Country School Association of America

2021 CSAA Annual Conference to be Offered On-Line!

VIRTUAL CONFERENCE FOR 2021: LOCKDOWNS AND SOCIAL DISTANCING WON'T HOLD US BACK!

Undaunted after two postponements, the CSAA Annual Conference has been rescheduled. 2020 has not been kind to those who wish to convene...anywhere in the world! The CSAA 2020 conference scheduled for Golden, Colorado was moved to 2021 and then moved again to 2022 as Covid19 continued its march across the world. While we look forward to Golden, we came up with an alternate plan for 2021.

CSAA will offer a virtual conference June 13-16, 2021 so we can continue our efforts to support the appreciation of our country schools. The attached brochure will explain our decision to go virtual and we urge you to become involved as a presenter or a participant or both! 

CLICK on the flyer at left and it will direct you to complete information on the 2021 Virtual Conference!

Join other schoolhouse enthusiasts from around the country for presentations and programming in the comfort of your home (or your backyard). Control the time you spend and what presentations you wish to see. All offerings will be available to you at a fraction of the cost incurred in travel to a conference.

Questions? Feel free to send an email through our website at:

CONTACT US      

 

 

CSAA Conference in Golden, Colorado Moved to 2021

CSAA WILL SURVIVE!

Covid19 has effected the entire world, and at the very least cancelling our CSAA Annual Conference in Golden, Colorado. The conference has been postposed to 2021 but will be held at the same venue if possible. All information and updates will be posted on our website as soon as we have solid plans. In the meantime, we watch normal life unfold as we try to make sense of the virus and our nation's other tragic events.

Our schoolhouses may be closed to visitors for a time, but we promise we will all return with a new vigor to save our remaining country schools and to preserve their history.

We also believe people will look forward to socializing at conferences again in the future. Refer to our website as we continue to offer our small grants and awards to our country school enthusiasts!

Story City to Host Iowa Schoolhouse Conference

20TH ANNUAL IOWA COUNTRY SCHOOLS PRESERVATION CONFERENCE

Sheldall Schoolhouse Museum

"​Recycling Memories While

Building for the Future"
October 11-12, 2019
Story City, IA

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From the Museums of Story City Website...

 

You are invited to the 20th annual conference focused on the preservation of Iowa country schools. On Friday, October 11th, you will participate in a full day of lectures, panels, and discussions covering various aspects associated with country schools: research, location, preservation, promotion, etc. You will have many opportunities to share your experiences and to learn from others throughout Iowa who have the same interests and concerns. During the afternoon you will tour the Museums of Story City and take a ride on Story City's Antique Carousel. Friday evening will conclude with a dinner followed by a triple feature at one of Iowa's oldest movie theaters, the Story Theatre. Featured films include:

•  The Amish Incident in Iowa that changed education in America—Fourth Wall Films, Tammy and Kelly Rundle, Moline, Il.
• Roll Call on the Prairie: A collection of oral stories recalling rural school life and times—Mary Doak, Grundy Center Historical Society
• Iowa’s Unsung Prairie Transformation to Farms and One-Room Schools 1870-1900—Sandra Host

On Saturday, October 12th, a group tour, starting in Story City and traveling around Story County, will provide you an opportunity to visit several preserved and furnished country schools, as well as schools that have been repurposed into barns and homes. You will also enjoy a lunch in Ames, Iowa at the Cornucopia Restaurant & Gift Shop.  

Registration
For detailed information about the conference and to register, please download and review the Conference Brochure. You may download and print the Registration Form Only if you would like to register multiple people.

 

Download Registration_form_3

 

Download Schoolhouse_brochure_finalb

 

You may view or print the brochure with these links:

 

​Silent Auction
Each year conference attendees are asked to bring items related to country schooling (bells, slate boards, books, flags, paintings etc.). These items will be displayed and sold through a silent auction process. Proceeds will be used to offer mini grants through Preservation Iowa to help groups and individuals wishing to preserve country school buildings and programs.

Accommodations
Comfort Inn (located off Interstate 35)
425 Timberland Drive Story City, IA  |  515-733-6363  (ask for country school conference rate) 

Sponsors
The conference organizing team is indebted to those locally who are contributing to its success.

• Preservation Iowa
• Story City Historical Society
• Des Moines Area Community College
• Ames Historical Society
• Story City Greater Chamber Connection
• Story Theatre
• Rachel Faga Designs

Share in Our Conference Memories!

CSAA Wraps Up 19th Annual Country School Conference

If you were unable to make this year's annual conference in Frederick, Maryland in June, we missed you, but we invite you to the 2020 conference to be held in Golden, Colorado June 14-17, 2020. Memories were made, friendships forged and schoolhouses were decked out for visitors! 24 presenters spoke on a myriad of topics in two days of programming, all new and different from previous conferences adding to our enjoyment of schoolhouses across the country.

Our coach tour of one-room country schools on day three encircled Washington, DC and highlighted untold stories of black and white schools in a divided south. 

This year's theme, Countryside-Countrywide, certainly fit the bill for the information our speakers prepared in audio-visual and hands-on programming. For a look at our line-up for 2019 presentations, access the following link. This will give you an idea of the calibre of our presentations and the variety of topics offered in any conference year.

Conference Programming 2019

For a visual trip to our conference we offer a YouTube video slide show of our presenters and the all-day coach tour of historic country schools in the area.

We thank our 2019 Coordinator Ralph Buglass and his wife and able assistant, Karen, for hosting a perfect conference in so may ways! We also thank our sponsors (highlighted in the video) for their generosity in donating to our cause of preservation of our national remaining country schools.

Please consider a trip west for the 2020 conference themed...2020 Vision: Country Schools in Focus! Visit our website for up to date information on preservation efforts, membership, awards, and our annual conference.

19th Iowa Country School Conference

Winterset and Perry, IA Welcome Iowa Country School Preservation Conferees

Winterset, Iowa in Madison County served up some fine country schools, a number of famous bridges, John Wayne history, and another successful country school conference this past fall. 55 participants at the 19^th Annual Iowa Country School Preservation Conference, entitled, "A Vanishing Heritage: Preserving Country Schools and Bridges,” enjoyed a full day of presentations at the New Bridge Church in Winterset, followed by a full day of activities. Participants visited four country schools: the Washington School, the North River School, the Tusha School and the 1850's log school. The Saturday group enjoyed a visit to the Madison County Historical Complex, and a car-avan to Hogback Covered Bridge. 

Presenters offered varied and informative presentations rounding out a full day program: Iowa Social Studies Guidelines and Country Schools, Country Schools Telling a Story fo Agriculture, Creating a Self-Guided Tour of the Alton School, Preservation of the Prairie Grove School, Writing and Country Schools, Country Schools and Heritage Tourism, What to do and See in Madison County, Iowa Country Schools in an Iowa History Timeline, Developing Historical Villages with Country Schools,  and Interpreting Your Country School. 

Tusha School

Hogback Bridge

The group met for lunch and a tour of historic Hotel Pattee in Perry where their “themed” rooms thrilled the visitors from across the country.

A cool drizzle couldn’t dampen the spirits of 22 country school preservationists who visited the hotel and were warmly welcomed by management and staff. No description of the beautifully designed rooms could do them justice so management opened a number of rooms on three floors for the conference attendees to explore. They were also treated to a tour of the Spring Valley Ballroom with a mural depicting the passage of time in Perry; farming, animals that roamed the territory, the coming of the railroad, Native Americans, public buildings, the circus coming to town…images capturing the flavor of a vibrant and historic city.

Hotel Pattee

The Willis Library beckoned guests to settle into the Stickley chairs for an afternoon of reading classics by the fireside. Time was against us for a sit down.

Of particular interest to the group was the Alton School Room, a tribute to Iowa’s proud heritage of the one-room schools that dotted the landscape, in particular, the schoolhouse that operated in Perry from 1867 until 1961. A scan of the room evoked memories of K-8 children and a single teacher, so characteristic of the nation’s country schools. Design elements include a folding desk chair, an antique slate and abacus, a schoolhouse pendant ceiling light, familiar cursive handwriting charts, photos of Washington and Lincoln, a pendulum wall clock, a vintage map of Iowa, and a 48-star American flag. Bed linens and pillows included an array of colorful quilts.

"Alton School Room"

King's Daughters Room

Open for our viewing pleasure were: the David Ahmanson Suite for Kids, the R.M. Harvey (Circus) Room, the 1913 Farmhouse Room, the American Indian Room, the V.T. “Snick” Hamlin (Alley Oop) Room, the African Room, and the King’s Daughters Room.

How gratifying it was for one conferee from New Hampshire to visit the King’s Daughters Room at the Hotel Pattee! She is a member of the last Kings Daughters circle to exist in New Hampshire and coincidentally, one of their charitable causes is to curate and maintain an 1841 one-room country school museum for the City of Nashua, New Hampshire. 1800 fourth graders visit the schoolhouse each year for a two-hour living history experience and the King’s Daughters fund their visit and transportation.  She shared her visit to the Kings Daughters theme room with her circle when she returned to NH.

The tour ended with rave reviews for the creative design elements throughout the Hotel Pattee. We offer our praise to the dedication of visionary Bill Clark, the designers, managers, researchers, and architects who brought this beautiful landmark back to its former glory and beyond. Sincere thanks for your hospitality, a hearty lunch, and a memorable visit all around.

Thanks to Ron Howell, Bill Sherman and the many volunteers, presenters, and attendees who stepped forward to create a wonderful 19th conference!

         North River School                                                                         Willis Library

Memories from Oak Grove Ridge School

Lunchtime in a One-Room School

By Larry Scheckel

Tomah

Monroe County

The 28 children in the one-room Oak Grove Ridge school outside of Seneca in the middle of Crawford County always looked forward to noon lunch. It was the 1940s and 1950s and Mom would make the school lunches for me and my brothers Phillip and Bob, and later my younger sisters Catharine, Rita and Diane.

In a typical lunch she packed thick slices of homemade bread around layers of jelly and peanut butter, wrapped in wax paper. Sometimes those two slices of bread held a slab of Spam. I loved that stuff! The sandwich might be augmented with an orange and a brownie.

Dad and Mother had nine children, so she made six loaves of bread at a time. Yes, she had the old-fashioned bread box filled with flour, purchased in 50-pound or 100-pound cloth bags. In that flour bin sat a hand-operated sifter.

I have vivid memories of Mother kneading the dough, rolling it over and over in flour, placing the dough in bread pans, opening the big door of the wood-burning oven, and placing six bread pans inside, then closing the door with a hot pad.

Some kids brought their lunch in syrup cans or cleaned-out paint cans. They had a nice handle and could be used in the summertime to pick wild raspberries or blackberries. Other kids used a paper sack saved when groceries were purchased at Johnson’s One-Stop Shopping Center or Kane’s IGA, both stores in Seneca. Virgil Fradette owned a bright red rectangular lunch box with a Hopalong Cassidy motif on one side. I later learned those type of lunch boxes were made by Aladdin Industries out of Nashville.

We took soup in a glass jelly jar with a screw-on lid. A half-hour before lunch, some of the older and taller boys or girls would set several pans atop the potbelly wood-burning stove. They would pour 2 to 3 inches of water in the pans. Close to lunch time, each kid would get out their jar of soup and heat it up by putting it in the pan of water.

There would be great excitement when a jar was set into the water without the lid being loosened. The air inside the jar heated up, expanded, and the jar would explode.

That was our hot lunch program in the winter time when the wood-burning stove was needed and we ate inside. Spring and fall, we’d take our lunch boxes outside and sit on the concrete steps, or cistern skirting, or along the sunny south side of the school. Sometimes we traded lunch items. My favorite lunch container was a metal box about 6 inches by 9 inches and 4 inches deep with a little handle on top for carrying.

The entire lunch box had that cowboy Roy Rogers motif, with Roy and his horse, Trigger, Dale Evans and her horse Buttermilk, Bullet the German Shepherd dog, Roy’s sidekick Pat Brady and his Jeep, Nellybelle. The lunch box sported a half-dozen or so colored pictures showing Roy riding his horse, rounding up cattle, Dale Evans and the logo of the Double R Bar Ranch. My favorite picture was Bullet licking Pat Brady’s face. Our black and white dog Shep would do the same thing until he got run over by a passing car on Oak Grove Ridge Road.

Of that whole Roy Rogers bunch, I admired Pat Brady the most. I got a Pat Brady coloring book for Christmas when I was about 4 or 5 years old. I later learned that Pat Brady served with Gen. George Patton’s Third Army in Europe in World War II. He was in the Battle of the Bulge. He was decorated for bravery and earned the bronze star and two Purple Hearts. He rescued some of his Army buddies when the top of their Army tank was blown off near Metz, France, in November 1944.

I used that lunch pail for third and fourth grade until the two hinges tore loose. I could get by with one bad hinge, but not with two bad hinges. Later I got a lunch box that was black with a dome top and a thermos bottle fit into the dome top, held by a wire latch. The inside of the lunch box was painted white. They were durable, sturdy and the vacuum bottle held about 2 cups, and the lid, usually red, acted as a drinking cup.

Whenever I see a potbelly stove, I have fond memories of us school kids on Oak Grove Ridge placing our wide-mouth glass jars of soup in a big pan of hot water at 11:30 in the morning and savoring the contents at noon.

2019 CSAA Conference Registration Now Open!

" Countryside / Countrywide"

The Country School Association of America will hold its 2019 annual conference in Maryland—just outside our Nation's Capital—providing an opportunity to focus on country schools from a national perspective. These modest, decidedly local educational institutions that dotted the countryside were, of course, countrywide—with many similarities but also having important local, state and regional differences. We'll consider this local/national juxtaposition—still relevant today—at our June 2019 gathering.

