jul:citegatherings man who had danced in his youth and took up generalinteresttothe community was were dances lairs Eates played the calling as he got older No pay was involved for discussed thereIn a range country such as organ or piano, Mrs Boermer played either the musicians or the caller Lunch was ours," says Bill May from Steamboat Springs, a mouth harp, and Mrs Stall sang served at midnight No charge for that either Colorado, "important 'range meetings' were and kept time for dancing They Heavy drinking was no problem, even tied this group the Pumpkin Cen- thcogh the men might step out for a little nip often held at the schoolhouse As often as riot the schoolmaster was expected to officiate or ea Orchestra Sometimes Pete and The dancing was the main thing and everyone be chanman at such meetings as he was usu- Byron Stall had to work the bellows participated, sometimes all night long lfyoung ally considered the test qualified one present by hand to keep the music going on people, 'head of the dance from fifteen or the organ. Sometimes the_Borners twenty miles away they might come on horse- to properly conduct a neeting In Utah, Lenora Hall La Feurc -along in The moved their piano over on a sled for bark After the dance they would nde home, Boulder Country and Its Ftopie states extra music getting there well after sun-up Cold weather William Alatry or Escalante rode his That the community gatherings were well was no deterrent, either They could go by horse across to Boulder over the attended speak to their value in an isolated team and wagon but that was slower Some- Death Hollow trail, a diStance of tommuroty The enthusiasm which people times they traveled by teams, with hot roeks or about fifteen miles William every brought to the program was evidenced often hot "sad irons" at their feet under buffalo robes sat at the teacher's desk with the little by the damage done to the build.ng tYte King for warmth in tin ballot box he had brought placed remembers the gasoline Lanterns going cut Schoolbuildings preceded churches right there in front He was autho- dunng a dance because the dust raised by the many communities, and there are a number of enthusiastic dancers clogged the air seats in reports of buildings used for prayer meetings rized to register every person of voting age Everyone in the community the lanterns. The dancers were forced to take and churchservices,usually non- care and cast a vote By two o'clock breaks to allow the dust to settee and the lant- denominational Some of the services were conuucted by itinerant preachers, a latter day that afternoon the election was over erns to ?Iasi up brightly again and William Alvery went back to The weekly dances at the schoolhouse were circuit rider Escalante with the votes locked in attended by taeryone ',bung parer es trough t While there are no records of h -era, services the ballot box to be counted in Esca- their children and bedded them down on the held in4',rural school, Ingleside School in the benches Older folks arr. ed to shale their Iron Mountain area of Laramie County Wyom- lante A few days passed before the knowledge of the old home dancing and ing, boasted of a manage ceremony wner settlers knew for sure Republican Wiliam McKinley was elected Presi- younger people came to try out the new round Gunmar Andersen, a hotel commisay clerk. dances Lillian Grace Chadwick Warburton of marred Lri, the cook A Baptist minister came dent of the Unite(' states, thbugh Utah remembers a dance they had in Etna, Box from Cheyenne to perform the ceremony as most of the Boulder peoole, loyal fee ewe rats, probably voted for Wil- Elder County, when she was teaching there in reported in Wyoming Educator In Boulder, Wyoming, while no funeral was liam Jennings Br in 19113 The schoolhouses were also used for com- When I was teaching at this Etna held, an autopsy was performed in the school munity fund raising activities or national sup- School, they deuced they would When a town cozen, Ben Walker, was mur- port activities During World War I, the schools have a real dance, so we pushed dered by Jack Walters, the body was laid out in Uinta County Utah sponsored atunor Red back all the desks, all the benches on the floor and a decision made on the cause Cross Prcoram a -id collected a Christmas fund against the wall to make as many of death Students had to set several desks over 41 37 AVALIABLE

for the soldiers and sailors At the schools in east San Juan County the local people held dances and raffles to raise money to buy sav- ings bonds Once in awhile a wedding dance was held at the schoolhouse Vena Schick said, "Our wed( ing dance was held at the As School- house Fred had to furnish the music and he never got a dance with his bride all night Fred playec_ the violin Spellingbees,arithmeticcontests and, debates were held in the schools "The Rock Springs Miner" newspaper is quoted in the excellent book, Cowbelles Ring Schoolbells. written and published by the Albany County, Wyoming, Cow-Belles Club, and tells of an untimely end to one spelling bee when a cowboy rode into the schoolhouse on his horse On November 3. 1933, a debate in a rural Uinta County, Utan discussed, the topic' "Is a load of seed potatoes or a load of women most needed in the community?"

Above and below: Election of 1904 ataConverse City Schoolhouse, Wyoming.

Spelling bees were a part of the winter entertainment in the days when there was no radio, no television, and no way to get to town This was adult recreation and if the children came, they were strictlyinthe audience unless some older one was an extra good speller who could hold his own with the 1 competitionThe teacher pronounced the words, and they got tougher and Lougher as the evening progressed On January 11881 when Rapid City South Dakota, was Just a village, an article appeared in the Black Hills Journal a rat charenged the

cr) people of the town Bedeving that an entertaining as well as amusing evening might be spent by the people of our town in an orthographical contest, IS Pitts Wells, the schoolmaster hereby in .c behalf of the Rapid City school, chal- lenges the people of this town or as many as wish to participate to meet said school :n a spelling match fialtation at Mott' Itver, Wyttsbtg. e. 1916 -42 TEDDY ROOSEVELT ANDTHEBLUE GOOSE SCHOOL Western Colorado was a favonte was later known, The Blue Goose Lytle recalls "As I'm sure it would be hunting ground of President School The Blue School was today" Theodore Roosevelt around the turn located on Divide Creek in Western of the century He was apparently Garfield County, about six miles The President himself wrote of the fond of going after bear, mountain below the Roosevelt camp service inhis book.Outdoor lion. elk, and deer in the Rifle and The service was held around Pastimes of an American Hunter. Meeker areas In fact. two months noon time, outside the school build One Sunday we rode clown aftertakingotticeas President. tog, with Roosevelt delivering a sitort some six miles from camp Teddy was hunting on Mamrn talk. followed by a sermon by Mann to a little blue school-house Creekt Some 200-300 people, mostly and attended service. The The Reverent Horace Mann. pas- farmers and their families from the preacher was in the habit of tor of the Christian Church in Rifle. surrounding rural community, riding over every alternate Colorado. had become acquainted attended Sunday from Rifle a little with Roosevelt while a young minis- According to Golcla Lytle of Rifle. town twenty or twenty-five ter in New York State It turned out there was an open air "potluck" miles away, and the ranch- that Mann took up his profession in lunch held following the service men with their wives and an area frequented by Roosevelt She recalls folks spreading their children, some on horse- during his widely publicized meals out on the ground around the baciN, some in wagons, had hunting excursions Mann would tiny schoolhouse built in the late gathered from thirty miles accompany the President on hunt 1880's and under nearby trees round to attend the service ing trips, and being the most prows The crowd was so large that Mona! photographer the area could "I would fudge that a good share of the exercises had to take muster, he often photographed the community turned out." said Lytle "Of c ourse. it was a pretty small place in the open air, and it Roosevelt and other members of the was Tkosant to look at the hunting parties. community hack then" Lytle said she accompanied her strong ffrimes and rugged, It was during one of these trips the weather beaten faces of the while hunting mountain lionthat parents and I, other and sister to men, while as forthe Mann invited Roosevelt to attend event on a lumber wagon pulled by a team of horses She said the family women one respected one of his rural church services and came from Rifle, some 15 miles them even more than the to address the local people on April r nen 30, "905. away That was about half a day The reverend's service was held ride, according io Lytle. at what was known as The Blue "I remember it was quite an honor liesciirchI ilierribr hat ( )Neill, School or Blue Hen School or, as It to get a President in our corn ity" Para( i( I() or urLURIE

