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One-Room Schools of the Middle West: An Illustrated History
OneRoom Schools of the Middle West An Illustrated History Author:Wayne E. Fuller This profusely illustrated history chronicles the heyday of the one-room school and its vital influence on American education from the pioneer era through consolidation after World War II. The Midwest's one-room schools were, Wayne Fuller observes, the most democratic in the nation. Located in small, independent school districts, they were sust... more »ained with the barest of resources by civic-minded farmers who voted taxes, set budgets, constructed schools, elected school boards, hired teachers, and approved curricula. Their efforts virtually wiped out illiteracy, strengthened their children's devotion to democracy, and opened up new vistas beyond the borders of their lives. Filled with evocative images of school houses, students, and teachers, this volume rescues from obscurity the life and material culture of rural education: McGuffey Readers, wooden desks, slate blackboards, potbellied stoves, kerosene lamps, and screened privies. Fuller describes how rural children walked, rode horses, or drove buggies to school along dirt roads; the way they dressed; the games they played; and the lessons they learned. He also recounts the life of the typical teacher--usually female, young, unmarried, and educated in one-room schools and county teacher institutes. Entire communities, Fuller shows, revolved around these schools. At various times they were used as churches, polling places, sites of political caucuses, and meeting halls for local organizations. But as America urbanized and the movement to consolidate took hold in rural counties, these little centers of learning were left at the margins of the educational system. Some were torn down, some left to weather away, some sold at auction, and still others transformed into museums. Despite its demise, Fuller argues, here was a school system that worked. His book offers a timely reminder of what schools can accomplish when communities work closely together to educate their children. This 8-1/2" x 11" book contains 329 black-and-white photographs.« less