 

 

 

Check-in:  Sunday, June 16, 2019   

 

Presentations: Monday, June 17 - Tuesday, June 18, 2019  

 

Day-long site visits tour:  Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Optional pre- and post-conference add-ons: 

Sunday, June 16 & Thursday, June 20

Extend your stay to sightsee the area's many attractions and make a vacation of it!

LOCATION:   Claggett Center   Adamstown, MD, just south of the city of Frederick, MD

 

2019 REGISTRATION INFORMATION

 

CSAA Conference, June 17-19, 2019, Frederick, Maryland... Call for Presenters!

 "Countryside / Countrywide"

    Call for Presenters

The Country School Association of America will hold its 2019 annual conference in Maryland at the Claggett Center—just outside our Nation's Capital—providing an opportunity to focus on country schools from a national perspective. These modest, decidedly local educational institutions that dotted the countryside were, of course, countrywide—with many similarities but also having important local, state and regional differences. We'll consider this local/national juxtaposition—still relevant today—at our June 2019 gathering.

 

Presentations:

Monday, June 17 - Tuesday, June 18, 2019
Check-in:  Sunday, June 16

Day-long site visits tour:  Wednesday, June 19
Optional pre- and post-conference add-ons:  Sunday, June 16 & Thursday, June 20

 

Complete information is on our website! CSAA WEBSITE

 

Acess full conference information with the links below:

 

Download 2019 CSAA Call for Presenters

 

Download CSAA Conference Details 2019

Registration materials will follow!

2018 Annual Conference Slide Show

Thank You from CSAA Nebraska 2018!

We already miss Nebraska already while planning for Maryland 2019! We invite you to enjoy our 2018 video slide show highlighting presenters, participants, and our ever-popular coach tour of country schools. Attendees from 21 states spent the greater part of three days sharing one-room school preservation and history presentations while based at Southeast Community College in Beatrice, Nebraska.

Representatives from Homestead National Monument of America and their volunteer group, Friends of Homestead, rolled out the red carpet for our conferees offering tours of the Freeman School, the Homestead Museum, displaying spectacular hand-made schoolhouse quilts by local quilters, and photographer Gloria Hawkins' photo exhibit with over 50 one-room school photos entitled, "Yesterday's Schools." Author David Laskin spoke on, "The Children's Blizzard," sharing stories from his book of the same title. Judge Paul Korslund spoke on the history of the Freeman School Bible Case in 1902. Former country school teachers gathered at Homestead to share endearing tales of their teaching years.

We would like to thank all of our 2018 hosts, our 22 presenters, guests, and volunteers who helped make this conference another success for CSAA. We offer this video slide show as a reminder of what it means to help preserve our iconic country schools for ourselves and for posterity. See you again in 2019!

 

                                  

 

Fred Bohm Captures Schoolyard Antics in Pawnee City Painting

East Star #2 Featured in Oil Painting at Pawnee City Historic Site

By Susan Fineman

A visit to the Pawnee City Historic Site in Nebraska allows you to truly, "Travel Back in Time," as their sign promises. Here you can visit a village of 21 preserved structures including the Whitney Barn, the Curtis pioneer house,  a log cabin, and of particular interest to CSAA,  six schoolhouses re-purposed to showcase artifacts of days gone by.

Attendees at the CSAA 18th Annual Country School Conference held in Beatrice, NE visited Pawnee City during their bus tour of Nebraska one-room schools and took their own step back in time. Pawnee City School #1 is displayed as a blacksmith shop, Cracker Box School is outfitted as a working country school, and Lower West Branch # 20 serves as a museum for a variety of artifacts including an advertising stage curtain.  Gravel Hill #5 finds it second life as a library, the East Star School #72 has become the Chapel outfitted with a steeple, and the Kennedy School #13 takes the role of the country store! History enthusiasts everywhere would enjoy a field trip to this complex in Pawnee City.

Among the thousands of historic items that beckoned our attention, one item particularly caught my eye...a contemporary painting by one Fred Bohm...a nostalgic scene of a one-room country school and the shenanigans of the scholars who attended it. Coming from New Hampshire I was immediately drawn to Fred's artwork reminiscent of Vermont's Grandma Moses and her grandson Will Moses. The rendering of life in the country, of childhood memories, small town schooling, and schoolyard antics fill the canvas in vivid color and simplicity. I stepped back into that canvas schoolyard listening to the laughter and the excitement of children at play.

The detail is endearing! Here stands the schoolhouse, East Star #2, capped by her bell and flanked by the American flag waving proudly in the breeze. The teacher calls to her charges from the doorway. Distant treetops peek over the vast Nebraska horizon. Cornfields mark the perimeters of the schoolyard while a wayward patch of sunflowers cheers the corner near the outhouses. One girl plies the path to the girls' outhouse, while a boy emerges from the boys' outhouse fastening the bib to his bluejeans, another waiting crosslegged for his turn. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The children are active at a number of pursuits, playing marbles, drawing water from the pump, waving to the visiting farmer on horseback, tiptoeing onto the end of a seesaw, reaching to the sky on a swing, and sharing the merry-go-round. A close look reveals a girl experimenting with a magnifying glass, the sun, and the back of her hand. OUCH! A naughty boy raises a pea shooter taking aim at an unsuspecting classmate. A newspaper blowing in the wind gives a hint of chronology with the headline, "LANDON FRONT RUNNER TO CANDIDATE ROOSEVELT." The painting is captivating in its playful portrayal of life in a Nebraska schoolhouse.

My visit to Pawnee was too short to gather any information on the artist Fred Bohm, but I would appreciate any information readers may have so we might thank him for his delightful work of art!

"Celebrating our Teachers"

One-Room School Teachers Featured in Maturello's Iowa Sketchbook!

 

CSAA board member Bill Sherman was enjoying his Sunday morning Des Moines Register when he spied the Iowa Sketchbook subject he'd been waiting for... "Celebrating Our Teachers!" Artist Mark Maturello made Bill's day creating his work to celebrate National Teacher Appreciation Day on May 8th. Even more gratifying was that Mark chose to feature a one-room schoolhouse and cite the skills necessary to teach in one. Bill wrote to Mark immediately for permission to share this cartoon sketchbook with CSAA readers and learn of Mark's motivation for the piece.

 

 

 

Mark responded right away saying he'd been, "thinking a lot about teachers this year," and that said he was, "effected by the shootings that have taken place in schools that seem to be so commonplace today."

 

He shared a number of reflections on why he added certain elements. "With the school year near its end,  I thought it was a good time to thank teachers past and present for making a difference in our lives. Teachers are a rare breed that do wonders with shaping the future. And most obviously, they are underpaid and under appreciated."

 

"I wanted people to look at the sketch and think about their teachers or maybe their children's teachers that have truly inspired. I hope the sketch encouraged people to think about thanking their teachers or maybe someone they know who is one."

 

He continued, "I linked the one-room school into the sketch to convey that this profession has been around for such a long time. I guess I couldn't have imagined how it would be to teach multiple grades under one roof."

 

Mark graciously shared how he goes about the process.

 

"When I create a sketchbook, I typically go out and take pictures of the event, writing down names and basic commentary of the situation. I will later upload my photos to my computer so I can do a sketch while looking at the computer monitor. When I first started doing the sketchbook four years ago, I had people pose at the event as I drew them. It worked fairly well, but people today are in such a hurry and some folks that I wanted to include couldn't stay around so that's when I ended up taking pictures of them on my phone."

 

Not counting driving time, Mark says it takes him about 11-12 hours on average to complete a sketchbook: taking photos, uploading to his desktop, doing the first sketch, tracing sketches with vellum, scanning sketches, designing each page and moving sketches around until he gets a pleasing design, writing the basic information for each sketch, laying down color using Photoshop with different brushes to finish the sketch, and proofing the sketch making color adjustments and text placement.

 

CSAA thanks Mark Maturello sincerely for allowing us to reprint his Sketchbook and for sharing information on his process. We know our readers will enjoy his artwork!

Thanks also to the Des Moines Register!

 

 

 

 

Happy New Year and Season's Greetings to All!

Schoolhouse Enthusiast Shares His Reflections and Artwork in Cards!

by Bruce Fountain-Stalker

The Old Stow Schoolhouse: Artwork by Bruce Fountain-Stalker

A small pond reflects stark branches of naked trees. The tall brown grasses of a nearby field move with each whim of the late afternoon wind. Restless horses appear to sense the winter snows that will force them to leave their meadow for warmth and security of their barns. Stonewalls reach meticulously in every direction to tie these private realms together.

The Stow West School District #3 appears to be smug and contented to act as a sentinel for this patchwork New England scene.

This rare example of America's architectural heritage has reasons to be smug. Ignoring the 20th century schools that resemble glass and metal shoeboxes, it enhanced the charm and dignity of the streetscape since 1825. It's design, location, and history are typical of 19th century one-room schoolhouses.

Built of red brick, it replaced an earlier schoolhouse, c. 1789, on a pine tree dotted hill that faced two merging dirt roads leading to farms and houses of the scholars. They walked to and from the schoolhouse, winter and summer, unless needed for farm chores.

Upon entering the interior of the small structure, the scholars became part of an academic atmosphere that nurtured independence, simplicity, and an unquestioning belief in God, country and family, qualities necessary for survival in a growing country.

A iron wood-burning stove was the only source of heat during the winter, but only the children who brought wood from home were allowed to sit near it. The fire was only as good as the wood, and unfortunately, the wood pile often consisted of straggly pieces of green oak which would fill the schoolhouse with smoke. The older scholars had to comfort the little children who complained of chilblains nearly as often as they had to help them with their lessons. Usually, a boy was assigned the duty of placing the ink wells on the stove to melt the ink that had frozen during the night.

Blackboards were not common until 1820 and the schoolhouse had good fortune to have one. The schoolmaster made his exquisite "hooks and trammels" on the blackboard, and the scholars would use their quill pens and ink made from ink powder to copy them in their copybooks. The copy-books were hand-sewn with brown paper at home and usually adorned with ornate "flyleaf scribblings."

A schoolmaster who was particularly talented in "ciphering" was called an "arithmeticker." He would require each boy and girl to "toe the crack,"  to stand at a particular crack between the floor boards to recite the lessons. Ciphering was important for boys because they had to sell their crops at market, and reading was necessary for girls because they would read their Bibles in the homes.

District #1 Schoolhouse: Artwork by Bruce Fountain-Stalker

The scholars were allowed a "nooning" after morning lessons had been completed. This time was spent playing, talking, and laughing in fields because playgrounds were unknown then. Finally, they could share secrets and laugh with each other without the threat of the schoolmaster's ferule coming down upon them. The sound of the schoolmaster's bell brought the children running from all directions for their afternoon lessons.

Their primers, psalters, and the New Testament were essential for reading because they offered lessons about morality, patriotism, manners, truth and beauty. Also, they would share books they had brought from home because there were never enough books for all the scholars. A "spell" was usually included in the afternoon lessons.

The waning of the sunlight coming from the windows meant it was time to sweep the floor, chop wood for the following day, put away the inkwells, and gather coats and lunch pails that had been left in the narrow entry.

The schoolmaster who "boarded around" was as anxious as his scholars to go home. He said goodbye to the scholars and watched as each one left the schoolhouse.

Obviously, the Little Red Schoolhouse has left many former scholars with bittersweet memories, but who doesn't yearn to return to the simplicity for which it is a symbol?

 

Save the Date for CSAA Conference 2018!

CSAA Conference Heading to Nebraska

“Free People, Free Land, Free Schools!”  

June 17-20, 2018

                        Program filled...as of March 2018

As one of the hosts of the 2018 CSAA conference, Homestead National Monument of America is a unit of the National Park Service and is located four miles west of Beatrice, Nebraska. It is the site of the Freeman School, a one-room school built in 1872. Southeast Community College will serve as the venue and looks forward to attendees from across America!

Homestead National Monument of America                 

CSAA welcomes you to submit your presentation

for the 2018 conference.  

• One-room country schools are considered historical educational icons and the CSAA exists to promote their preservation. Our remaining schoolhouses represent treasured American values: sound education, simplicity, national values, and self-reliance. Groups and individuals are working across the U.S. and Canada to save these structures, create or maintain programs in them, and produce photographic documentaries about them. Other efforts include working with preservation groups, undertaking historical research, and creating living history.
• The CSAA annual conference is your opportunity to share information relating to country schools current and past.

• Conference proposals relating to all areas of country school preservation and history are now being solicited by the CSAA for the 2018 Annual Conference to be held at Southeast Community College and Homestead National Monument of America, Beatrice, Nebraska from June 17th-20th, 2018.
• We invite you to offer traditional PowerPoint and audio-visual presentations, poster sessions, panel discussions, photographic presentations, artistic and antique displays, re-enactments, as well as video productions. Ideas to support preservation efforts such as fund raising, grant writing, and website development are encouraged.
• Presentations should last up to 45 minutes and center on any and all phases of country 
• Review of the proposals will begin promptly upon receipt.  Please provide detailed information below to fully explain your presentation and contribution to the CSAA conference theme.  Proposals including new research, interactivity, proven practices, and that are directly related to the Country School Association of America's mission are preferred.
• All presenters are asked to register for a minimum of one full day, but are encouraged to take part in the full 3-day conference to enjoy all its benefits.

TO SUBMIT YOUR PROPOSAL, PLEASE LINK TO OUR WEBSITE BELOW AND COMPLETE THE SUBMISSION FORM:

                      SUBMIT A PROPOSAL FOR PRESENTATION

Additional Information:Beatrice is located 40 miles south of Lincoln and 90 miles south of Omaha. Here you will immerse yourself in the story of homesteading on the Great Plains, enjoy two days of presentations, and delve into the history of the 1902 Nebraska Supreme Court “Bible Case” involving the Freeman School, and learn of the Blizzard of 1888 and its impact on country schools in Nebraska. Visit outstanding country schools on the annual schoolhouse tour! Southeast Community College will join the effort to welcome conference attendees from across the country.