On January 8, 1881, The Journal stated The result of the spelling bee was Veer, Vidi but we didn't Vic i worth a centt In other words the Rapid City schoolgot away withthe town The ease, grace, and rapidity with which the school thinned the ranks arrayed in opposition was beautiful and wonderful to behold Miss Tressler stumbled on the word, 'mortise' and victory was declared for the school McGuf- fey's spelling book was used t Sometimes scl iool programs were put on to e raise money to buy things for the school, encyclopedias, a crockery water container, playground equipment, a clock After the program there would be a box social or a pie social Everyone in the community took part Verda Arnold described South Dakota- box socials Oh what thrilling funs All women and girls, even little prcschoralers, decorated boxes or baskets with crepe paper Some turned out crea- tions of real artistic beauty But tne food! Packed in those boxes on the Dig night was enough food for six peopleandonlyvo were supocsed to eat it Now the fun(?) 0411m4xn Company School 1926 came when a certain youeg mar, or boy was known to be cc :ling or old school house, the school pro- because during the Depression we just showing interest in--a ,pecial grams, the spelldowns with Lower did help each other all the time gin The men and boy 'v re not Sage Creek School and Mountain Anybody that I ever did anything for supposed to know to vOloril aey View School, and the picnics,whe did much more for me in many one box belonged But of ,urse almost all came back smelling of waysI have always said that I cast there were ways and vveo- of find- wild onions and garlic, and a few my bread upon the waters and it ing out Especially when the young bunches of wild flowers, a mouse or came back cake Forty years later a lady was willing The fun p e came two to drop in someone's pocket, a man came to do a day's job for me when a young man (sometimes not smile and a feeling of happiness at and when he was finished he said so young) began to bid The rest of being alive on such a beautiful day with a twinkle in his eye, 'No I the males took great delight in bid- The schools, especially the student activi- won't take money from you I ding against him to run the price as ties, provided the cement to keep a commun- remember what you did forus high as they thought he could afford ity together People were afraid that once the once' and would go More than once a school was closed it would destroy commun- 'Oh,' I said 'That was fortyyears ago box sold for S25 or S30 ity life In some areas the parents and students and you've restored my faithin The last big affair of the scfool year was the fought consolidation for that reason Some human nature but you have to take school picnic Everyone came whether they parents refused to send their children to the this money for the work you did' had children in school or not It was a potluck larger schools until they were forced to by the wonder if we'd do that again if we affair w.th lots of food and usually a ball game school boards Many people grew up with the had a Depression? in the afternoon and more coffee and food scnoolhouse the center of their lives Every- It was the Christmas programs more than late in the afternoon before everyone went thing important took place there As children any other event that brouoht r-pie together home There was tarong and visit,, g and they attended school, as young people it was Edmund Fleming recalls Christmas at his Nev- games for the little ckdren Sometimes it was the place for social events, as married folks it ada school held at school bait generally it was held where N35 a place for cultural activities, church and The teacher started on the Christ- there were some trees along a creek some- Sunday school, and the best school they could maseventprobably earlyin where It canto pea tradition to go back to afford for their children November I don't know how much the same place year after year The only thing Most communities in the West and Min- teaching went on between then that would cancel it would be rain for then ./vest were isolated from the world around and Christmas but it was a type of the gumbo w-uld be so sticky that wagon .hem The more isolated the community, the education You were expected to wheels couldn t turn more important the schoolhouse Esma Lewis put on a play and each kid was Margaret Hoglund Coe reminisced about aught school in Garfield County, Colorado supposed to get up there No matter her experience at the tipper Sage Creek fo' sixty years She reminisces how inept he was, each kid was School in Wyoming I taught through the Depression supposed to perform The commun- The ones that are still around think and we had to nelp each other That ity would chip in ,.inc! buy Christmas 'of the Church services held in the is one of the things we have lost presents for each of the children 40 44 4). 4 V

Photo Courses, of Nruada 14/wont-el S4'ttirtN. Photo Courtesy of Pueblo Regional Library B:ST COPYAVAILABLE

Gathering at the site of a new school in ChurchillCounty, Neu., 1915.

Each of the children would get a 1. tremendousChristmasstocking They would spend perhaps five dollars for each child which at that time was the equivalent of about forty dollars nowadays So everybody in the community looked forward to the Christmas parry or pageant And everybody had a good time At least 150 to 200 people would come to the party, whicn constituted the entire population of the town There were very few other activities available, says Mr Fleming "There was the saloon, and that was it Usually the preparation for the Christmas program began the week after Thanksgiving Everybody had a part, not only the children, butadultsaswellThe same people performed the same part annually in the act- ing out of the Christmas story Young men played the shepherds and the Wise Men for four or five years or as long as they stayed in the community Besides gifts,there were oranges, candy, and nuts for the children There was a tree, of course If they had candles On rt, they were lit foriust a moment or two A t man with a pail of water sat clo$e by in case of tA fire Afterthe program,coffee and . sandwiches, cakes and pies brought by the Church & Sunday School at the School House at Glendo, Wyoming families were served

42 46 AV,IlAiri!.E

4.T

School at Daniel. Wyoming. c. 1816 in those few country, schools still surviving about the days when each district sung by the entire cast brought the on the wind-swept prarnes, the Christmas had its own countiy school, and final curtain down on the most program remains the highlight of the year each school would have its own enjoyable hour and a half hie expe- Charlene Taylor from Beres fOrd, South Dakota, Christmas play rienced in a good long while It was quite evident by the applause that descnDed in The Scene, December 21, 1978, Are they gonna singing?' my little my fellow play goers enjoyed this bit that year's Christmas program bench partner inquired in a squeaky of old-fashioned entertainment voice every bit as much as I did It was no Broadway opening, and Assured by his grandmother they the admission was !fee No bright In the true tradition of the country/ would, his attention returned to the marquee marked the entrance to school, lunch was served in the stage where the children were pre- the theatre, and no red carpet . has fordonations, paring to sing a song of Norwegian basement rolled out to greet stars and impor- origin entitled "leg er saa God" homemade_ candies and popcorn balls were sold to raise money to tant people Female students were attiredin defray expenses of the program, But last Friday night was an impor- floor-length gowns in the style of and a door prize was awarded tant night for the 12 students who theNorwegian ancestry attendedtheBruleElementary As Iprepared to leave, I looked The first skit of the program featured School near Beresfordit was the around for my little bench paftner, a song entitled "My Kitty," sung by night of their Christmas pray, and but he had disappeared Sadly I Lois Sveeggen and Tisha Staum The parents,relatives,andfriends contemplatedthefuture when song. announced by Mrs Yttreness important people all, turned out in gatherings like this one would prob- the students' teacher, was first sung high numbers to applaud their per ably become e like the school: rn a program at Brule School some formance and reward their efforts that spawned themI wondered if 50 odd years ago by her sister and with appreciative ovations years from now the little teddy bear another student Along with mysPif noloer woula remember this night, An audience of wellover 100 the audience was impressed and thenoisethe excitement I Squeezed themselves into the one- applause for the two young ladies wondered if someday, as an adult room school house and seemed to thundered through the room The somewhere out there in the compu- ignore any discomfort that might tiny tyke beside me clung tighter to terized viOrtd, he would look back have attended sitting on wooden his teddy bear benches Drought in especially for and long for ti-lesetrailttons thatwe the program A brightly lighted The program progressed with more are leaving behind us so lightly music and carols The nativity scene stage at the front of the room, com- I hoped notI hoped he would was enacted with first grader Ann plete with black curtains, became remember Mrs Yttreness and her 12 Steve long, red hair trailing over her the center of attention, once friendly pupils of Brute School, and the thrill shouders, eyes serious with the greetings had been completed and they gave us all bypresenting their importance of her role, belting out everyone was seated in readiness Old Fashioned Christmas Play" for the show "Away In a Manger" ma surprisingly R clear and even voice Excitement filled the air as one of Material for this section not otherwise cre- 'The last skit of, the evening "At the the students began to playa Christ- dited came from staff members Herb Blakely brought the mas melody on the old upright Utlage Ft3St Office MadisonSouthDakota,Caroline Hatton, house dowr, with laughter and piano off to one side of the stage A EdgernontSouth Dakota,Milton Riske, little guy stood beside me on the cheers as the audience watched the Cheyenne Wyoming Robert qartheil. Powell bench, teddy bear clutched in his youngsters ad out a drama (-waling Wyoming Jessie Embry Provo, Utah, Nancy hands, eyes bright,. "th expectation with gossiping and nosiness Cummings and Dorothy Ritenour Las Vegas, Two ladies behind me reminisced 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas" Nevada 47 43

