Big Arm Awarded 2009 CSAA Grant

$500 For Schoolhouse Preservation

April 1, 2009--The Country School Association of America (CSAA), headquartered at the Blackwell History of Education Museum of Northern Illinois University, has awarded a $500 preservation grant to the Big Arm Association to restore a historic one-room country school located near Big Arm, Montana. Country

The Big Arm School began operating in 1910. It was one of the first to teach Native American and homesteader's children together in the same classroom. The building was used as a school until 1952 when reorganization with the Polson school district took place. For the next 43 years the school served as a community building. Then it was boarded up and abandoned. 

In 2008 a community group called the Big Arm Association signed a five-year renewable lease with Polson School District #23 to restore and preserve the school. The group was successful in getting the building listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The BAA has raised more than $2500 locally for the restoration effort. It has also gained support from the Montana Preservation Alliance , the National Trust for Historic Preservation (Denver office), the Lake County Commissioners and the Lake County school superintendent. 

The CSAA funds will be used to upgrade the school's electrical system, enabling volunteers to help with the interior renovations of the building. When restoration is completed, the school will be used as a living history museum and a senior citizen center. Efforts are also underway to reestablish the school as a polling place. 

The CSAA was formed in 2006 at Northern Illinois University in response to a growing interest in one-room country schools. The purpose of the group is to promote the preservation of the programs, buildings and histories of country schools. Currently, CSAA members represent 24 states, Canada and Norway. It began awarding annual preservation grants in 2008 and hopes to continue the practice for many years to come.

“A grant from a national organization like the CSAA provides tangible evidence that a country school restoration project is worth supporting,” said Lucy Townsend, executive director of the CSAA and curator of NIU’s Blackwell History of Education Museum. “The CSAA hopes its preservation grants will to be used to spur other people and organizations to give larger gifts to the project.” 

Each June the CSAA holds a national conference focusing on country school preservation and history. The 2009 conference will be held June 15-17 at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. To learn more, visit: Country School Association

Contact: Alison Meslin email: [email protected]

Phone 406-849-6628

Photo: Staff from the National Trust Mountains/Plains Office and Montana Preservation Alliance with Big Arm Association members at the Big Arm School in Montana (Photo: Chere Jiusto)