   Area Highlights:

• Southeast Community College
• Peru State College
• Little Brick Schoolhouse
• Pleasant View Schoolhouse
• Cracker Box School
• Harmony School
• Heritage School
• The Story of Homesteading
• Heritage Center at Homestead
• Indian Boarding School for Otoe-Missouri

 

Printable flyer below:

 

For a look at the scenic byway passing through Beatrice access the link below:

 

 

 

Texas Schools Added to CSAA Schoolhouse Registry

Vereins Kirche in Frederickburg, TX  Recognized by CSAA Schoolhouse Registry

From the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post (November 1, 2017)

Submitted by Friends of Gillespie County Schools

Vereins Kirche, Fredericksburg, TX

The Vereins Kirche has been selected by the Country School Association of America to be entered into the National Schoolhouse Register. This designation is earned by former or current (one-room country) school buildings the CSAA considers worthy of recognition on the national level for their preservation efforts to be listed on the National Registry. Application was made by the Gillespie County Historical Society, which owns and operates the Vereins Kirche.

A metal plaque noting the designation was attached to the building that originally stood from 1847-1897.

"The building is the most iconic symbol of Fredericksburg, and we are proud to recognize its importance in the history of education of this county," said Jeryl Hoover, executive director of the Historical Society."
The original Vereins Kirche was the first public building in town and served as a school until 1856. It was also the town's storehouse, church, meeting house, and fort. The replica on Marketplatz was built as a project of the Civil Works Administration and was dedicated in 1936.

The date for this plaque recognition was chosen because it is the day the Gillespie Historical Society was recognized as a corporation by the state of Texas. The Vereins Kirche the served as the first headquarters of the GCHS and the Pioneer Memorial Library.

Gillespie County schoolhouse preservationists

The GCHS also applied for and received the same recognition for the White Oak School, one of the 10 historic structures now on the grounds of the Pioneer Museum at 325 W. Main Street in Fredericksburg. The White Oak ceremony was in September, 2017.

Congratulations to Friends of Gillespie County Schools, the Gillespie County Historical Society, the Vereins Kirche and White Oak Schools!

Amazing schoolhouse preservation efforts are ongoing in Gillespie County.

 

CSAA Plaque installation at the White Oak School

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

White Oak Schoolhouse

Interior White Oak Schoolhouse

African American History and One-Room Schools

Dr. Janell Drone Presents at History of Education Society Conference

 

 CSAA board member Janell Drone shared her one-room school expertise in Little Rock, Arkansas recently offering her presentation entitled: "Invisible Assets and the Rise of Delaware African American One-Room School Facilities."

 

Representing the New York Public Library Janell was part of the strand: Remembering African American Schools of Yesteryear: Building Community Through Facilities, Teachers, and Students Voices.

 

 

Scholars from across the nation meet in October or November each year for a three day HES conference to:

• Promote and improve the teaching of the history of education in colleges and universities;
• Encourage scholarly research in the history of education, and facilitate the publication and dissemination of the results of that research;
• Interest the educational profession and the public at large in the value of historical perspective in the making of educational policy;
• Promote library and museum facilities for the preservation of source materials in the history of education;
• Cooperate with specialists in other disciplines to interpret educational developments in a broad historical context;
• Encourage cooperation among specialists in the history of education throughout the world in joint studies and the exchange of documents;
• Cooperate wherever possible with organizations of professional historians and professional educators throughout the world.

 

Dr. Drone has graciously shared her 2017 paper with the readers of the CSAA Newsletter along with a podcast interview discussing her research. You may access her scholarly paper, a short YouTube Video and her podcast interview below. All are live links:

 

 

"INVISIBLE ASSETS AND THE RISE OF DELAWARE AFRICAN

AMERICAN ONE-ROOM SCHOOL FACILITIES" by Dr. Janell Drone

 

Download HES Paper

 

 

PODCAST INTERVIEW:

MASCLab episode 3_103017

 

YOUTUBE INTRODUCTION:

 

Dr. Janell Drone

NH Conference Presenter Shares Work on 19th Century Shaker Children

19^th Century Childhood: The Lives of Children Among the Shakers and the World’s People

by Sharon Roth, Ed. D.

The Shakers, a historical Utopian religious society and culture, is preserved today in two New Hampshire museums, at Canterbury and Enfield. Hundreds of children, particularly orphans, were taken in by the Shakers and raised in the Shaker traditions and religion including: a belief in the second coming of Christ, communal living, celibacy, humility, simplicity, efficiency, hard work, and equality between the sexes. So what of the life of these children and children of the 19th century in general?

Explore 19th century childhood, a comparison of sorts, between the World's Children (what the Shakers called those who did not live as Shakers) and Shaker children, and child development theories then and now.

Who are America’s children in the nineteenth century? What are the expectations of the child in United States during this time?  What did those living in mid-century understand to be the role of children?  Can we attempt any understanding about children of the nineteenth century when we put them in the context of what the greater American culture believed about children and their growth and development?

In this article Sharon shares interesting and historical perspectives of the lives and upbringing of children who were fortunate enough to attend our country schools or who were farmed out to work under terrible conditions.

The intent of the article is to consider for further research and thought the possibility that the beliefs about children, no matter who or where they lived, influenced what we believe today about how those lives might have been lived.

To read Dr. Roth's article in its entirety you can access the PDF below:

Download SHAKER & WORLD'S CHILDREN

Sharon Roth has spent the greater part of her life dedicated to education. She received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Goddard College in Vermont, and her Ed. D from UMass, Amherst. She was a professor of education at Greenfield Community College through 2014, an early childhood consultant, director and coordinator for numerous early childhood community centers, a kindergarten and pre-school teacher, and program director for various child care services. She has taught numerous education courses including student teaching, early childhood curriculum, infant and toddler, and special education. Sharon has published countless publications and made a score of presentations. According to her blog at www.profsharon.net, “I wear a variety of hats: life partner, mother, grandmother, family member (family is first on my list!) — professor of education, lover of all things beautiful such as children, quilts, sunsets, and clouds — esoteric reader — enjoy all things Shaker — great cook — love to walk and be at the seashore and in the forests.

Iowa Country School Conference - October 6-7, 2017

Sheldon, Iowa Site of Schoolhouse Preservation Conference!

Submitted by Stan & Colleen Lemkuil

The 18th Annual Country School Preservation Conference will be held October 6-7, 2017 at Northwest Iowa Community College in Sheldon, IA.

Sponsored by the Prairie Arts Historical Park and a host of support groups, the two-day conference offers an array of country school topics.

Friday, October 6th offers a full day program including 10 presenters, a panel of authors and researchers on country schooling, and tours of the Prairie Arts Historical Park and Sheldon Prairie Museum.

Saturday, October 7th includes the bus tour of Marcus town museum, Lily of the Valley School Museum in Cherokee, Sanford Museum in Cherokee, and the Grand View Heritage Complex near Washta.

Early registration is appreciated. The deadline is October 1, 2017.

For a full conference brochure access this link:

                      Download CONFERENCE REGISTRATION

Prairie Arts Historical Park is proud to welcome conference participants to their restored country schools including:

The Baker School, moved to Sheldon, Iowa in 2015. The Baker Township School also called the Center School was built in 1936 at a cost of $750.00 as noted in the Trustees' Minutes book.  The minutes state that is was closed in 1951 but the last date school classes were held there was 1947.  The building was then used as a voting precinct for the township, 4-H meetings, and events, a community activity center and the board of trustees meetings. Eventually, the building was donated by the Board of Trustees to the Prairie Arts Council to be placed in the Prairie Arts Historical Park in Sheldon at 1423 Park Street.  In November 2014 a fundraising project was established to provide the estimated $65,000 needed to move and refurbish the school to be an activity center in Sheldon.  The building was moved on June 15, 2015.  It was painted on the outside and renovations inside and outside are outgoing.  Contributions are still needed at Praire Arts Council, Box 61, Sheldon, IA 51201 and designated for Baker renovation. 

Baker Township School

Linn Township School

The Linn Township School was built at Lily Avenue, two miles south of Highway 18, in 1927 and closed in 1960.  The school was donated by Carolyn Vande Brink Walsh of Utah and moved to the Prairie Arts Historical Park in 2002. After two years it was restored with modern bathrooms and a ramp for the handicapped. 

Carolyn's father, John, was one of the last students of the old shoebox school and among the first to attend this, then modern cottage-type school with indoor chemical toilets.  

Mrs. Elsa De Vries Zuiderweg was the last teacher to teach in this school.  After closing as a school, the school was used as a voting place for several years.  

The building is now used for Northwest Iowa Community College Art Classes in Ceramic and Painting.  The classes are taught by Harold Tuttle, Lisa Lane-Johnson, and assistant teacher, Karin VandenBerg. The main floor is for painting and the basement is for the ceramics.

 

Sheldon's First Schoolhouse

The first school building in Floyd Township, O'Brien Co. IA. was built in 1873 on the outskirts of Sheldon, through the efforts of Benjamin Jones, an early pioneer, and settler.  As the settlement grew and enrollment increased, a larger two story school House was built at 1003 Fourth Street.  The first school was closed in 1880.  In 1884 the building was moved uptown to 914 Third Street (Main Street). There it was used as a dance hall, lecture and debate hall, church services, and a meeting place for politicians.  Later it became Sheldon's First Fire Hall.   In 1903 it was purchased by Scott Logan and moved to his Prarie Queen Dairy Farm. (now the City Park). The school was placed at 417 Sixth Avenue (now where the home of Dr. Ronald Zoutendam is.) Here the building was used as a milk house and workshop for the dairy. 

In 1935, Dick Wansink purchased the school and moved it to his farm at 1423 Park Street, Sheldon for this mother to use as her wash house. Later Mr. Wansink remodeled it into his garage.  

In 1983 Mr. Wansink donated the property to the Prairie Arts Council. It was restored as a school house in 1988 to 1991. Its intended use was to be an art classroom.  Miss Elizabeth Den Hartog suggested that it become a museum of early country school education.  The community then donated the desks, school books, school equipment, etc.  

The building is now used as a Country School Museum.  Area schools bring their classes for a "Day of Country School." A volunteer is on hand to tell them about the structure of the school day and abut the equipment used, the games the children played at recess and noon hour. 

 

Floyd Township #8

Floyd Township No. 8 - The Nelson School from O'Brien Co. IA was built in 1878.  The original building had two doors and cloakroom.  As enrollment increased and space was needed, the school was remodeled. The two doors were replaced by windows, the entry door placed in the center, between them. The cloak rooms were removed to allow more seating. 

The school was replaced in 1927 by the more modern cottage type school.  The old school house was sold to F.N. Frohwein.  It was moved to his farm to be used as a shop, cob house, and garage.  In 1992, Mrs. Ethel Frohwein Hulst and Iva Hane Frohwein donated the school to Prairie Arts Council. 

It was then moved to its new location at 1423 Park St. Sheldon, IA,  The school house is now used to host the Werner Lode Model Farm Buildings and Churches, wood sculptures and clocks. 

 

We hope to see you at the conference in October, then again when you visit our schools!

 

CSAA Service Award 2017

Congratulations Evelyn Weinheimer of Texas!

by Joan Prouty

There are currently hundreds of individuals that freely give of their time, talents, and funds to keep up and/or serve as school marms, and/or curators for country schools throughout the US and Canada. CSAA is committed to honoring these individuals each year.

CSAA awards a stipend of $300 which can go to the individual or the historical association of their local school house. Winners receive free registration to the annual conference the year the award is received.

 

Evelyn Weinheimer

This year, the CSAA Service Award goes to Evelyn Weinheimer of Texas. Evelyn is the Archivist at Pioneer Museum, which also houses the Gillespie County Historical Society.

According to her nomination, Evelyn is an, "extraordinary worker for Gillespie County Historical Preservation and the Country Schools. Her knowledge and willingness to assist others in learning about their family history is often begun with the question, 'Can you tell me if my grandfather attended one of the Gillespie County Country Schools.' She has deep knowledge of the early country schools, the community, and the German heritage.  She also has the trait that the early country schools taught—a sense of community and willingness to be a good neighbor."

Pioneer Museum, Fredericksburg, TX

Evelyn has been a long-time supporter of country schools and their Preservation.  She is also a member of Friends of the Gillespie County Country Schools Archives & Artifacts Committee. And not surprisingly, she is a retired school teacher!

TOP photo credits: Pioneer Museum which Curator, Lacey LeBleu took this photo when we presented Evelyn Weinheimer with the CSAA Service Award.  We are on the steps of the historical White Oak School which was moved to the Pioneer Museum by its owner and former teacher, Charles Feller.  Evelyn has already donated her CSAA check to Dr Hoover (in the photo) of the Museum for assistance in care of the school and expenses of installing their new CSAA Marker.  She is a kind and caring lady....Jane Woellhof

Congratulations are in order as CSAA honors Evelyn Weinheimer with the service award!

 

                                  DO YOU HAVE A SERVICE NOMINEE?

Note: CSAA choose candidates that have demonstrated a long-standing support of their local school.

Examples of potential awardees could be (and not limited to:)

•   Someone who has donated their time each summer or season to have a

  school open for day or event, week after week or year after year.

•   An area volunteer who has donated time and time again their talents to make

  repairs to the local school.

•   A person who has served as the school marm for years and is always an

  advocate for the preservation of the school.

If you know someone who deserves to be nominated, please consider the following application. Access this link: SERVICE AWARD NOMINATION

 

CSAA Awards Scholarship & Artistry

Scholarship and Artistry Awards for 2017 Announced at Annual Conference

by Joan Prouty

The Scholarship and Artistry Committee members spend their winter months reading through the submissions received.  Each year we have a variety if entries and all from different genres.