COUNTRY SCHOOLS TODAY

The rural one mom school is dying it is easy to eulogize a memory and cast on it in death qualities it never possessed in lifeyet it is of little value to snnpla cry oi,er what is done If we examine what was flood, what was useful in the one room school andtranslate this to our modern educational system tee shall hail( achieved a great deal Marian Cramer Bryant. South Dakota Papers of the Twelfth Annual lkikoia History Conference

physically isolated the school acts as a focal As late as 1938, there *ere 210,000 one- Frenchy Mcntero has two children under room schools scattered throughout the United Sandy's tutelage Sandy laughs, "I was lonely point for the community Teacher privacy is sometimes sacrificed But if there is an implied States- Toctay there are only a dozen one-room coming out here, but they accepted me as one ,'schools in Colorado, 189 rural schools in South of the family We went to a wedding recently obligation to conform to community values, Dakota 22 one-room schools in North Dakota and Frenchy introduced me as his daughter there are also opportunities for independence and innovation 11978 statistics}33 smallruralscnools in Frenchy works hard to find single cowboys in In country schools, the older students still Wyoming, and 305ccuntryschoolsin the area that I might like but the last time he help the littler ones, especially with math and Nebraska tried it the scheme backfired The one I liked spellingThe teacher can take the time to In 1975 the Utah State Building Board con- moved to Caiifornia Individualize lessons, and younger students ducted a survey of public schools in use in the Other country schools in operation in Nev- ada include a three-teacher school at Ruby learn what is expected of them because they state The survey rewaleo that the majority of working on more rural schools had been ciosed, and the stu- Valley and a one-teacher, one-trailer school at hearolderchildren dents were being bused to consolidated Jiggs,whereindividualizedinstruction advanced lessons The quality of education is good, and stu- schools There were approximately 24 schools flourishes dents from country schools develop a firm with enrollments of less than 100, and many of Dan Vogeler likes teaching in the Brown's sense of, themselves -and what they can those were small graded schools like the ones Park one-room school in Colorado He likes accomplish Dr Ivan Muse, professor of edu- at Escalante and Marysvale Today only one the sense of community among the fifteen cation at Brigham Young University and direc- country school remains families that lie "in the parkHe doesn't ruraleducation teacher training Many small rural schools are still in exist- mind being eighty miles from a grocery store tor of a program, says, "Rural ,chool graduates are ence in the large counties in the northern when he'sonlya few milesfromhis highly self-confident They may receive poorer western, and southern parts of Utah where neighbors grades in the elementary school. but once the population is scattered The main excep- Dan says "Out here the school is the center they begin college they are easily motivated tion is the Cedar Fort School which is only of things Most times parents stop by the and usually succeed They quickly compen- sixteen miles from t ehi school to visit and then go over to the trailer to sate for any curriculum deficiencies Only one non-consolidated schoolstill talk with my wife One mother, Ramona John- Self-reliance is a way of Vein the rural areas exists in Kansas, near Dermont It is the last son brings her first-grader sixty miles one way of the West and teachers have to be self- remaining one-room school in the state, and in a jeep Naturally she's not in a I urry to turn reliant, too More and more teaching jobs will parents are threatened with losing the school around and go back to the rarcr, Teachers contemplating jobs in remote rural open up in the Western "energy" states, but if enrollment drops any further Ten students accommodation, will be scarce and are enrolled currently. and that is the legal areas should realize that although they are m'nimum Two of the students will graduate this year, and unless they are replaced Der- mont will lose the school and the remaining pupils will be bused to Rolla, thirty -five Miles away In nor' cii$ Nevada the Leonard Creek Ranch one-room school isstill in operation and has four students this year The school is located 90 miles north of Winnemucca and has served Montero children and their relatives since 1918 The teacher this year Sandy Kearns, receives an ample salary, a free trailer, free meals, and even free gasoline for her pickup But after teaching just two years, she is willing to give up her position because, "the ninety miles out here is pretty hard I'm not a good planner for weeks in advance I always come out a little shortI was scared coming out here, but Igaw my weird and couldn't go back on it To go to a party it's forty Miles to tne nearest neighbors After school you go out and saddle up your horse and separate cattle until dark Then you come back for slipper Jigge School, Efto Cburity, NV. Aline Mooney, teacher 49 BEST COPY AVAILABLE45 ELST COPY AVAILABLE

