Oral history plays a vital role in accurate preservation of the rural school experience and the actual restoration of some of the country's 212,000 one-room school buildings. Oral histories provide valuable, first-hand information on who taught in and who attended one-room schools, what the curriculum included, what the building looked like, and the vital role the structure played in cementing bonds of community throughout rural America. Because thousands of people still live who taught in or attended these schools, opportunities for combining accurate, scholarly oral history with accepted preservation and restoration practices remain a special opportunity in rural preservation. Movement is afoot (throughout the United States and Canada) to save and revitalize rural schools. Local historical societies, state park commissions, the National Park Service, clubs, organizations, and private individuals are sponsoring preservation projects. Hundreds of schools have been adapted for use as houses and second homes or have become community centers, day care centers, restaurants, offices, models, art galleries, and museums. Research into a building's past adds much to the understanding and enjoyment of those rehabilitating schoolhouses for personal or adaptive use and becomes mandatory as a guide to the restoration and interpretation of a building's history when restored for museum purposes. (NEC)