How do you rate a scholarly entry, a documentary video, a children’s fiction book, or local school district history collections to select a winner?   It isn’t easy.    Somehow one entry seems to creep towards the top of each evaluators list and surprising – most of the time –several reviewers have the same rankings and/or are very close.  

Funding for this award comes from membership dues and a sponsor. We offer two awards of $300 each.

For 2017 our first Scholarship and Artistry Award goes to:

Allison Speicher for her scholarly book “Schooling Readers."

  Allison Speicher- "Schooling Readers"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Allison has compiled one hundred and thirty school stories by well known authors such as Mark Twain, Bret Harte, Catharine Maria, and other educational reform pioneers such as C.W. Bardeen. The stories reflect not just the idealized depictions of common school with the community bonding but also the social strife, and the reality. Her book includes and extensive bibliography. Some of you may have purchased a copy in Texas last June before the formal release.

For purchase at Barnes & Noble on-line: SCHOOLING READERS

The second $300 award for 2017 is being shared between entries:

"One Room One Teacher – From One Room Schools to the Consolidation of the South Eastern School District,"  by Roger B. Wilson and Kathryn B. Jordan.

This is book tells story of one specific school district in southern York County, PA, the South Eastern School District.  The period covered is 1834-1954.  From the passage of the PA School Law of 1834 to the consolidation of South Eastern School District in the early 1950’s.

The focus is all the one-room schools that were built by the eight small school districts that consolidated to make one.  It features 45 one-room schools, eight two-room schools, six boroughs (or town) schools, and one private school, for a total of 60 schools.

Roger Wilson and Kathryn Jordan

 The other submission to share this award is a children’s fiction book by P.J. Harte-Naus, "Backwoods Bully," of the Belden Boy Series.

This is the third book in the Belden Boy Series.  Pat began writing the Belden Boy books after discovering the Belden School, helping in the restoration process, meeting a former student and listening to the stories he told.   Now she hosts field trips and writing camps at the restored Belden School along with telling the stories of Peter McDugal and his pals.

Available at AMAZON: BACKWOODS BULLY

Check out "Belden Boy" and "My Sometimes Pal," more adventures of Peter McDugal! Three books in the series to date.

P.J.Harte-Naus

2nd Nebraska Country School Conference

July 14 - July 15, 2017 - University of Nebraska Kearney

Registration Closes June 10th!

The 2nd Annual Nebraska Country School Conference is supported by the UNK College of Education. We have diverse speaker presentations on Friday including: The Orphan Train Museum in Concordia, Kansas, The Willa Cather Foundation, The Genoa Indian School, and other historians presenting subjects such as the Dust Bowl, the Blizzard of 1888, Games of Yesteryear, and “The Last of the One Room Schools” about the closing of the school in Broken Bow, NE in the 90’s. We also have Dan Holtz from Nebraska Humanities providing music and history during lunch. Dinner in the evening is at the Arch Museum and our speaker is Senator Sandy Scofield. Saturday is a breakfast meet and greet at the UNK College of Education then a tour of the Kearney County Historical Museum and lunch.

Visit our new website at CONFERENCE INFORMATION for complete details and speaker profiles.

Details

Start:

July 14

End:

July 15

Venue

UNK STUDENT UNION

2504 9th Avenue

Kearney, NE 68849

Organizer WEBSITE

NEBRASKA COUNTRY SCHOOL ASSOCIATION

CSAA Aids Schoolhouse Restorations

2017 CSAA Preservation Grant Awards

By Dale Prouty

On behalf of the Country School Association and its Preservation Grant Committee I am pleased to share with you the 2017 Preservation Grant recipients.  These awards along with several other grant opportunities are funded thanks to our memberships.  CSAA extends much appreciation to the committee members who review the applications.  This provides a great opportunity to look at some of the wonderful restoration efforts and programming activities that are happening around the country.  We have some very interesting reads. Congratulations to our preservationists!

For 2017, the Preservation Grant Recipients include:

The 1904 Spring Creek School at the Country School Museum in Caldwell, Kansas. The school and its outhouses and coal shed were all moved to the Country School Museum where they will show a different school period along with the programming already being done at the Belleview School which they previously moved and restored.  This grant will be used to make the outhouses functional for field trips and groups and to restore the coal shed for use in their programming.  The two room coal shed will have one side for wood to go with the Belleville School program and the other for coal to go with Spring Creek School program.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 1884 Summit School is being preserved by the Marais des Cygnes Society at the Poplar Heights Farm in Butler, Missouri. This grant will be used to restore the second front door that was lost to vandalism, bringing the building back to its original look.  The school has its blackboards, desks, cupboards and piano.  They are anxious to put the school to use in their varied educational programs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 1857 Modern Times School of the Utopian Modern Times Settlement in Brentwood, New York is a unique frame Octagonal School moved to the Brentwood School grounds and in need of immediate stabilization.  The Brentwood Historical Society will do programming with the school district when complete.  They have accomplished an amazing amount of progress since the application was received.

      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2017 CSAA Conference in NH Adds New Members!

2017 Conference Video Slide Show Now Available!

The 17th Annual CSAA Country School Conference hosted participants from 18 states and has raised interest levels in CSAA to a new high! New Hampshire put on quite a show of great weather, while Colby-Sawyer College served as the perfect venue for convenience and fabulous dining! Sit back and enjoy the memories of 22 schoolhouse presentations, numerous exhibits and book sales, hand-on activities, and an all-day tour of NH country schools in quaint New England settings. We can now look forward to the 2018 conference at the Homestead National Monument of America in Beatrice, Nebraska, June 17-20, 2018!

 

 

 

Presentations on Tap for 2017 CSAA Annual Conference

Registration is Still Open for CSAA Schoolhouse Conference!

5/9/17- NOTICE: Bus Tour to Schoolhouses is Sold Out!

2-Day Conference accepting registrations until June 1st.

Colby Sawyer College, New London, NH, June 11-14, 2017

The response to our 2017 annual conference has been phenomenal, and sooner than anticipated, we already have a complete schedule of presenters! Registration is now open for those planning to attend and we certainly promise a well-rounded program. Below we have posted the titles of our presentations and will be adding full descriptions in the coming weeks.

Be prepared to meet schoolhouse enthusiasts from all over the country, writers, teachers and professors, re-enactors, historians, artists, preservationists, former students, museum curators, historical society members, and friends of country schools.

We all recognize the importance of these tiny little schools to the history of American education and wish to preserve those remaining for as long as possible. Please consider attending the CSAA in New London, NH, our second and possibly last in New Hampshire. Popularity of this annual conference has found us alternating between east and west. In 2018 we will be heading to the Homestead National Monument in Beatrice, Nebraska!

Coach to Mt. Washington summit, New London Historical Society Museum

We now have a full complement of presentations for our two-day program! See the list of topics to date.

 

General Conference Information:  Download 2017RegistrationInformationCSAA

                  Reminder: Bus Tour is Unfortunately Sold out! 5/9/17

For On-Line Registration: ON-LINE REGISTRATION - EVENTBRITE

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Choose your category.
• Click REGISTER.
• Scroll down the page to complete information on payment by credit card or check.
• Scroll down and choose your options for ALL-DAY BUS TOUR and/or DORMS.
• Click PAY NOW 

For Registration via US Mail -     Download MAIL-IN REGISTRATION

DORM PRICES QUOTED ARE PER PERSON/PER NIGHT...THANKS!

Website: CSAA WEBSITE

 

Presentations for 2017 include:

(detailed descriptions and presenter bios will follow when the program is complete)

"19th Century Tablets: Slates"

"Finger Lakes Preservation"

"Bitter Fight Over Consolidation"

"One, Two, Buckle Your Shoe, Three, Four: Now How to Open the Door?"

"What the Hectograph? A School System's Copy Machine"

WORKSHOP: "Nooning in the 1800's: Hands-on Experience with Period Toys"

"New England Teachers, Western Schools: Catharine Beecher's Moral Crusade"

"School of the Very High Mountains"

"Yesterday's Schools: Capturing Their Stories Through Photography"

"Launching a 50-Year Teaching Career: Burnt Bay School and Beyond"

"Learning the Recitation Way: 19th and 20th Century Classroom Recitation Lessons"

"Invisible Assets: Rise of Delaware African-American Schools"

"Location, Location, Location: The Placement of Restored Country Schools"

"Oxen Power: Moving the Orleans County Grammar School!"

"Country School Innovations"

"The Praxis of Disability and One-Room Schools in Ohio"

"Back to School: Lessons from Norwich's One-Room Schoolhouses"

"Horance Mann: Father of Country Schools?"

 

Our keynote speakers include historian, former Commissioner of Agriculture, farmer, and founding Executive Director of the NH Humanities Council, Steve Taylor, "NH's One-Room Rural Schools: The Romance and the Reality," and local artist and author Sue Anne Bottomley, who has visited and painted scenes from EVERY town in New Hampshire for her book "Colorful Journeys."

We will be making a special visit to the New London Historical Society on Monday afternoon to visit their 18 restored historical buildings and their museum housing antique carriages and sleighs.

We will be treated to the New England premiere of the award winning film by Kelly and Tammy Rundle, "Country School: One Room * One Nation."

We will hear from the spirits of some prominent citizens of Hooksett, NH, buried next door to the Head Schoolhouse. (an autumn schoolhouse fundraiser)

 

CSAA Offers Grant for Innovative Instruction

Need Start-Up Costs for Country School Programming?

               CSAA Innovative Instruction Grant

 

Purpose: The Country School Association of America (CSAA) Innovative Instruction Grant is to offer start-up support for the delivery of inventive PreK-12 and/or adult learning programs developed by country school organizations and/or individuals.  Successful applications that articulate how the proposed instructional program will address best practices or new trends in curriculum, museum education, and/or pubic history and its benefit to a target group of learners will be preferred.  This award is focused on supporting the implementation of instruction including the materials, resources, and needs in order to successfully pilot and sustain a program.

Proceeds from the annual conference will determine the availability of funds year-to- year.  The maximum annual grant will not exceed $1500.   Applicants may apply more than once for funding of a program, submitting the appropriate budget information outlined below.  Applications that demonstrate prudent spending, maximize resources, and request actual costs are considered most respectable.  

In order to ensure quality of programming, each submission should include an education partner.  The partner should serve in a defined role that will ensure that the funded program is of sound educational quality, research, and instruction.  The partner should have appropriate credentials to review, revise, and articulate the curriculum.

Submission guidelines:

       Instructional program title

2. A 300-400 word summary of the instructional program need and the setting in which it will occur. This summary should be typed and concisely written so that the committee can easily understand the instructional need.

3. Provide 3 or more instructional goals of the proposed program

4. Specify the target audience and frequency of offering

5. How will the program be assessed (how will you determine you have met/are meeting the goals shown in #3 above?)?

6. How does the program address new trends, best practice, or established standards (K-12 state, common core, STEM/STEAM, etc.)?

7. Detailed Year 1 budget (i.e. materials for the first year pilot, start-up needs, etc.)

8. When will this instructional program begin and when is the money needed?

9. Describe how the education partner(s) will be involved in the program implementation or research. Please include a resume and/or vitae of each partner that will participate in this program development, revision, and/or research.

10. Grant recipients will submit to the committee chairperson a written report showing the program’s progress (refer to goals and assessment of the program) by August 31, 2017, and a complete report detailing the program’s success by May 31, 2018. Recipients are encouraged to attend the annual CSAA conference in 2017 or 2018 to report on the instructional program’s success either as a session or as an announcement for the general meeting.

Apply:

Submit complete application to the chairperson of the Innovative Instruction Grant.  If an overwhelming number of applications is received, applicants may be asked to allow CSAA to hold their proposal for a following year.  The CSAA will make every effort to offer support to programs and reserves the right to adjust awards based on available funds.  Recipients will be notified between March 15 and April 30.

Please submit applications via email or mail after the annual conference (in June) and before February 14 of the following year.

Chairperson:

Dr. Mary E. Outlaw

P.O. Box 336

Armuchee, GA  30105

moutlaw@berry.edu

2017 Country School Journal

2017 Edition of the CSAA Journal Available Online

The CSAA is proud to announce the publication of Volume 5, the 2017 edition of the Country School Journal. The Country School Journal, sponsored by the Country School Association of America, is a peer-reviewed, online, annual publication that includes interdisciplinary, open-access articles, curriculum, reviews, and icons. Its audience consists of people who wish to preserve country schools, disseminate scholarship about these schools, create and/or maintain the schools as museums, promote living history programs, and enable people of all ages to explore country schooling as practiced in the past and present.

  

2017 marks the fifth year the journal has been published and the articles are of particular interest to schoolhouse enthusiasts everywhere. This year you will find the following scholarly works:

Twentieth-Century Music Education: Early American Schools and the Phonograph, by Veronica I. Ent

A Practical Approach to Teaching Agriculture: A Review of Textbooks, 1905-1915, by Jason Brent Ellis and Carla Abreu-Ellis

School Consolidation in Maritime Canada: The Educational Legacy of Edgar L. Morphet and his Disciples, by Paul W. Bennett

Learning to Teach in the Countryside: Marion Gee (1928─2015) by Steven Grineski

Location, Location, Location: The Placement of Restored Country Schools with Implications for Their Longevity, by Sandra Kessler Host and Lucy Townsend

Access these and past editions at: COUNTRY SCHOOL JOURNAL

 

 Photo: Morgan School, Ann Arbor Michigan Journal, from their 2012 article "Diary of a Farm Girl"

CSAA Conference Promotional Video

Your Invitation to the CSAA 2017 Annual Conference, New London, New Hampshire, June 11-14, 2017!

 

 

 

Save the Date for the 2017 CSAA Conference!

Save the Date for 2017!