conditions will vary widely "Low pay and teacher isolation are peren- nial rural school problems," says Eugene J Cambell, Colorado Department of Education certification consultant Although pay scales have risen in recent years, rural teacher hous- ing shortages have been common for half a. century There is also sex-role stereotyping A young, single, female school teacher in Nevada states that her rural school superintendent told her "You are hired unless I can find a manHe felt that in a conservative community a man is better situated to teach and assist the upper boys Dr Alan Zetlec Dean of Education and Director of the Rural Education Center at Western Montana College in Dillon, Montana says, "There are school districts that search very hard to get one or two s -nous applicacits for vacancies To the local folks, social isolation 0 and lack of urban services are facts of life and present no real problemsYet to a new teacher the rosy, rural glow may quickly fade Brown'. Par* School, Colorado. Dan Weiler, Wacker. Not so at the Brown's Park School Like most successful rural School teachers, Dan VogEier comes from a rural background He enjoys the opportunity to take his class on raft trips down the Green River or boating up at Flaming I was in a rural county the other day school. Why don't you scrap it too? It Gorge Reservoir where the farmers were talking about belongs to an age that is past." Dan says, "I'm not sure I could go back to a consolidating several one-room school "I believe with all my heart thatcoun- regular teaching schedule in a town school I districts and wilding a modern grade try children should haw, schoolhouses like to be independent" Because there is no and high school. as good, School terms as long and church close by, the entire community came A good many farmers were opposed to teachers as well trained as city children to the one-room school this winter to be z: the it and one of Lhem askbd me: "Why isn't a have. And I believe they can have them christening of the Vogeler's four-month-old one-room school good enough for us? too. But in the average one-room school daughter Obviously the parent/teacher rela- Some of the greatest men and women of we have a ghat term, irregular attend- tionship is special in Brown's Park this country, of the past and of today, got ance, a poorly trained teacher, absence In Wyoming the Albany County School Dis- their education in the little old red of uniform standards of achievement in trict may be the largest school district in the schoolhouse in the country, and it was a elementary grades, no special classes continental United States The district is large one-room, one-teacher school. for the brighter children, poor supervi- not because of the number of students, but "Look at Abraham Lincoln and a host sion and poor financial support..." because it er.compasses 4,374 square miles of other great Mari; they never had a In Kansas in the year just closed we more square miies than the state of Rhode newfangled school with all its frills and had 7,339 one-teacher rural schools, Island Albany County also has more rural furbelows to go to. If a one-room school and they furnished the only chance that schools than most districts was good enough for them why isn't it 214,928 boys and girls had for an Wyoming winters can send blizzards that good enough for us?" education. block roads stop travelers, and break fines of 'Your grandfather got along with an The majority of them were what are communicationfordayson endand oxcart, too, didn't he?' I asked. And he called cracker-box or boxcarschools. concerned parents do not want to worry cut wheat with a sickle and threshed It They were poorly heated, poorly lighted, about their children being stranded in a school with a flail; he read by a tallow candle dingy and unattractive.... bus The Albany County School District recog- and carried water from the creek a half The people of the community should nizing its obligation to serve all the children in mile away Hi., got along. be told clearly what consolidation will its district maintains schools close to the outly- "But those things were not good mean for them and what it will cost. ing- communitiesThis year Cozy Hollow enough for your father. Oxen were too A school consolidation should paver School has only one student, as does River slow for him. He haul horses and a buggy, be put through if there is a considerable Bridge, Palmer Canyon and Indian Guide He cradled his wheat and had a 'thresh- minority opposed to it. There are eight distant rural schools in the ing machine. A scythe was too slow, and But where the people know what con- north end of the county and five closer rural he bought a mowing machine and a rid- solidation means, what it will cost and schools The distant schools are 50 to 125 miles ing plow He threw away the hoe and got are willir.g to pay for it, consolidation IP '1 from Laramie Five schools do not have tele- a cultivator, and your mother had a sew- the solution to the rural-school phones and keep in contact via radios One ing machine and a well near the house problem. quaint one-room schoolhouse has given way and kerosene lamps." byJess W. Miley to a modern trailer where the teacher lives in "None of trte old -time tools or ways State Superintendent of Public one half and teaches in the other was good enough for you, except the Instruction in Kansas The Little Laramie Valley School was con- school. You scrapped everything your from "The Country Gentleman" Oct. 4, solidated from three Other schools Each child fathers had, except the one-room 1924 46 50 has his own swing and teeter-totter The modern-style brick building opened in l%3, and Mrs Edith Clymer says. "I opened her up, and I hope I don't close her down Declining enrollments, however, are taking their toll, and next year there may be only four primary students At the Harmony School Nwrity miles west of Laramie, Shirley Utley explains that children go to country school as long as they can but when those students are ready for junior high and senior high in town parents have to maintain two homes For seven years. Mrs Lilley would leave the ranch each week to stay in town with her children "I didn't like being away from homeshe says "Eery Monday morning I'd be a terrible grouch I'd get home Friday evening and haw to start baking and cooking for the next week ahead You live out ME* of a boxone box for the ranch and one box fie4 for the trailer in town" 1 Mrs Lilley's story is common in rural Wyom- ing where parents are awarded "isolation pay" from the district to help compensate for maintaining two homes Teachers are also isolated Last year at one of the north schools in Albany County, from Thanksgiving to early Weld County, CO May the road was buried under snow Only four-wheel drive vehicles could gain access "North county' teachers try to get together once a week to share food and fellowship and as long as the roads ale clear they may drive ninety miles dyne way for dinner Such meals are important to discuss classroom activities and to plan class parties

In most statesthe country schools have been consolidated When cars came upon the scene, small tow* grew and prospered Farmers could livef n town and work their place\ during the day Buses could carry more students, 'andthosesame fiscal-minded school boards could no longer justify one teacher for a handful of students in one build- ingAfter World WarI,Colorado country schools began to close their doors and after World War IIthe rich legacy of one- and two-room schools was all but forgotten For a while some school districts fought against consolidation A school could be maintained for two years without a teacher but if a third year went by the tiny district would be forced to merge with another district Families with older children or no child- renwould haw topay taxesinthe Six old buildings in Cokeatio replaced by consolidation. newly-defined larger districtFor tnat reason desperate districts would even hire married teachers with children to teach their own offspring Anything to keep the distric intact Box socials raised funds In Karval, Colorado the women's club even wrote to President Wilson's wife to have her send a small token IN APPRECIATION

(Speech given by Mrs. Louise Jevne in May, 1988, at Medrose School *2, Ward County, North Dakota the last year the school was in session.)

Mr Martin, President of the School Board, I present to you Kermit Martiu and Dwight Kauffman. These boys have worked hard, and they have sucoessfully completed, with passing grades, both the State Examinations and the ones I gave. It is with pleasure that I present them to you for their diplomas We are indeed grateful to each of you for the fine cooperation you have given to make this program successful. We are honored to have you with us, MISS Hafts (an author). Thank you for coming, Mr. Payne (county superintendent), we appreciate your being here to present the awards. Our relations with your office have always been pleasant and we are happy to have you here. At this time, I wish to express my gratitude to the board for all they have done to make our year succeesful. I know I have been fortunate to have good school boards to work for, but I can honestly aay I have never found any better than you. Thank you for your cooperation. Bair g a parent iikyself, I know some of the problems you mothers and fathers have, some of the sacrifices you make for your children, and some of the pride you share with them in their suocesses. You have a right to be proud of each of your boys and girls. They have worked hard and they have succeeded. These are not Just nice words to please you. The student teacher's tests, my tests, the Stanford Achievement Theta, and the State Exams all prove this to be true. You are to bly oommended for the enooiragement you have given your children that has made this kind of progress possible. Thank you for all you have done. We Opect this to be the last graduate g0 from this school. The past two years herehave bean happy ones. I like working with 111138 Ewen and the student teachers. I love your boys and girls as only a teacher can.' Thank you for the privilege of being your teacher. AN EIGHTH GRADER'S BROADER VIEW

(Address by Kermit Martin at the Medrose School, May, 19138.)

Back in May, 1949, when I stood before many of you folks and gave THERABBIT for our Mothers Day program, my view was not broad enough to think ahead to tonight to seemyself standing here to give these few words of appreciation. BDT HERE I AIL Our motto we THE HIGHER WE CLIMB THE BROADER THE VIEW.Through the past eight yea: Dwight and I have oome to realize, in some measure, that there is much toappreciate in our home, in our school, and in our oommunity. We are glad for our good homes, where we have been taught considerationand love for others, oleanlineec thrift, work, worship of God, and many other necessary things. Iremember when it did not seem so important to wash my ears but ,now I know thatMom knows best. When we started to school we took all the routine more or less as a matter of course.Later we began to question. "Why should we learn about men who have beendead for years?' "What difference does it make whether a word isa noun or a verb?" It's a word ain'tit?And 0 yes, why shouldn't we say AIN'T. It seems everyone does. Our view has broadeneduntil weknow a few of the whys although, I confessnot all. But we are grateful for all our teachers have done for us. Too we say THANK YOU to the college, the student teachers, Miss Ewen and the school board. We know you havedone much to help us. We are also thankfUl for the wonderful community in which welive. I'm sure we will never find any better neighbors and friends than you folks. May the view which has begun to broaden continue to do so as we continueto climb. We desire to be a credit to our home, our school, and our community. Thank you. Kerwit Martin now farms the land of hie fiither and grandfather near Minot, North Dakota, and DwightKauffman is a physician in Iowa.

