The book takes a nostalgic look at one-room schools in the United States Midwest, especially in Illinois, and traces their history from about 1825 to the present. Three chapters present the development of the one-room school from 1825 to the Civil War, from after the Civil War to around 1920, and from 1920 through the Depression and the Second…

Recalls highlights on student days in a one-room country school. Describes school maintenance routines, individualized instruction, school programs, and holiday celebrations. Concludes that alumni of one-room schools are proud of their heritage and feel that the education they received reflects the nation's finest values. (JHZ)

Details the history of Big Laurel, West Virginia from 1918-1941, 1941-1965, and 1965-1983, noting the effects on education of events in all three periods. Describes the opening, closing, consolidation, and reopening of community schools, and the construction, development, philosophy, and curriculum of the new Big Laurel School. (SB)

This 1987-88 study was conducted to identify, describe, and analyze the significant issues facing one of Vermont's five remaining schoolmarms. The primary subject of the study is a first-year one-room schoolteacher in a rural Vermont town. Chapter 1 offers a brief history of Vermont's one-room schools, a description of the town, the school, and…

With the goal of improving citizenship and character education in the elementary school child through learning by doing in the form of a school-based club, the Young Citizens League (YCL) appeared in rural South Dakota early in the twentieth century, introduced by Michael M. Guhin and developed by E.C. Giffen. By 1930, at its peak, it had an…

Students explore concepts of Progressive Era education and learn how the philanthropic efforts of Pierre Samuel du Pont helped transform Delaware's education system for African American school children. It is based on the National Register of Historic Places registration file "Iron Hill School Number 112C," interviews with former pupils,…

Written in 1953, this book presents the reminiscences of a renowned scientist about his early education in a one-room school at Prairie View, Kansas, during the 1870s and 1880s. The first chapter records early memories of the road to school, and describes the community of Anglo and German farmers served by Prairie View. Other chapters describe…

This book presents letters, a personal narrative, and a diary relating the experiences of nine women teachers who traveled from the East to teach on western frontiers before the Civil War. During 1846-56, the National Popular Education Board recruited 600 experienced teachers from New England and New York State; trained them in Hartford,…

This book explores the country schoolhouses of Texas' rural past. Sources include interviews with dozens of former country schoolteachers and students and first-person narratives collected from written works. Chapters cover the following topics: (1) history of public education and country schools in Texas; (2) distance travelled by teachers and…

Materials from the I.D. Weeks Library of the University of South Dakota, relating to country schools and the history of rural education in South Dakota and written between 1874 and 1976, are listed in this annotated bibliography. Publications of the South Dakota Department of Public Instruction include: school laws, some dating back to 1877;…

In this video, former students and teachers recall their experiences in rural one-room schools in various regions. Just getting to school involved some hardship; anecdotes include experiences of walking, riding horses, driving snowmobiles or all-terrain vehicles, and canoeing to school. Students, teachers, and community members developed a…

This book describes the experience of a young and inexperienced teacher during 1926 in rural Marengo County, Alabama. Susie Powers Tompkins accepted her first teaching assignment to earn money to continue college after her freshman year at Alabama College. However, for Tompkins the rewards of teaching went far beyond just earning money. She found…

The characteristics of one-room rural schools in Barbour County, West Virginia, are representative of one-room rural school characteristics in general. These include building design and problems; teacher' lives and duties, certification, salaries, and training; scheduling and curriculum; games; punishments; and hot lunch programs. Since one-room…

In this interview (funded via a Title III Elementary Secondary Education Act grant) the roots of progressive education are revealed as Marian Brooks recounts the beginnings of her teaching career in 1924 at the age of 15 in a one room rural New Hampshire school. The interviewer's questions encompass the: (1) nature of the early teacher preparatory…

The document presents organizational details of the 18-month Country School Legacy Project (June 1980-December 1981) to begin an on-going inquiry into the history of rural education and current public policies which affect country schools and which will result in greater public use of library facilities and historical collections in public,…