Country School Association of America

17^th Annual Schoolhouse Conference

June 11-14, 2017

Colby-Sawyer College

New London, New Hampshire

    

    

 

• In 2017 we will make our way to the Granite State and the quaint New England village of New London, New Hampshire.
• Colby-Sawyer College will be the site of this conference to be held near Lake Sunapee and Mount Kearsage
• June 11^th - Registration with Meet and Greet Reception
• June 12^th -13^th - Presentations on America’s one-room country schools, preservation, history, re-enactment, etc.
• June 14: Motor Coach Tour of classic New England schoolhouses in pristine settings!
• Call for presenters is already posted on our website! Send in your proposal!
• Contact Susan Fineman, Conference Coordinator: scfineman@aol.com  
• Go to our website for all links to information!! CSAA Website      

               

Belden Boy Now a Series!

One-Room School in Galena, IL Central to Award Winning Childrens' Books

 

The award winning series of Belden Boy has captured the hearts of children ages 8 to 12 years because of its simple message of bullying….  “Same story, same pranks, but different time!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Children are fascinated to know that the problems of friendship happened to children just like them back in the 1800s at Belden School, a real one-room schoolhouse set deep in the Mississippi Valley.  The adventures that Peter, and Franky, his sometimes pal, experience are exciting in and around Belden School.  Miss Bishop is the kind teacher that helps to guide the boys to an understanding of each other and their feelings , that is, until mean Mr. Cobb enters the picture. A bully himself, he just makes matters worse in the newly released third book, Backwoods Bully. Written from the bully Franky’s perspective, children will come to understand what makes a bully act they way they do and say the things they shouldn’t say.

 

The Belden Boy Series by Whistleslick Press, was inspired by a lost 1871 journal from the real Belden School that was found in the dumpster by a gentleman farmer and friend, fondly known as 'Big Bob' who handed it to HarteNaus for safe keeping. She also interviewed elderly students that had attended Belden before its closing to consolidation in 1943. The stories they told of their experiences combined with what HarteNaus knew from 35 years of teaching children created this heart warming tale for children of all ages.  The series now boasts its own writing camp where children from all over come to write and illustrate their own hard covered book in 3 days, and, of course, is set in the real Belden School in Galena, IL.  Please take a peek at  www.Beldenboy.com

Book #1   The Adventures of Peter McDugal

Book #2   My Sometimes Pal

Book #3  Backwoods Bully

P.J. HarteNaus
Educator and Author
Belden Boy Series
www.Beldenboy.com
2012 CSAA
2013 Eric Hoffer Finalist
2014 CLIPPA Children’s National Literature Award

 

Time To Share Conference Video!

Sending Thanks to Fredericksburg, Texas for Their Hospitality!

Each year we post a short video slide show to highlight the CSAA Annual Conference, held this year from June 19-22 in the beautiful hill country of Fredericksburg, Texas. 80 participants from across the U.S. enjoyed two days of presentations and a third day touring area schoolhouses.

            

The Pioneer Museum in Fredericksburg hosted the conference coordinated by Jane Woellhof and her cadre of wonderful volunteers! We were also fortunate to enjoy an exhibit of antique schoolgirl samplers at the museum, a demonstration of side-saddle horsemanship by Ladies Riding Astride, the Nimitz WWII Museum, a tour of Fredericksburg, and the proud history of the LBJ era. What a beautiful city!

Here we share those highlights and encourage you to attend the 2017 annual conference to be held in New London, NH, from June 11-14th, 2017. Information will be posted on the CSAA website and this newsletter on the NH conference.

"Hill Country Teacher: Oral Histories from the One-Room School and Beyond"

Memories of Hill Country Teachers Revisited

by Diane Daniels Manning

My decision to write Hill Country Teacher: Oral Histories from the One-Room School and Beyond was motivated by the desire to preserve the stories of teachers who began their careers in one-room country schools, often as teenagers.  Although I now live in Houston, I was then Chair of the Department of Education at Tulane University in New Orleans.  My students didn’t believe me when I told them many teachers once had to choose between marriage and teaching.  I realized the road these pioneers had walked, the gates they had opened, would soon be gone. 

My original idea was to interview teachers throughout the country, but I decided to begin in Kerrville, Texas, a town with a vigorous community of retired teachers.  Once I began, one person’s story led to another, and eventually there was a book.  These were published as part of the prestigious Twayne Oral History series in 1990.

In the intervening years, several things happened.  The original book went out of print, the copyright reverted to me, and self-publishing became a realistic possibility.  I decided to reissue the original book at today’s lower pricing, so that it would be more affordable as a gift or to keep for readers who would be most interested—teachers past and future.

More information and reviews of Hill Country Teacher can be found on my website www.dianedanielsmanning.com. 

The book can be purchased as a paperback or e-book on amazon.com.  Reviews posted on Amazon are extremely helpful and most appreciated. 

Link to purchase on Amazon: HILL COUNTRY TEACHER

Please join Sibyl Sutherland (and the others) as she begins their stories….

“I didn’t want to teach.  My mother practically drove me into it.  I’d been to Schreiner College for two years, and then I stayed home a year.  I’d finished high school at sixteen because I started school when I was five, and we didn’t have but ten grades at that time.  I just stayed home and trapped.  I caught fox and ring tails and so forth.

Then one day Mother said, ‘You can’t sit around here.   You need to get out!’ 

She told me later she was just like a mother bird shoving her little one out of the nest.  She said she could just see me staying at home ‘til I was an old lady.”

Stories With One-Room Schools!

Children’s Books: Making History Come Alive

by Dr. Mary E. Outlaw

Young visitors to country schools often lack the experiential background to understand and appreciate how such schools served their communities in earlier times. Museum and historic site staff and teachers of visiting students have limited time for providing perspective and context for student visits to these sites. The use of children’s literature, however, can be an effective tool in preparing students for a country or one-room school visit. This literature can also enhance post-visit classroom reviews.

The books listed below are recommended for use before, during and after a visit to a country or one-room school. One strategy that can provide needed background and context for young students is the use of a “book box.” This is a collection of artifacts mentioned in the book, especially those items that are less familiar today. These items may be presented/shared with students prior to reading the book. This sharing can even take the form of a pre-assessment---checking to see if anyone recognizes the item or has any knowledge of it. After presenting the items, the book is read, with appropriate pauses when one of the shared items is mentioned. Questions after the reading may focus on how the item was used, and what would be the comparative item today. Why was the more modern item not used in the story?

A list of suggested artifacts for two of the books listed below is provided, along with vocabulary activities students can complete. Additional activities in which students can participate include preparing creative book reports, playing some of the games from the book, and even writing their own story (If their grandchildren were reading about their grandparents’ life during elementary school, what would the “good ole’ days” look like?)

This book box model may be adapted for use with other books and publications. Picture books and chapter books are most appropriate for K-8 learners. (“Chapter books” generally contain more text than picture books and the storyline is organized into distinct chapters. They are now available for many ages and reading levels.) Biography and autobiography selections are suggested to provide background content for teachers and living history staff members. The list includes geographic location/setting to assist in matching different local histories and cultures of the historic and contemporary schools.

 

 

Sample Activity Sheets 

Download Word Scramble One Room School

Download Word Search One Room School  

Download Word Scramble The Year of Miss Agnes

Download Word Search The Year of Miss Agnes  

Download Suggested Artifacts

 

Picture Books

Barasch, Lynne. A Country Schoolhouse. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004.

Midwest/northeast

A student’s grandfather tells of his experiences in a three-room school. The book includes a good description of grade groupings in the different classrooms and activities in those classrooms.

Bial, Raymond. One-Room School. New York: Houghton-Mifflin, 1999.

General U.S.

The author captures the essence of the one-room schools, whether made of logs, sod, wood, or stone and adds narrative to bring to life these rural schools that shaped America.

Hauscherr, Rosemarie. The One-Room School at Squabble Hollow. New York: Four Winds Press, 1988.                                                                                   

Vermont

This is the story of a “modern-day” one-room school. It is slightly dated even with the mention of dot-matrix printers and other details. The photographs and a story line bring the one-room school alive for the current students.

Houston, Gloria. My Great-Aunt Arizona. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1992.

Blue Ridge Mountains (NC)

A little girl dreamed of faraway places while she was growing up and attending a one-room school. Though she never visited those places, she taught generations of children about words and numbers and all the places they could visit.

McCully, Emily Arnold. School. New York: Harper & Row, 1987.

Anywhere

This is a wordless book about a mouse community and their country school.

Pringle, Laurence P. One Room School. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mill Press, 1998.

New York

Share one last year at School 14, with adventures such as being driven home in the rumble seat of the teacher’s car, working in a classroom with students from first through eighth grades, having to go outside to use the school’s bathroom, playing “Anny Anny Over” throwing a ball over the school’s roof, and more.

Sandin, Joan. Coyote School News. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2003.

Southwest US

This is a year in the life of a one-room school in the southwest (land that originally belonged to Mexico.) Gives a good glimpse of Hispanic culture. It includes a listing of Spanish words and how to pronounce them at the end of the book.

Weatherford, Carole Boston. Dear Mr. Rosenwald. New York: Scholastic Press, 2006.

Rural South

Based on the actual founding of the Rosenwald schools, the reader gets a glimpse of the

need for these schools and the times when they were built.   The Author’s Note provides additional historical information.

Chapter Books

Avi. The Secret School. San Diego, CA: Harcourt, 2001.

Colorado

When their teacher has to leave for a family emergency, the students plot to keep the

school open. They all work together to continue school so that the two oldest students can take the exams they need to enter high school. With just a few challenges along the way, they are successful in their quest to keep the school open, and pass required exams.

Bartlett, Susan. Seal Island School. New York: Puffin Books, 1999.

Maine

Every year a new teacher comes to Seal Island School on the coast of Maine (rather than the former teacher staying for more than one year). Pru and other students really like Miss Sparling and are determined to assure that she stays another year on the island. Through several surprising partnerships, the students are successful in their efforts, not only for keeping Miss Sparling, but also to register enough students to keep the school open.

Brink, Carol Ryrie. Caddie Woodlawn. New York: MacMillan, 1935.

Wisconsin

The author tells the story of her grandmother, the real Caddie Woodlawn, and the adventures with Indians in rural Wisconsin in the 1860s. Originally printed in 1935, this classic continues to be in print. *1936 Newbery Medal winner

DeJong, Meindert. The Wheel on the School. New York: Harper Trophy, 1954.                       

Dutch fishing village

This is the story of how students in a one-room school in the Dutch fishing village of Shora brought long absent storks back to Shora. Everyone becomes involved and an initially unlikely member of the community proves to be a critical player in the effort.

*1955 Newbery Medal winner

Hansen, Joyce. I Thought My Soul would Rise and Fly: The Diary of Patsy, a Freed Girl, Mars Bluff, South Carolina, 1865. New York: Scholastic, 1997.

South Carolina

In this addition to the Dear America series, Joyce Hansen presents the inspiring story of Patsy, a freed girl who becomes a great teacher. Hansen won the Coretta Scott King Honor.

Hill, Kirkpatrick. The Year of Miss Agnes. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2000.

Alaska

When their teacher leaves, the students are not quite sure about the next teacher that,comes to their school. Though there are several questions about the new teacher, it isn’t long before the students are endeared to Miss Agnes and enjoy everything they are learning. Miss Agnes considers returning to England at the end of the year, butdecides to stay for the next year, much to the students' delight.

Lawlor, Laurie. The School at Crooked Creek. New York: Holiday House, 2004.

Indiana           

Beansie and his sister Louisa have an adventure on the first day of school at their one-room school. The family cow helps out in the snowstorm and everyone looks forward to the next day of school. A glossary is included to assist with unfamiliar terms.

McCaughrean, Geraldine. Stop the Train. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Oklahoma

“It’s 1892 and for them and their fellow settlers, a bright future seems set to arrive along the Red Rock Railroad track.” When settlers refuse to sell their claims to the railroad company, the railroad decides to not stop at their town. This is the story of how the people of Florence got the train to stop at their town.

Murphy, Jim. My Face to the Wind: The Diary of Sarah Jane Price, a Prairie Teacher. New York: Scholastic, 2001.                                                           

Broken Bow, Nebraska

Her father was the teacher for the one-room school, and after his death, she had nowhere to go. Rather than risk being sent to the orphanage, Sarah determines that she will be the teacher. She convinces the town people of her ability.   Her safe management of the children in a snowstorm was all that was needed to assure the position was hers.

Swain, Gwenyth. Chig and the Second Spread. New York: Delacorte Press, 2003.

Southern Indiana

This chapter book captures elements of the Great Depression and one-room schools in southern Indiana. The various adventures of the main characters provide interesting context for the story. 

        

Biography/Autobiography

Kalish, Mildred Armstrong. Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression. New York: Bantam Dell, 2007.

Iowa

This memoir captures a way of life unfamiliar to folks today. The chapters cover a wide range of topics from the Depression era and include specific chapters about the country school and a city school.

Puckett, Martha Mizell, edited by Hoyle B. Puckett Sr. Memories of a Georgia Teacher: Fifty Years In The Classroom. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2002.

Georgia

Barely fifteen years old, Martha Mizell began her teaching career in 1913 in a one-room, one-teacher school hear the Okefenokee Swamp in southeast Georgia. This book chronicles that time period and location, from the observance of holidays to the rituals of school openings and closings, to the challenges and variety of transportation available for a young teacher.

 

Williams, Cratis D. I Become a Teacher: A Memoir of One-Room School Life in Eastern Kentucky.   Ashland, Kentucky: The Jesse Stuart Foundation, 1995.