7%"11°111110". exe IM wawa 0.1 lamb.

An early Pinon School, Colorado, bus.

to be auctioned off The handkerchief she sent fetched a high price Consolidation did come howestr and most rural schools closed °own in favor of the larger more modern district schools As in the sandhills of Nebraska distance isst,11 a n;(-1 problem in mu( h of vvc stern South Dakota The children who attend rural sr hoots tr,twt long distances to get to that one-room bo.id- ing where they spend the day with other children whose homes are just as remote from community life as their nwr Imagincthe neatest school Pert] twenty -fivr ,away and wrier you get there Mere are only S otner students'

In one such st.' ... there are two kinder- gartners two fast:Wets one second-grader one third-grader and nix- fourth- grader The Schoo MU likely r or itinue 'or at ledSt eight MC)ff years Then perhopr it will be closed or movr(1 becauseallthe children of the ranchers th that vor»iy vvt11 be gone By that time ,urger age group who live in the area 420, have grown up married ,ird started fami- nes but probably not on the same rant hes so the center of popish[ on n,dl shift Trio sr_ hoot houce might t)ert)ovf-danother ofd one revived Or the schcx)I left in the same place with some families traveling farther than *stied others The Rock Creek School bus, Rifle, Cb. One-room stone School House No ;mall common scnnol districts remained since1891. In western South Dakota after reorganization

53 5) BEST COPY AVAIIILL',

took place in the 1360"_,Every small rural school is part of a sct oor district which often ors hundreds Of souare miles But these schools carry on much' " aid when they s-tied much smaller Several teachers commented that their child'en are like a family the teacher rows each one person- ally and knows the We-3' ry ,se., of each Stu- dents can work on the, owl get help ;rpm the teacher on a one to one basis and have the opportunity toparticipateinallthe activities Cheryl Carsterisenthe tea,hc- at Alfalfa Valley Schoor said'1 feel t' tair younger and older students learn from r.it_h other, not only subject matter but how to give and take They learn how to work with sod cooperate with others despite vast differt nces Ranch families irve and ,ork together and few fathers gc, off to a ct n which their Shay Delp, (7) at Browns Park School, wearing a gift from his father an elk's tooth between two badger claws.

family nas no par, The ranch Is trfamily job rot j,ist the father's responsibility and that makes for close family tiesBecause of this thereismore personal contact between teachers and parents As Ms Carstensen said'There is closer contact with both the parents of students in a rural school As another teacher expressed It It is a very peaceful atmosphere wan very few noisy distractions and plenty of fresh clean air There are lots Of wide open spaces for quite a variety of actmties at recess and in c lassroom work Mostly the advantage comes from the people Ever/oneso friendly and parer its are always wilhr, to help'Paula Eisenhrrrun who teaches at Big Foot Schooi in the Bad- lands said an advantage to tear hind in such a place isthatnature is

Parents and administrators need to look at altematisesIn Colorado in the 1980-1981 School year, fourteen rural school districts haw switched to four day school weeks with either Monday a Fnday off The experiment is pat- terned after a program launched by the Cimar- ron, New Mexico public schools and is designed to save energy In at least two stu- des, however, not only was energy saved, but because of 10-hour days, teachers found themselves at least two iveeks ahead of les- son plans made the previous year Country schools may once again flourish for another reason, parents are increasingly as- satisfied with current urban education As Marian Cramer states The baneful notion that parents as a classareneitherqualifiednor iesponsible human agents when it comes to the schooling of their children must be challenged The cold,poorlylitone-room schools denounced in the early 1900's by such experts as N C MacDonald from North Dakota and Jess W Miley from Kansas no longer seve the publicInexperienced teachers have been replaced by young professionals Tight-fisted penny-pinching school boards have given way to well financed' and state supported school districtsE F Scnumacher'ssmall is beautiful" ethic is beginning to make sense to many people The times ripe for a renaissance 1 in rural education in the last twenty years education ihnova- a tion4 has consistently derived from country School roots The "open concept" plan is a direct ciescendaot of the one-room school "Individualizedinstruction now an educational by-word, was the only possible way for one teacher to teach twenty-fly' students at eight different grade levels A recent movement towardsreplacing graded classrooms with "family" groupings mirrors the close-knit ties of the country school expe- nencePeer counseling' is a new definition for students helping students, country school kids with the teacher's sanction have done Leonard Creek Ranch School, 90 miles north of Winnemiska,NV 213acher Sandy this for years Henrietta Greenfield a retired Kearns and one of four students. teacher with forty-four years of experience their role today creating an made a very pertinent observation when she school's time and efforts went into teaming Maybe that is said, 'In the rural school the child was taught students how to live witn one another and to alternate life style of sharing and joy among human beings eight times over find a niche within the surrounding commun- The country school legacy requires careful One-room "country"schools may first ity The rural country school is the only instau examination The key to its future lies in its appear in urban areas where parents seek tion which seems to haw no successor to fill better control over the classroom and its con- its place past tent Along the Wasatch Front in Utah the The country school, like the agrarian society * prorate traditional school is flourishing as is envisioned by Thomas Jefferson has collided * Portions of this essay by Andrew Gulliford the even more radical concept of the home with the scientific/technical world and has been beaten, or at least seriously set back originally appeared in 'The Christian Science School Monitor" Othei material is from staff members Quite possibly the future of successful edu- Whether this will be a permanent loss no one Sant! Judge Topeka Kansas Dan RyWIce cation in this country is dependent upon a can tell Judging from the people interviewed Grand Forks North Dakota, Caroline Hatton return not only to the basics which were Liner- and the documents examined, the country Edgemont South DakotaHerbert Blakely, rtngly taught in country schools, but also to the school has much to offer in the way of turning Madison South ()Ant, Jessie Embry Provo Community values which country schools out human beings who can share wit' one another and enjoy a sense of community Utah Robert Barthel' Powell Wyoming representedit is amazing how much of the 57 53 "Poet In In Residence at a Country School" COUNTRY SCHOOL LEGACY ARCHIVE REPOSITORIES The school greets me like a series of sentence fragments sent out to recess. RobertLKnecht Before 1 hit the front door Kansas State Historical Society I'm into a game of baseball soccer. 120 West 10th Street My first kick's a foul; my second sails Topeka, KS 66612 over the heads of the outfielders; rounding third base, I suck in my stomach Joanne L Dodds and dodge the throw of a small blue-eyed boy. Western History Research Room I enter the school, sucking apples of wind. Pueblo Library District In the fifth-grade section of the room 100 E. Abriendo Ave. I stand in the center of an old rug and ask, Pueblo, CO 81004 Where would you go where no one could find you, a secret place where you'dbe invisible Doris Timperley to everyone except yourselves; Kearney Center for Archives & what would you do there: what would you say? History I ask them to imagine they'rethere, Calvin T. Ryan Library and writing a poem. As I walk around the room. Kearney State College I look at the wrists of the kids, Kearney, NE 68847 green and alive, careful with silence. They are writing themselves into fatten elms, Dr. Gary Topping corners of barns, washouts, and alkali flats. Curator of Manuscripts I watch until a tiny boy approaches, Utah State Historical Society who says he can't think of a place, 300 Rio Grande who wonders today, at least, if Salt Lake City, UT 84101 he just couldn't sit on my lap. Tomorrow, he says, he'll write. Dan Rylance, Curator And so the two Of us sit under a clock, Orin G. Libby Manuscript Collection beside a gaudy picture of a butterfly, Chester Fritz Library and a sweet poem of Christina Rosetti's. University of North Dakota And in all that silence, neither of us Grand Forks, ND 58202 can imagine where he'd ratherbe. Dr liononan We l( h Eric Moody Kearney Skne College Manuscript Curator Kearney. Nebraska Nevada Historical Society 1650 Virginia St. Reno, NV 89503 John Olsgaard Government Documents /ArchMst I.D. Weeks Library University of South Dakota Vermillion, SD 57069

Phil Roberts Document Supervisor Historical Research & Publications Wyoming State Archives Barnett Building Cheyenne, WY 82002

Anyone having additional material on country schools from the eight states listed above is encouraged to send it to the appropriate address.

p BEST COPYMk'U GLOSSARY OF TERMS

urde a Rood hand to write perfect penmanship withall of the frills and swirls accompanying the Spencerian or Palmermethod black snake bullwhip, displayed in some country schools forthe benefit of unruly students, no documentation of ateacher ever using one pricy outhouse Variations included everything fromthree-hole outhouses to lust one-hde for the girls, and boys usedthe stable MeGliffer's eaders a series of a primer and sixgraded readers using selections of literary merit designed to suit the age leveland interest of the students First published in 1836 with salesof (A er 12C million by 1920 spoke cj plece to stand in front of the class orthe community and to recite a poem or speech memorizedby heart' standard school refers to standards c if heat, lighting, and sanitation setforth in the early 1900's to upgraderural schools Standards varied slightly from state to stateUsually' playground equipment was required teacher's- institute summer courses for teachers thatlasted from six to ten days, often at was the first education that teachersreceived after graduating from eighth grade orthography spelling Spelling matches or spell downs werefay orate events for classes and communities rally day any rally or social event that)(cuffed at a country st hoot, usually an all day affair such asdiscussion ofwomen's right to vote, prohibition. new farming techniques,rcli glints revivals, etc //coma/ school original name for higher education teacher preparation scho, A, many hate evolved into four yearcolleges and universities

59 55 OUR UTTLE COUNTRY SCHOOL.

REFRAIN: Out on th,- windswept prairie. Up in the clear cold mountains Stands a little country schoolhouse. With a bell and a pot-bellied stove. Down in the red clay canyons, Way out on a grassy hill We haven't forgotten Our little country school. And you know we never will. ist In Broken Bone and Dunk ley. Verse In Fly Gulch and Pagoda. We learned our ABC's. We added our 1.2.3's. We sat down when we missed a word At the good old spelling bee. 2nd At Prairie Rose and Fairview. Verse At Moon Hill and Coal Creek. We brought our own lunch pail. On horseback and through dale. Sometimes we earned a spanking. And our ponies heard us wail. 3rd In Kansas and Nevada. Verse In Utah and Wyoming. McGuffey's were so dear They taught us our Shakespeare. We pledged allegiance to the flag From first grade through the years. 4th In Nebraska and Dakota. Verse In Colorado too. Our Schoolhouse was a key To learning history. Hands of our parents built the school, And began the community. REFRAIN Out on the windswept prairie. Up in the clear cold mountains Stands a little country schoolhouse. With a bell and a pot-bellied stove. Down in the red clay canyons, Way out on a grassy hill We haven't forgotten Our little cou.itry school. And you know we never will. 60 vEc198 S GOUNTRY SCHOOL LEGAC: Eitt C 1t iltunanities on the Frontier

Project DirectorAndrew Guiliford Media DirectorRandall Teeuwen Exhibits DirectorBerkeley Lohanov

COUNTRY SCHOOL LEGACY PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION TEXT

After one look at the building, I was sure I had lost my mind. It was built of rough boards with double-boarded walls with tarpaper between the boards. We had a small box heater to heat the building which it didn't do in cold weather. When it was really cold we moved the desks up as close as we could to the stove. Olive Salladay, Teacher, South Park, Colorado,1927

At the turn of the century, the United States had 200,000 one- room schools, but now there are little morethan a thousand in operation. What happened to all of those simple white framebuildings that dotted the prairie or were tucked away in narrowmountain valleys? They had names like Brush Creek School,Fairview, Broken Bone, Windy Point, Pagoda, Dunkley, Sleepy cat, Elk Head,Moon Hill, and Fly Gulch. From 1870 until 1940, the one-room school played avital part in the settling of the American West. Rural America was raised in a country school, and those values and traditionswhich make up our combined heritage were taught byteachers in isolated communities on vast sweeps of the mountains andplains. The buildings remain as silent testaments to a nation of immigrantsbent on success. No one knows how many one-room schoolbuildings still stand. Those schools that have not been burned ordemolished are being destroyed by simple neglect and naturaldeterioration.

VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE Architecturally the schools are as diverse as thosewho built them. All of the schools are made from whatevermaterials were At hand--wood, stone, logs, adobe,brick, and sod. The first Nebraska schools were little more thansod huts with dirt floors, crude doors, and leaky roofs. In one Kansas sod school, a snake fell through the roof only tu land onthe pot-bellied stove and begin to sizzle!

SPONSORED BY THE MOUNTAIN PLAINS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, StarlitKansas, Colorado, Nobraaks, Nomads, North Dakota, South Dakota,Utah, and Wyoming 61 Photography Exhibition Text page 2

The line blurs and thedefinitions blend as to what constitutes a country school, but therationale is the same in every state. A community with a school was a communitywith a future. Unlike the east where the settlers builtchurches first, in the West all manner of men were to befound who spoke a variety oflanguages and held quite different religiousbeliefs. Schools therefore took priority. In the years from 1875 schoolhouseswere erected in Nebraska at the rate of approximately aneeach day--and for the next quarter century, a new schoolhouse was erected everytwo days. In Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska, a school wasbuilt in i886 with walls of baled straw, a sod roof, and a dirtfloor. It was sixteen feet long,_ twelve feet wide, and- seven feethigh. Within two years cattle had devoured it! CROSS LIGHTING kero- In a building withoutelectricity and with no budget for sene, lighting presented aserious problem. Most schools, therefore, had windows on the east andthe blackboard an the west. Some schools had windows on bothsides, but for ye.xs the notion prevailed that if light came from twosources, students doingwrit- ten work would ruin their eyes. A few brave districtstackled the problem by putting windows tothy; north for a constant, even light, but the building must have beenfreezing cold in winter. Says Nora Mohberg retired teacher from Milnor,North Dakota: "The country schoolhouse wasthe most utilitarian building imaginable but in mostinstances it had one serious drawback. That was the cress lighting that often injured the eyes ofthe students without being noticed. If the windows were in thenorth and south walls, the damage wasnot so great. But windows on the east and west oftencreated reflect- iors that were injurious to the eyesof the students although no one really understood what washappen- ing at that time."