Eastern Kentucky

“This book is a memoir of one-room school life in 1929, detailing the first teaching experience of Cratis D. Williams, once America’s foremost scholar on the Appalachian experience. This beautiful story of Williams’ first teaching assignment---a one-room school on Caines Creek in Lawrence County, Kentucky---will be of interest to teachers, historians, genealogists, and general scholars.” (from book jacket)

 

Our thanks to Mary Outlaw for sharing her presentation on books for children with one-room school themes. Beginning her career in the elementary classroom, Dr. Mary Outlaw gained valuable experience that served her well as she earned advanced degrees and became a professor of education, teaching courses in curriculum and methods for elementary education majors. Her interest in the history of teacher education provided the topic for her dissertation and on-going research. A founding member of the CSAA, she serves as the secretary for the organization, and hosted the 2013 CSAA conference at Berry College in Rome, Georgia. 

 

 

CSAA Helps in Restoration

2016 CSAA National Conference Preservation Grants Report

Top: Locust Grove School, Middle: Root School, Bottom: Clara Barton School

2016 is the 8^th year the Country School Association has provided Grant Funding for Preservation work on some of America’s early schoolhouses. We had seven requests this year and our Association gave three grants of $1000 for preservation efforts. Our memberships provide this funding so thank you to all for this support.

I want to thank my CSAA Preservation Grant committee members for their time on evaluating the applications. Members of our committee are Sue Grosboll, Myrna Grove, and Catharin Lewis. They are a great team to work with.

This year’s grant recipients include:

Locust Grove School is a circa 1865 school west of Philadelphia in the Town of Pocopson, Pennsylvania close to the Chadd’s Ford/Brandywine region. The building was in very poor condition when purchased by the Township in 2004. The Pocopson Township Historical Commission immediately began renovations and funding efforts.

The school is in an area rich with Revolutionary War and Underground Railroad history. They have developed curriculum and collected artifacts for expanded programming. They now are anxious to get interior renovations completed, especially the floors.  

Root School is a 1937 Schoolhouse in Norwich, Vermont built to replace one which had burned the year before. The building immediately was designated a Vermont “Superior” school and received its Superior plaque in 1939. In 1945 it was closed when enrollment fell to 4 pupils.

Since 1952 the school building has been maintained as a community center by the Root District Game Club, a small organization of area families. Due to a deteriorating foundation, the building had to be closed for public use in 2011. Presently the group is pursuing fund raising efforts to repair the foundation and once again have the building open for public use. In 2013 Root School was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Clara Barton School in Bordentown, New Jersey is a wonderful brick building with a raised teacher’s platform to the right hand corner by the entry door. Clara Barton created an innovative program and taught here in 1852-54. The building was restored in the 1920’s. They will use their grant for preservation of the original window muntins, rails and stiles. Note: This was one of the schoolhouses on our tour day at the 2011 conference in New Jersey.

Congratulations to this year’s recipients. Preservation Grant information, guidelines and application are available on line at www.countryschoolassociation.org

Respectfully,

Dale Prouty

CSAA Preservation Grant Chair

More Than 200,000 Country Schools: A Guide for Research, Preservation, and Education

by Lucy Townsend, Editor

Do you know of a one-room school museum in your area? 

Are you involved in the preservation of a country school?

Have you attended a one-room school, taught in one, or re-enacted in one?  

Have you written a book with a country school setting, worked on the restoration of a one-room school, or ever visited one?  

Are you familiar with one-room school history?

Do you need advice on programming or promotion of your  schoolhouse museum?

Do you enjoy photographing schoolhouses?

Would you simply like to know more about research, preservation, and education concerning country schools?

Do you know there is a national organization dedicated to the preservation of our remaining country schools? 

 If you said yes to any of these questions, this is the book for you!

For over two hundred years, country schools were the nation’s most reliable educational institutions, and over 200,000 once dotted the American landscape. This book contains interviews with thirteen people who completed projects dedicated to the preservation of country school history. They set out to make a lasting contribution to their communities, and they completed worthwhile projects with neither major grant support nor national recognition. 

A “must read” if you are interested in country schools. This book can be purchased from Amazon at the following link:

MORE THAN 200,000 COUNTRY SCHOOLS

List Price: $14.99 

6" x 9" (15.24 x 22.86 cm) 
Black & White on White paper
168 pages 

ISBN-13: 978-1517460785
ISBN-10: 1517460786 
BISAC: Education / History

More information:

"Moving" Schoolhouses...Literally

Reader Seeks Your Input on "Nomadic" Schoolhouses 

 

CSAA newsletter reader, Tim Allen, has sent us some interesting information on "moving" schools of the past and would like to locate others.  He is affiliated with the New Chicago School, in Drummond, MT, a restored schoolhouse museum that was once moved from place to place on skids, pulled by horses, to educate local children. Tim would enjoy hearing from others on their knowledge of, or experience with mobile schools.

 

Drummond, MT is on the Clark Fork River and was named for a trapper by this name who operated a line of traps in the territory and made his camp about where the railroad station now stands. The first camp at this site was established in 1871 and was called Edwardsville for John Edwards, a local rancher. It was renamed for Hugh Drummond in 1883; when the post office was established in 1884 the name was shortened from Drummond Camp to Drummond.

A brief history of the New Chicago Schoolhouse from their website says:

Built in 1874, the New Chicago Schoolhouse was moved to the west end of Drummond in 1988 and has been restored by volunteers of the Lower Valley Historical Society. It is adjacent to I-90 and can be easily seen from there. With its bell tower it can be mistaken for a church.

Among the exhibits is the story of Emma Davis Wilson (1844-1917), a pioneer teacher who homesteaded with her husband and two sons near New Chicago in 1874. Another fascinating exhibit is the quilt depicting the history of the Drummond area. The museum offers a number of other exhibits giving the visitor a glimpse of the history of this area.  

New Chicago was located along Flint Creek, at the junction of the Mullan Road and the road to Philipsburg. It included two hotels, two stores, two saloons, a flour mill, a telegraph station, several stables, a stage station, and a Wells Fargo office. With the arrival of the railroad to Drummond (Edwardsville) in August of 1883, New Chicago slowly ceased to exist.

Tim has also suggested a book entitled: The Empty Schoolhouse: Memories of One-Room Texas Schools, by Luther Bryan Clegg (author/editor) that contains a chapter on the Old Hobbs School, a "nomadic" schoolhouse.

 

If you have further information on these unique historical schools, please write to Tim Allen at: timallen@bigskydigitalmarketing.com 

 

2016 Conference Information is Complete!

Register Now for 2016 CSAA Conference

Schedule of Events Posted!

Presentation Synopses Posted!

Self-Driving Tour Posted!

If you are planning to attend the 2016 conference in Fredericksburg, TX, June 19th-22nd, access the link below for complete registration information:

ANNUAL CONFERENCE

For a complete list of presentations and daily schedule, access the link below:

Download CSAA SCHEDULE OF EVENTS 

A full description of each presentation is available below:

Download CSAA PRESENTATION SYNOPSES

If you wish to take the self-drive schoolhouse tour on Sunday, June 19th, access the link below:

Download SELF-DRIVE TOUR

You can also find registration details on our website under "Annual Conference" at the link below:

CSAA WEBSITE

 

From the Wisconsin Historical Society Press

Classic Country Schoolhouse Recollection Reprinted

Submitted by Wisconsin Historical Society Press

On a hazy August morning in 1939, five-year-old Jerry Apps donned a denim shirt with new bib overalls and then combed his hair at the insistence of his mother. Carrying a lard pail as a lunch bucket, two yellow pencils, and a five-cent pad of paper, he took his place in the procession of children on the dusty road headed to Chain O'Lake School in Waushara County. At the sound of the bell that signaled the start of the school year, the students hurried into the modest white building, where one teacher taught children spanning eight grades in a single classroom. It's a memory that might sound familiar to anyone who attended a one-room rural school in the early twentieth century. From 1791, when the first school was established in what is now Wisconsin, to the consolidation of rural school districts in the 1960s, the one-room school's history has been one of growth and change.

In "One-Room Country Schools," Jerry Apps relays this history through his own vivid recollections, along with the stories told to him by some of the countless students and teachers who populated small country schoolhouses across the state over the years. From the organized chaos of teaching disparate age groups in one room, to tales of recess, holiday programs, and classroom mischief, these stories provide a lively and detailed portrait of what it was like to be educated in the same room as one's siblings. More than just memories, this book provides insight into the value of the highly localized and more personalized educational practices of the past. 

Find more Jerry Apps here! 

And, discover a complimentary book about one-room schools for younger readers, One Room Schools by Susan Apps-Bodilly

What was it like to attend a one-room school, to be in the same classroom as your older brother or younger sister, or to have your teacher live with your family for part of the school year? In "One Room Schools," Susan Apps-Bodilly chronicles life in Wisconsin's early country schools, detailing the experiences of the students, the role of the teacher, and examples of the curriculum, including the importance of Wisconsin School of the Air radio programs. She describes the duties children had at school besides their schoolwork, from cleaning the erasers and sweeping cobwebs out of the outhouse to carrying in wood for the stove. She also tells what led to the closing of the one-room schools, which were more than just centers of learning: they also served as the gathering place for the community. Susan Apps-Bodilly drew from the research compiled by her father, Jerry Apps, for his book "One-Room Country Schools: History and Recollections." Apps-Bodilly has geared her book toward young readers who will learn what students and their teacher did on cold mornings before the woodstove warmed them up. They also will find out how to play recess games like Fox and Geese and Anti-I-Over and will learn the locations of ten former one-room schools that can be toured. Apps-Bodilly also encourages readers to ask themselves what lessons can be learned from these early schools that have application for today's schools. "One Room Schools" will transport young readers back in time and make their grandparents and others of that generation nostalgic--perhaps even prompting them to share memories of their school days. 

To receive a review copy or press release, to schedule an author event, or for more information contact the WHS Press Marketing Department: whspress@wisconsinhistory.org.

Memories from a CSAA Member

Lessons Learned in the One-room Country School

 by Larry Scheckel      

            You could not get a better education than the one-room country school. It is model for a superior education. That’s my claim and I’m sticking to it!

            I attended Oak Grove School, two miles northwest of the town of Seneca, in the heart of Crawford County, in the hill country of southwestern Wisconsin from 1948 to 1956. I was one of 28 kids, grade 1 to 8, with one teacher, no indoor plumbing, no telephone, and not a single building in sight. Portraits of Washington and Lincoln hung on one wall, in addition to a map case, in a building not much bigger than a modern garage. The opposite wall held the Ranger Mac bulletin board plus exemplary student work.            

 

Oak Grove School

          Across the top of the blackboard was a banner with the entire alphabet in huge letters, both upper case and lower case. We used the term “big A” and “little a” or capital “G” and small “g”. Penmanship was important at Oak Grove School. Below the blackboard was a small stand with a Philco radio. Only Teacher touched that radio!

            Oak Grove School was the educational and social center for the farm families on Oak Grove Ridge. Norwegian, Dane, Swede, German, Irish, English, Polish, and Czech families forged a bond in this school in rural Wisconsin. Everyone attended the basket social in late October, the Christmas program, and the end-of-year picnic in late May.

            The nine Scheckel children walked one mile to and from school. We were joined on the gravel road by the seven Kozelka kids. While on the trek we talked to farm neighbors, picked apples, threw rocks, sledded, laughed, teased, and argued. Wild raspberries, goldenrods, Queen Anne’s lace, and chicory grew along the side of the road.

            We pulled cockleburs, a natural forerunner of Velcro, from plants and balled them together. They would hook into the clothing and not let go. Who could make the biggest ball became a spirited contest. We would wind up and throw them at each other. Hopefully, someone would be wearing a wool sweater. Cockleburs just love wool clothing.

            At the top of the Ingham hill, one could see miles in every direction. Rain, snow, sleet, hot blazing sun, it made no difference, we walked. One memorable afternoon we scurried home during a thunderstorm, lightning dancing across the sky. You won’t see that happening these days, let me tell you!

            Reciting for the teacher, the hectograph machine, recess time, softball games, snowball fights, The Weekly Reader, radio programs from Wisconsin School of the Air, carvings on school desks, goiter pills, wood burning stove, and seventeen year old first-year teachers were all part of the Oak Grove School. There were families so poor they couldn’t afford a penny pencil and the entire library held fewer than 30 books.

            We discovered family ideals by reading about Dick, Jane, Sally, Spot, the dog, and Puff the cat. Stories taught values. The story of Billy Goat Gruff and the Troll was typical. Strive for more, but be satisfied with what you have. There is no room for being a bully and that troll was definitely a bad guy. Good guys win, and bad guys lose. Lessons learned.

            Our fifth grader reader had a story about a farmer and his land. The town chairman told the farmer that the road running through his farmland needed to be straightened. Several accidents had occurred on a dangerous curve. The farmer objected to his land being taken for a new road project, even though he was informed that he would be paid for his land. The farmer finally agreed to sell a part of his prized cropland. We learned about “eminent domain”.

            We did not realize it at the time, I suppose, that each of our reading stories was teaching lessons of ethics, morals, citizenship, and civics.            

            During late afternoon, Teacher read to the entire school. The most memorable chapter-a-day book was of a severe drought that plagued India and how the villagers survived.

Class in 1953, Oak Grove School

              Older students took responsibility for younger ones. Seventh and eighth graders helped the younger students with their coats, caps, mittens, and boots. On the playground, an eighth grade boy might stand behind a first grader with arms wrapped around him and help the tyke swing the bat at the underhand pitched softball. The happy slugger might mistakenly start running down the third base line. A fifth grader would grab the kid and gently orient him to the first base line. Call it a metaphor for the one-room country school…get ‘em going in the right direction. Lessons learned.  

            Kids learned to work independently without a teacher. Children helped each other with lessons, older ones tutoring the lower grades, often their siblings. While Teacher had the third graders up front reciting, a seventh grader would be using flash cards to help a second grader with the multiplication tables. An eighth grader would be running off papers on the jellied surface of the hectograph machine.

            Students heard the lessons of younger classmates, a review of what was learned in years past. Kids listened to the lessons being recited by older students and got a hint of what to expect in the years ahead.