INTERIORS

Most schools were plainlyfurnished with a woodstove,blackboard, teacher's desk, students' desks,and very few books,slates, maps an elevated and charts. Occasionally the teacher's desk was on platform at the front of the room andthe blackboard rose above vertical hardwood wainscotting. little Books were few because ruralfarmers and ranchers had very local disposable cash, and it wastheir taxes that ran the small with a meager in- school districts. Quite often the rural teacher $50 a month had the only steadyincome in the district. come of only displayed Regardless of finances,however', every school proudly present portraits ofWashington and the American flag and the ever Count- Lincoln - -often bought with moneyfrom the teacher's pocket. those portraits as the greatest less immigrant children revered founding of our symbols of our nation. Washington represented the country and Lincoln was honoredfor preserving our unity. 62 Photography Exhibition Text page 3

PLAYGROUNDS

Country schools had very little playground equipment, if any, and what they had usually was homemade. Instead children.played games that required no equipment such as "Annie Over", "Foxand Geese", "Pom, Pom, Pull Away", and a hundred variations of t.:, "Blind Man's Bluff" and "Simon Says." In Wyoming, children enjoyed chasing gophers. Killing rattle- snakes was also great fun in the plains states. Baseball became popular when districts could afford bats, balls, and mite. Then, of course, many students enjoyed playing tricks on the teacher who was often young, single, female, and not much older than her scholars. The standardization movement swept across the country before Word War I and districts competed to upgrade local education with better schools, outhouses, school libraries, and playground equipment.

LIFESTYLE Country schools dominated rural education inthe West in those historic years between the fencing Jf the open range and thefirst black-topped roads. Schools were built to serve the community and centrally located so that children had no more than fourmiles to" walk to school. During the day1 children frora the first through the eighthgrade worked and learned as one big family. Older children helped younger ones, and in turn the younger childrenlistened to the older ones recite. Children knew what was expected of them and everyone had a role in plays or a position on thebaseball team. At night and on holidays, parents used thebuilding as a community center for voting, dancing, card-playing, socializing,debating, church, Sunday school, weddings, funerals, grange meetings and water board meetings. The country school was the focal point of ruralcommunities, and many generations of Americansreceived their entire formal education in a one-room white clapboard school. In the words of Dr. Fred Schroeders But the farther I travel from that quaint andfrag- rant beginning, the closer is my affinity tothe goals of the resourceful and idealistic rural teacher for whom no subject, course or age was separated from its neighbors, and with whom the school day became an invitation to circles of experience, widening outward from the common room so that child, community, nature, books, and imagination were unified in an adventure of growing and learning.

-0-

63 GOLINTRY SCHOOL LEGACY humanities on the 'Frontier

Project DirectorAndrew Gulliford Media DirectorRandall Teeuwen Exhibits DirectorBerkeley Lobanov

PHOTOGRAPHY- EXHIBIT COUNTRY SCHOOL LEGACY: HUMANITIES ON THE FRONTIER

sponsored by the Mountain Plains Library Association funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities prepared by the Colorado Historical Society *fifty 11 by 14 color and black & white prints framed 16 by 20

4 country school photographs from eight states * all photos taken between June, 1980 and June, 1981 id

1. Bustos School: Huerfano County, CO by Edwin L. Dodds Located south of4ligtway #10 near Cucharas Reservoir, the school is names for the Bustos family who homesteaded E in the area in the 1870's. The family came from Tierra z m Amarilla, New Mexico. J z 2. Willows School: Custer County, CO by Edwin L. Dodds S Children who once attended this school south of Westcliffe z now square dance here. W

17. 3. Granite School: Custer County, CO by Edwin L. Dodds m closed O Located on a ridge east of Granite, the school O in 1958. It appears to be two one-room schools spliced Z D together; a not uncommon occurence. W Howard School: Fremont County, CO by Edwin L.Dodds This school is west of Howard.No coin was needed to pass through this turnstile to get aneducation. Howard School had the only wallpapered outhousefound in southern Colorado; it was green tomatch the classroom walls. Edwin L. Dodds 5. Nathror School: Lake County, CO by The architect must have modeledthis, the only school in Nathrop, after churches built backEast.

6. Malta School: Lake County, CO byEdwin L. Dodds Located west of Leadville alonghighway #24, the community of Maltz, was named for theMalta Smelt- ing Works. There is a teacherage to the rear of the building, and the Malta Schoolhas the only surviving wagon shed in southern Colorado.

SPONSORED BY THE MOUNTAIN PLAINS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION Smiled Krems, Colorado, Nobrsska, Nevada, North Dakota, SouthDakota, Ut.h, and WyominS 64 'PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT COUNTRY SCHOOL LEGACY rge 2

Cedarwood School: Pueblo County, CO by Edwin L. Dodds This view is typical of the isolation of many country schools. The building is east of Colorado City.

Mount Pleasant School: Alamosa County, CO by Edwin L. Dodds Perhaps the treev are mute testimony to some remote Arbor Day program. Tho school is west of Alamosa. Westcliffe School: Custer County, CO by Edwin L. Dodds This Westcliffe school was restored by the community as a Colorado Centennial-Bicentennial project in 1976.

10. Malachite School: Huerfano County, CO by Edwin L. Dodds Located southwest of Redwing, this was one of several schools which had over the entrance a sign proclaiming it a "State of Colorado, Approved Standard School".

11. Mustang School: Huerfano County, CO by Edwin L. Dodds This school is located near the Pueblo County Line close to the Denver and Rio Grande railroad. A number of Swedish families lived in the area, and the teacher's quarters were in the east sideaf the building.

12. Maxwell Mine Church/School: Las Animas County, CO by Edwin L. Dodds Accounts vary as to the use of this building which is listed in the Historic American Building Survey., The school is on the Maxwell Mine property. O. Paragon School: Gunnison County, CO by Andrew Gulliford(color) The Paragon School has been moved to the Pioneer Museum grounds at Gunnison. The curved front windows and elaborate bell tower designate it as an architecturally unique rural school.

14. Brown's Park School: Moffat County, CO by Andrew Gulliford(color) Dan Vogeler teaches 1st through 6th grade at one of thelast operative one-room schools in the state. Located north of Sunbeam, the school is made of two separate one-room buildings that were hauled in and joined together.

15. Tructon School: El Paso County, CO by Andrew Gulliford(color)c This Waterbury Jacketed Stove was the finest available When the four-room Tructon High School was finished in 1917. The school served as a hospital during the flu epidemic of 191e. It is now owned and maintained by a church.

16. Stove Prairie School: Larimer County, CO byRandall Teeuwen (color) Children leave the Stove Prairie School 25miles guest of Fort Collins like they have done every schoolday since 1896. PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT COUNTRY SCHOOL LEGACY page 3

17. White Rock School: Rio Blanco County,CO by Randall Teeuwen This log school on Strawberry Creeknorthwest. of Meeker is still used as a community center. The rancher photographed inside the school attendedclass here. Tine woodstove and chairs have been in thebuilding for at least fifty years. CO by Randall Teeuwen 18. White Rock School: Rio Blanco County, CO by Randall Teeuwen 19. White Rock School: Rio Blanco County,

20. Big Springs School: Douglas County,KS by Randall Teeuwen The original stone school atBig Springs was replaced in 1869 by a large frame buildingprovided by the United Brethren Church. This is the third District No.72 Big Springs School--and the last.

21. Barber School: Douglas ',ounty, KSby Randall Teeuwen Like many eastern Kansas countryschools, the Barber School No. 82 was quarriedfrom native limestone. An agreement dated October 23,1871 specifies the dimensions as 24 by 36 feet with a12 foot ceiling.Total cost $600. (color) 22. District No. 32: Stanton Country,NE.by Andrew Gulliford Built in 1925, this green stuccoschool in the rolling hills north of Schuyler isstill in use as are over 300 country schools in Nebraska. County, NE by Andrew Gulliford 23. Little Salt Creek School: Lancaster This one-room white school isstill in use and (color) located only two miles east ofthe downtown Lincoln exit off Interstate 80. (color) 24. unidentified school: Dixon County,NE by Andrew Gulliford Situated in the woods only astone's throw from A Nebraska state park and the MissouriRiver, this school appears to be in use northwest ofPonca.

25. Sioux Creek School: LoupCounty, NE by Randall Teeuwen The all brick DistrictNo. 4 school was builtwith large windows to the northand south, and it is as Burwell. solid as the day it wascompleted ten miles west of Garfield County, NE byRandall Teeuwen 26. Riverside District No.1: Finished in 1924, theRiverside School had windowsto the west and south and ahandsome bell tower. Built only four miles east of theSioux ;reek School, bothdistricts lost to consolidation.

66 PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT COUNTRY SCHOOL LEGACY page 4

27. Allen Duncan and the Fairview School: Buffalo County, NE by Randall Teeuwen Twelve miles north and four miles east of Kearney,District No. 110 was bui in the 1880's. Allen Duncan says, "That's the only buildiEg I went to school in. I didn't pass ancient history so I had to repeat eighth grade. I had a real good country education.We raised by six boys and a girl, but my education through the eighthgrade was as good as my,kids through high school!"

28. Golconda Schools Humboldt County, NV by AndrewGulliford (color) Originally a booming mining camp, few people nowlive in Golconda which is eighteen miles east ofWinnemucca. The school is fascinating because the plansapparently called for three one-room classrooms united by a belltower.

29. Leonard Creek Ranch School: Humboldt County, NVby Andrew Gulliford Most Nevada ranches had their own schools100 years ago. Today the Montero family still has their owntiny one -room school in a building constructed in1918. The school is 90 miles northwest of Winnemucca where theranch lies on the edge of the Black Rock Desert.

30. Ruby Valley School: Elko County, NV by AndrewGulliford This is the original Ruby Valley Schoolbuilt when the first Mormons came into the valley. Today a modern two- room brick school built in1964 serves their great, great grandchildren.

31. 01d Jiggs School: Elko County, NV by AndrewGulliford The ornate gate is to keep cattle outand children in. The school is now a post officewith this sign above the mailboxes: "If you leave a messageFre'll get you stamps, but take your packages to the bar."

32. Jiggs School: Elko County, NV by AndrewGulliford Fourteen students grades 1st through7th learn in this small trailer. Aline Mooney is in her fourth year of teaching, and sheinsists that rural school teachers must be organized and able todo a dozen things simoultaneously.

33. Broken Bone School: Benson County, NDby Andrew Gulliford (color) Built in 1906, the two story Broken BoneSchool at Pleasant La;:e, North Dakota was designedwith one upstairs and one downstairs classroom.

34. Meyer School: Pierce County, NDby Andrew Gulliford (color) Like many country schools, the MeyerSchool now serves as a voting place and as theMeyer Township Hall. It is between Pleasant Late and Rugby.

67 PHOTC,:nAPHY EXHIBIT COUNTRY SCHOOL LEGACY page 5

35. Grand Harbor School: Ramsey County, ND by AndrewGulliford (color) This school, District No. 6,, Bay No. 1,closed in 1960 and the books are still on the shelves. The number of people who voted in each'elyction since1960 can be found on the blackboards.

36. Nora Mohberg and the Center School:Richland Coun*, ND by. Andrew Gulliford (color) Mrs. Mohberg taugpt for years inrural schools and testifies that adult immiOhnts often attendedrural schools to learn English and the American monetary system.

37. Amidon School: Slope County, ND by Randall Teeuwen This school is still in use. Note the teacher's living quarters in the trailer and the adjacent one-roomschool that is now the library.

38. Roller School: Fall RiverCountyAlby,Andrew Gulliford Located north of Ardmore, this one-roomschool was named after the nearest family -,,the Roler's. Windows only face the east to avoid cross lighting, andthe flagr6le per- manently leans east because of prevailingnorthwest winds. SD by Andrew Gulliford 39. Roller School interior: Fall River County,

40. Roller School playround: Fall River County,SD by Andrew Gulliford

41. Molan School: Hutchinson County, SD byAndrew Gulliford (color) Built during the last period of countryschool construction in the 1930's, this school south of Freemanboasts a full basement, hardwood floors, windows that onlyface north for even light, and outhouses built to WPAstandards. (color) 42. unidentified school: RobertsCounty, SD by Andrew Gulliford Located north of Sisseton onhighway #81, this one-room, white, rural school typifiesthousands of country schools that once dotted themountain and plains states.

4k Thistle School: Utah County, UTby Andrew Gulliford(color) This solid sandstone school wasbuilt from a plan book and intended to be used forgenerations in those days before the invention of schoolbuses. (color) 44. Esther Cambell, Vernal: 'Tintah County,UT by Andrew Gulliford "Miss Esth,_-" as her p,...1scalled her, taught for years in Colorado rural schools like ElkSprings, Skull Creek, Brown's Park, Twin Wash, Greystone,Mantle, Ladbre, and Loyd School.

68 PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT COUNTRY SCHOOL LEGACY page 6

45. Slater School: Platte County, WY by Randall Teeuwen Renovated by the Slater Women's Club, this school met all the requirements to be a Wyoming Standard School. and had only sixteen teachers between 1918-1944. Thy furnishings are completely authentic.

46. Slater School interior: Platte County, WY by Randall Teeuwen

47. Slater School interior: Platte ^ovnty, WY by Randall Teeuwen

48. Fairview School pump: Platte County. WY by Andrew Gulliford The Fairview School north of Wheatland is still in use as a Sunday school, and the pump remains notfar from the front door.

49. Axford School: Platte County, WY by Andrew Gullifc,rd Originally twelve miles southwest of Wheatland, this circa 1919 school was moved around a great deal as were many of the one-rool: frame school buildings when farm populations shifted.

50. Keelinc School: Niobrara County, WY by Andrew Gulliford Attendance at the Keeline School ran from twenty to forty students. The Jireh rural school had to be moved in for a lunch room and recreationhail, but now Keeline, 17 miles west of Lusk, hasonly two remaining residents.

photographs on display at the Colorado Heritage Center,Denver, June 13--July 13, 1981

The Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody,Wyoming, October 1-- December 18, 1981

other dates are available/contact: Project Director Country School legacy Box 305 Silt, CO 81652

6 9 q 1 IP. hag , hp. lili' 1 : "li " 1Iiii 111 iit 1111lop mrigiII iii II "II I! II1 1111 lir1111 IIII .Nil I : II IM ' 10 'm 11111mi 11 III in II III i ii 111 III IL I lain iiiI :4 I III ill 1 i iii ill ini!PI -. il II II hi 1!"1. - I a III. : 11 I111 Ifirilk 11"ill iiii III III . IP 11. . lit IN .- ill 'll" - in!A 1 lg.. . ill 1 ill 1;11 I il Iiii . qi ill' 41 6 .: :. . fir : 11,11.1 Hi .- III ir 1 11 1,1, - iii c iii III o : Li inI I 1 1.. ,1111 n !itMI : in I VIII1111IF .111 IIII III111 .: li,I!'" inli 4 III 1.11 ii. 1".. i itI III hi111 Ail II iri I1111 AIil 11111 i1 6pp111 II hi!bill Illi