            Teacher assigned duties for the last ten minutes of the school day. Everyone had chores. Teacher made up a list and posted it. It was the duties for an entire week and they rotated from week to week. You could ask for a favorite duty, but Teacher was the benevolent dictator and she decided what duties you had. Kids were expected to do the assigned duty well and do it without complaint.

           Older kids took down the flag, carefully folded it, and stored it away for the next day. Three or four students used a wheelbarrow to bring in chunks of wood from the woodshed and stack them behind the pot-bellied stove. Some kids took the erasers and pounded out the chalk against the concrete steps. Kids stacked the library books, made sure the outdoor toilets were swept and had toilet paper, emptied the wastebasket, brought in water from the cistern and filled up the five gallon Blue Crown water crock. Tall kids washed the blackboards. Select kids passes out the goiter pills. The most coveted duty was to pull the rope that rang the large school bell signaling the end of recess.

            Every Friday a reddish sweeping compound was sprinkled on the wooden floor, rubbed in, and swept up. The “rubbing in” part was fun. We would skid and skate up and down the aisles between desks, move the desks, slide some more, pretending we were Jackie Robinson sliding into second base. Oak Grove School kids took care of their school. There was pride. School was our home for eight hours every day, Monday through Friday, five days a week. Lessons learned.

            We also learned how to organize our own playground time. Younger and older kids joined together on the playground. We chose up sides and played softball. “You’re out” “No, I was safe” disputes were settled among ourselves. If not, we knew Teacher would be calling us in, and nobody wanted to cut down recess time. We discovered how to compromise and negotiate. Lessons learned.

            Annie Over and Hide-and-Go-Seek could be played any time of the year. In wintertime, we played Fox and Geese in the freshly fallen snow. We divided sides, built snow forts, and had snowball fights. Some days were ideal for sleigh riding.

            We kids accepted others for who they were, not based on age, size, grade level, social standing, wealth, or color. Well, we were all farm kids and we were all poor. Some families were better off than others, but we didn’t know it and didn’t care.

            We 28 kids at Oak Grove School knew who the “smart kids” were. Some got a tag or label as being “dumb" or "slow”. That didn’t make any difference. We learned to give and take. We knew who to tease and who not to tease. There was a family-life relationship of younger and older students working and playing together. We simply got along with each other.

            In the Fall of 1952, the good little citizens of Oak Grove School went to the polls. It was a Presidential election year. Teacher made a cardboard box with a slit on top and wrote the names Stevenson and Eisenhower on the blackboard. The 28 kids of Oak Grove Ridge School voted, a 100 per cent turnout. Eisenhower won in a landslide. Democracy in action. Lessons learned.

            Oak Grove School gave the farmers a feeling of pride. When those rural schools closed and consolidated in the early 1960’s, much of that sense of community was lost. Children were bused to a larger central school in Seneca, a distance of three to six miles for most families. Many parents felt a loss of kinship with their fellow farmers.

            There was talk about a superior, perhaps a more well-rounded education in the consolidated school. But, I was never convinced. The lessons I learned in the Oak Grove Ridge one-room country school lasted me a lifetime. Oak Grove School was a small place in Crawford County, Wisconsin, but it remains a big place in my heart.

To read a previous post by Larry Scheckel, use the link below:

"Memories of a Wisconsin Basket Social: Fundraising at the Oak Grove School"

 THE BASKET SOCIAL

 

Author, Larry Scheckel

Time to Submit Your Presentation Proposal!

"On the Land, Learning at Hand"

Calling for Presenters!

The fall descended in a blaze of color, the holidays are whizzing by, and before you know it we will be meeting for the 16th Annual Country School Association Conference in Fredericksburg, TX. If you enjoy the history and preservation of one-room schools, this is the conference for you!

 

CSAA is heading to the Lone Star State, to the Texas Hill Country and you are invited! The Friends of the Gillespie County Country Schools in Fredericksburg, TX are rolling out the red carpet for participants to the next annual conference slated for June 19-22, 2016. June 22 will include the optional tour of country schools in Gillespie County.

 

 Now is the time to submit your proposal for your presentation.

Deadline for submission: February 1, 2016.

Country School Association of America

16th Annual Conference

Fredericksburg, Texas

June 19-22, 2016 

 

The theme is “On the Land, Learning at Hand,” and presenters are encouraged to build presentations around the individuality of country schools; lessons of the land; and academic skills taught by hands.

Other suggestions of interest to the audience:

History, preservation, restoration of county schools

Curriculum – reading, writing, and arithmetic etc.

The lives of former teachers and students

Socials – end of school picnics and programs, Christmas celebrations, box socials

Fund raising - ideas for other preservationists

School Government- local school boards, state regulations, federal regulations

Attendance and transportation in country schools

Sources for preservation, restoration, re-enactment

Writing and speaking on behalf of country schools

Financial planning for your country school

...and many more 

To access the informational PDF, use this link: 

CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS

CONFERENCE OVERVIEW

Visit the CSAA website for information on schoolhouse preservation, awards and grants, annual conference, slide shows of past conferences, links to our on-line JOURNAL, and numerous country school resources.

CSAA WEBSITE

On tour: Visit the Junction School in Stonewall, TX, where Lyndon Johnson attended as a small child. (one of many open for visitors on our tour)

 

 

Fundraising Idea

Hornby School Tries Crowd Funding

By Margaret Clark, President, Hornby School Restoration Society

Built in 1875, Hornby School has been restored as a living history museum.  Preservation activities are ongoing.  Now we need a furnace.  We have obtained grant funding for the bulk of the insulation and installation, but we’re a little short.   We launched our first crowd funding campaign on the IndieGoGo platform on October 28.  You can help by telling everyone you know about it.  To participate, supporters need a computer with an internet connection and a credit card. 

Here’s how it works: Log on to Indiegogo.com.  Our specific link is http://igg.me/at/hornbyschool   Sign up. You’ll need an e-mail address or a Facebook account. Use a credit card to support Hornby School Museum for any amount-- as little as $1.00.  Like on PBS, you choose a level of support based on the perk you want.   We have some appropriate “old School” perks. You get a reward. You share in making history.  And Hornby School Museum is closer to having a furnace.  Any funds raised over our goal will be used to pay the monthly gas bill.

Why this new strategy?  When the Hornby School Restoration Society Board met in January 2015, they realized the need to change with the times to preserve Hornby and keep it available.  They chose to launch a crowd-funding campaign on the Indiegogo platform because crowdfunding—asking a lot of people to give a little support—has become an option through the internet and Indiegogo is set up for online fund raising. Using Indiegogo, we can gain support and share history from Hornby’s collections with people everywhere.

 

 

See Latest Slide Show and Save the Dates for Future Conferences!!

Slide Show in Seven Minutes...

The 2015 CSAA Conference Slide Show ready for viewing! Enjoy photos from our presentations, our participants, and the ever-popular tour of local country schools. Saratoga Springs proved to be a wonderful venue for our 15th annual gathering.

 

SAVE THE DATES for 2016 and 2017 CSAA Annual Conferences!

In June 2016 CSAA is heading to the Lone Star State, to the Texas Hill Country and you are invited! The Friends of the Gillespie County Country Schools in Fredericksburg, TX are rolling out the red carpet for participants to the next annual conference slated for June 19-22, 2016. Detailed information will be forthcoming. Check back on our website in the coming months.

In 2017 we will make our way to the Granite State and the quaint little village of New London, NH. Colby-Sawyer College will be the site of this conference to be held between Lake Sunapee and Mount Kearsage, June 11-14, 2017. Visit classic New England schoolhouses in pristine settings! Plans are in the works.  
So much to look forward to in quality programming!

2015 Annual Conference: Reflections on Saratoga Springs

To Our Conference Coordinators 2015, Joan and Dale:

Dale and Joan Prouty of New York, Conference Coordinators

How can we ever thank you enough for your dedicated hard work in making CSAA 2015 a memorable time for everyone! Memories are made of moments, and because of your year-long effort, they added up to four fabulous days with old and new friends! The details you so carefully arranged chalked up one more success for the association and all who attended. 

 

Interior of the Perkins Hollow School, Washington Country Fairgrounds

We will remember your warm welcome, the CSAA bags and folders, the stars, the report card, the centerpieces, your wonderful farm museum and the Perkins Hollow School. We will reflect upon the campus at Skidmore, the presentations that went off without a hitch, the endless delicious food choices, the children’s adorable tribute show to the American flag, Abe Lincoln’s visit, and the music of Buffalo and Bumadean.

     

The presentations were varied and informative and gave the conferees so much to think about in their own schoolhouse pursuits. You chose the best in representative NY country schoolhouses for the bus tour and the hosts could not have been more welcoming. The settings were unique and very photogenic in the heart of the NY slate industry, and we came away with beautiful pictures of the schools and the NY countryside. The churches and town squares were as wonderful as the schoolhouses! We won’t forget the amazing handcrafted lunch and the lunch pails…all special details you added to the trip.

 

We know how much work goes into running a successful conference and for that we award you an A+ for all you did to bring us together.

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your endless hours of planning and preparation…from all the attendees at Saratoga Springs!

 

Bus tour of 7 country schools...

With Special Thanks from the CSAA Board! 

Enjoy your summer days ahead.

2015 CSAA Conference Offers a Diversity of Topics!

Sampling of 2015 Conference Presentations

This is the time to register on-line or by mail for the 2015 Annual Country School Association Conference. If you're wondering about programming, the link below offers a partial list of the upcoming presentations for the annual conference to be held this year at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York, from June 14-17, 2015.

The second link offers information on the area and the college.

 

June 14- Afternoon-Evening Registration

June 15- Presentations

June 16- Presentations

June 17- Schoolhouse Tour

2015 COUNTRY SCHOOL TOPICS

GETTING TO KNOW SARATOGA SPRINGS AND SKIDMORE

Top off your conference enjoyment with the full day tour of local one room schools in the Saratoga area.

For registration information, scroll to the next newsletter entry.

2015 CSAA Conference Registration is Now Open!

2015 CSAA Conference to be Held at Skidmore College

Hello Country School Enthusiasts:

Registration is now open for the 2015 Country School Association of America Conference at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York.

The Washington County Fair Farm Museum with its Perkins Hollow one room schoolhouse is hosting the Annual Conference of the Country School Association of America June 14-17, 2015.  We are pleased to bring this national event to the Washington and Saratoga County region of New York State.  

The Skidmore College campus and the Washington County Fair Farm Museum will be the locations for two days of presentations and workshops on early schooling, curriculum and preservation of historic country schools.  There will also be local displays and presentations featuring area schoolhouses, the slate industry, the Ticonderoga pencil, and other related topics.  The third day bus tour will take you through the slate region of New York and Vermont while you visit seven restored/preserved country schools.

Make your reservations soon as Saratoga is the summer place to be!  

 You have a choice of online registration or a paper registration with 2 payment options:  

1)  Online registration with payment by credit card or check:

ON-LINE CONFERENCE REGISTRATION

2)  Paper form with payment by check:

Download CSAA 2015 Registration Form

When you use online registration at www.CountrySchoolAssociation.org you will have to make your selection for payment by check or credit card as indicated below.  If paying by check, you will mail it to the address provided online.

  

 

We look forward to welcoming you to Skidmore College, in upstate New York in June.  

Should further information be required, please do not hesitate to contact me.

(3) For a brochure with additional information:

Conference Brochure 2015 

 

Joan & Dale Prouty

CSAA 2015 Conference Co-chairs

dprouty@captal.net

(518) 747-3635

Call for Workshop and Presentation Proposals

2015 CSAA Conference Organizers Seek Proposals 

"Celebrating Country Schools: Slates, Salutes and Scholars"

June 14th -17th

Skidmore College

Saratoga Springs, New York 

You are invited once again to submit your proposals to present at the 2015 Country School Associaiton of America Conference to be held At Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York from June 14th-17th.

Join enthusiasts from across the country in preserving and promoting the preservation of our remaining historic country schools. Share your knowledge, research or interest in all phases of schoolhouse history,          re-enactment and preservation.

Proposals should be submitted by February 1, 2015 for consideration. 

Detailed information on the Call for Proposals can be found on the link below:

Download CSAA Conf call for proposals 2015

If you wish to share this information in print, feel free to print the palm card below for distribution. Hope to see you in Saratoga Springs!

Download Conference 2015 palm card

For additional information on the Saratoga Springs area access the CSAA brochure below:

SARATOGA SPRINGS THINGS TO DO!

 

Iowa Hosts Annual State Schoolhouse Conference

Kalona Plays Host to Country School Preservationists

Submitted by Sarah Uthoff

The 15^th Annual Iowa Country School Conference drew a capacity audience at the Kalona Historical Village in Kalona, Iowa on October 10^th and 11^th. People interested in one-room schools, their history, and their restoration filled the room to overflowing to hear one-room school experts both local and national.

Preservation Iowa and Bill Sherman organize this event each year traveling to different locations around the state. The annual event has a slightly different theme and this

Bill Sherman of Preservation Iowa

year, nestled in the heart of Amish country in Iowa, the theme was definitely Amish schools. The Amish population has been quietly growing and helping to fuel a resurgence of the number of one-room schools around the country.

According to Mark Dewalt from Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC, the number of Amish one-room schools has been growing at such a pace that they no longer can track the number of them. In the Kalona area the Amish schools are almost all former public one-room schools and while their practices are not the same, they serve as a living window on how such schools are used.

Dr. Deborah Mink

Other out of state speakers included Dr. Deborah Mink of Indiana University Southeast, Diane McGowen of Chicago, Tom Bobrofsky of the Reed School in Neillsville, Wisconsin, and Susan Webb of Birmingham, Alabama.

Webb’s presentation was of special interest to Iowans as she talked about the Latta’s Book for Teachers a resource produced by the Latta School Supply Company headquartered right here in Cedar Falls, Iowa. This useful guide was used by one-room school teachers around the country.

Another point of Iowa interest was Katherine Martin, current director of the UNI Center for Rural Education, who gave an update on their project to collect one-room school records from across the state in one place or at least list where they are housed.  

Artifacts from the Moody's traveling display

A special display was set up by Jane and Paul Moody of Quincy, Illinois of numerous school antiques they’ve collected. The Moody's exhibit serves as a movable museum that has delighted audiences across the midwest.

A strong element of the conference was the only national schoolhouse organization, the Country School Association of America (www.countryschoolassociation.org). While the Iowa group is not a regional branch of CSAA, the connection is strong.  Sarah Uthoff shared information about the organization and Dale and Joan Prouty traveled all the way from Hudson Falls, New York to talk about what they have planned for the 2015 national conference.

Silent Auction

There were several special events during the conference. A silent auction of three quilted wall hangings served as a fundraiser for the organization, including a one-room school wall hanging. Conference participants toured the historic village. There was a piper, complete with kilt, who played during supper. The first day ended with Michael Zahs talking about one-room school programs, introducing a collection of puppets used in a one-room school and displaying a pitcher that his mother had won in a spelling bee at a one-room school.

The conference concluded on Saturday with a tour of one-room schools around the area. Normally this tour features one-room school museums, but this time they visited currently active Amish one-room schools.

Note: Thanks to Sarah Uthoff of the Country School Association of America and TRUNDLEBED TALES. Access Sarah's link here to learn more about Laura Ingalls Wilder, Sarah's radio show, research materials, and social media sites.

Visiting Kalona's Schoolhouses

Enthusiasts Find Iowa Country Schools Special

Submitted by Ron Slechta- Publisher, Slechta Publictions, Kalona, IA

Visiting the 1926 Center High School

A record number of schoolhouse enthusiasts from six states and Australia attending the 15th annual One Room Country School Conference in Kalona found the area one-room schools both special and unique.

“This was our best conference we have ever had for a variety of reasons,” said Bill Sherman, organizer of the October conference. There were 99 in attendance at the Friday all day session held in the Amish Quilt Gallery at the Kalona Historical Society Visitors Center. On Saturday, 65 toured area country schools and ended up with a home cooked meal at Salina Bontrager home near Joetown.

Sherman cited several reasons other than the large attendance why the Kalona venue was so significant and successful:

•Middleburg Amish one-room country school. This is the oldest continuous running school in the state of Iowa. It was opened in 1860. Teachers Silas Bontrager and Elmer Beachy offered a commentary on how current day Amish schools operate 170 days a year including field trips. They gave a unique insight into how the Amish schools operate. Like other students, Amish students must take the Iowa Basic Skills test each year. Results show students are below state averages in lower grades as they are just learning English, but the upper grades test above averages for those students taking the tests. Teachers noted there are 34 students at Middleburg.

 

Historian, Mike Zahs (Photo by Sarah Uthoff)

Historian Mike Zahs, who spoke to the group Friday evening, gave a brief history of the historic Middleburg School and the community of Middleburg which was the halfway point on the stage coach route between Iowa City and Washington. The arrival of the railroad resulted in the end of the community of Middleburg, but not the school, which was moved to its present location in 1876 so it would be more centrally located. It was part of the Mid-Prairie School District until 1970.

•Fairview School, located on James Ave. north of  560^th Street, was a Mid-Prairie School District school for the New Order Amish community, according to Ed Miller who was the Mid-Prairie principal in charge in 1980.

Mary Swander, a professor at Iowa State University and Iowa’s Poet Laureate, purchased the old school in mid 1990’s, and has converted it into her weekend and summer retreat.  Swander invited the group into her neatly decorated home and autographed copies of her most recent book.

Swander related that people who attended Fairview pitch a tent in the yard to hold reunions each summer. She enjoys hearing their stories.

•Friendship School (formerly East Lincoln) an Amish one-room school, located on 520^th Street west of Hazelwood Avenue, has 24 students. Teachers Lenora Miller and Rhoda Beachy answered questions by the group of how they handle and teach students. Sherman noted this was a classic country school with large windows on one side and few windows on the opposite of the room to avoid too much cross lighting. Sherman noted that it is  also unique in that the room can be divided by a pull curtain, an unusual design feature. The curtain is used to divide the lower grades (kindergarten to 4^th grade) and upper grades  (5th to 8^th grades).

•Washington Twp. Central High School was the township high school for those attending one-room country schools. It was recently purchased by the Amish community and will be renovated to use as a school as the Amish community grows in that area.

Sherman related that the Central High School building, the Central Elementary School building (now a private home) and the Mid-Prairie Washington Township school is a very unique complex of schools still standing in Iowa. The former Central Elementary is also noted for having the largest belfry and school bell in Iowa.  The only other similar set of buildings is in Clay County north of Spencer, and those buildings may be destroyed to convert the grounds into farmland. Ed Miller, a former principal at Washington Twp. School, noted that the school was built by families living in the area and when they voted to join the Mid-Prairie School District Amish students attended the school, but school officials decided not to continue that arrangement.

During the brief stop at Lower Mennonite Church many on the tour viewed the historic Amish marker on the grounds of the church.

The tour group drove through the Mennonite School grounds where they learned about that school. Next stop was at the Methodist Church in Joetown. The town was originally called Amish, but was later named Joetown after a minister whose first name was Joe.

From Joetown the group meandered through the countryside past Brush School before stopping at Salina Bontrager’s home for a delicious and filling meal.

Sherman noted it was significant that attendees were able to view the 25-inch diameter Iowa Quarter carved by Chuck Hining of Swisher, a former industrial arts teacher in Cedar Rapids schools. The quarter is carved out of Iowa red oak from Iowa County. The model for the country school on the quarter was from a Grant Wood painting of a school that was on the land where the Eastern Iowa Airport is now located.

 

2004 Iowa Quarter (photo by Sarah Uthoff)

 

Sherman admitted to overbooking the program Friday, which include a variety of experts on country schools.

Local speakers included Michael Zahs, whose appearance was funded by Humanities Iowa Speakers Bureau and Dwight Seegmiller, CEO of Hills Bank & Trust Co, spoke on “Why Country School Preservation Matters.”

Ed Miller, a former country school teacher and principal, Lois Gugel (former country school teacher including Central Elementary and currently Mennonite Museum Library Archivist) and Timothy Bender, a junior at Iowa Mennonite School were lead off speakers.

Sherman paid special thanks to Nancy Roth, Kalona Historical Village director, for hosting the event and making many of the arrangements for the program including a lunch and evening meal at the Visitor’s Center.

He also gave a special thanks to Ed Miller and Lois Gugel for making the arrangements for the Saturday morning countryside tour including the school bus for many in the tour.

Mark Dewalt of  Winthrop College,  Rock Hill, SC, said he was glad to he a part this year’s  conference and pointed out that Bill Sherman is the main mover behind preservation of the history of one-room country schools.

Sherman said there are approximately 60 one-room schools now in use in Iowa, mostly operated by Amish and Mennonite groups. Seven of the Amish schools are public schools operated by Wapsie Valley and Jesup school districts in Buchanan County.

Dale and Joan Prouty, Hudson Falls, NY, invited the group to attend the 2015 National Country School Association of America annual conference at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY, June 14th-17th, 2015.

Sherman invited the group to the 16^th Annual Iowa Country School Conference in Boone next year.

 

CSAA Member Achieves National Historic Registry Designation

Concord School: A Labor of Love for Eleanor Ent of Pennsylvania

It was a perfect day in August for the 100+ guests who gathered to honor a schoolhouse and it's dedicated owner. After years of restoration and hard work, Eleanor Ent achieved her goal of having her schoolhouse enshrined in the National Registry of Historic Places. Friends, family, and former students gathered to celebrate the honor.

 

Concord Schoolhouse

 

Word from the dedication:

"There are numerous categories for historic places on the registry; mansions, factories, churches, sites associated with historic events, historic districts with multiple buildings...but a schoolhouse is most special to those of us gathered today. A humble schoolhouse did not presume great wealth, it did not witness great historical events, it was not holy, it did not house an industry that made America great. Instead, our schoolhouses, unassuming structures that they were, produced generations of educated, productive, patriotic, and moral citizens. 

Eleanor and Veronica Ent are charter members of the Country School Association of America, a national organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of our nations remaining country schools, and we are so proud of them today! They epitomize what our membership aspires to do...save our historic schools.

 

Ellie Ent receives her historic marker

Schoolhouses hold a special place in our appreciation of historic places...why? We have all attended school here in America. School is part of our fiber and our being, a part of a national shared experience of attending public schools.

As a testimony to our nation's commitment to educating all its citizens, at the turn of the 20th century, it is estimated there were some 220,000 country schools in the United States...and now there are only a few thousand. Fortunately, New Alexandria houses a gem.

We met Eleanor and Veronica in 2007 when they presented the story of the restoration of the Concord School at the CSAA annual conference. They told of the run down little building on the edge of their farm that had hosted hundreds of scholars for generations until it was abandoned. They told of the near hopeless condition of the school with a wall sporting a massive hole and other structural issues. They debated the wisdom and the prospects of a restoration project and forged ahead. They spoke of reconstruction and grunt work and elbow grease and money issues. Even that would not deter Ellie when she set her mind to preservation after saving the Concord from the wrecking ball.

Here it stands in it's glory, receiving our nation's highest historic recognition. Here is the Concord Schoolhouse restored lovingly by a beautiful lady and her devoted children who saw the value of the little brick building with good bones and a story to tell. She marshalled the community to donate items they had bought at auction (when the contents were sold) to furnish the schoolhouse as it had been. She antiqued and collected and salvaged until she was satisfied that the Concord was whole again, outfitted as if students would return to their seats and pick up their lessons from yesteryear. 

With the hard work behind them, the project would not be complete for Eleanor Ent until her little schoolhouse was enshrined in the National Register of Historic Places, a dream that would complete her mission. 

And here we are today to pay homage to a lady who said yes to a schoolhouse that needed a savior when the odds were stacked against her. We honor her determination and her foresight, her love for a schoolhouse, and her belief that it was worthy of a second life."

Former Concord Students join Eleanor Ent for dedication.

 

Note: CSAA members from NJ, NH, TX, and NY attended the dedication ceremony to honor Ellie Ent and her family for their preservation work.

For a detailed newspaper article highlighting the event access the link below: 

CONCORD SCHOOL-from THE REPUBLIC

Serendipity in Schoolhouse Searching

A Second Life for Schoolhouses

You're out for a drive and your eye catches what is surely, or once was, a one-room school. You count the windows, you notice a double entry, possibly a small portico, a bell tower, an outhouse. Outdated playground equipment?  A well pump? It may be on its original site or moved for its very preservation. It may be brick, stone, plank, shingled, shaked or sided. Red, white, blue, green, or yellow. You make a u-turn for a second look and a potential photo.

You walk the grounds of your latest find. You might peer into the windows. You imagine the long walks to school, the dedicated young teacher, the schoolyard games, the organization of a multi-aged and ability grouped classroom. You envision the changing seasons and the decorations and the holiday plays. 

This is our quest. Many of us are always on the lookout for the remaining one-room schools across the country. It is hardly different from bird-watching and just as exciting to the history buff and country school enthusiast. We are lucky that thousands have been preserved in some capacity across the country, and it takes some off-beat travel to find them.

You may get lucky and locate one that continues to operate as a public school! We understand that fewer than 400 of the 219,000 public schools that once operated are still being used as full-time schools, and that number is decreasing annually. (This does not take into consideration the Amish one-room schools of America.)

But while we may wish the remaining schoolhouses were all restored to an appropriate time period, complete with desks and inkwells and slates and books, we are often content to know someone has had the foresight to preserve one of our nation's icons for some measure of a second life.

If you have photographed a schoolhouse along your travels, send it in to our CSAA newsletter with pertinent information such as location, surroundings, and use. Google the building to locate additional information and include the link. We would love to post your photo to share with our readers.

Our August Entry:

Thompsonville School, now a 4-H Clubhouse on the 4-H Fairgrounds, East Middleboro, MA.

Additional Information: 4-H Fair 2014 and Thompsonville Schoolhouse

Highlights of the 2014 CSAA Conference

YouTube Photo Show: 2014 CSAA Conference Photo Memories

The Country School Association feels we have another success story for schoolhouse enthusiasts! 90 participants from 21 states convened at the Pony Express Museum in St. Joseph, Missouri to enjoy two days of presentations and a full-day schoolhouse tour, all centering on schoolhouse preservation and enjoyment.

Old friends met again and new friends were made at the annual conference that has grown in size and scope over the past fourteen years. Alternating between the east and the midwest, conference organizers hope to draw more preservationists from around the country for the 2015 gathering to be held in Saratoga Springs, NY at Skidmore College, June 15-17, 2015.

The conference is an opportunity for those involved in country schoolhouse preservation to present and to learn about schoolhouse education, history, experiences, and museum programming. 

We already look forward to next year's program being organized by Dale and Joan Prouty from the Perkins Hollow School and the Washington County Fair Farm Museum in Greenwich, NY!

For a 6-minute photo tour of the conference, access the link below.

Photo: Oxford Schoolhouse, Leawood, KS

2014 CONFERENCE YOUTUBE LINK 

 

 

Program Set for 2014 CSAA Conference at Pony Express Museum

Program Guide Now Posted for Annual Schoolhouse Conference in St. Joseph, Missouri

If you plan to attend the 2014 Country School Association, you now have the opportunity to preview the program of presentations and their summaries. Below, please find program guide, summaries and description of the ever popular bus tour of schoolhouses.

Registration information was included in the March 18th posting preceeding this one. Everything you need can be found in this post and by referring to CSAA WEBSITE.

Download CSAA Program

Download PROGRAM SUMMARIES

Download BUS TOUR