One-Room Schools

Bill from Elizabeth Hitchcock for Teaching School in the Southwest District of Bethany, Summers of 1799 and 1800

Agreement

In the early United States, schools were organized if the local community desired them, and generally parents had to pay for their children to attend. This is a hand-written bill from a teacher in Bethany, Connecticut. Parents were billed for their children's education as well as the teacher's board (food and shelter).

Group of School Children and Teachers, Hillsdale, Michigan, circa 1890

Cabinet photograph

This cabinet card shows three teachers and 44 students posing outdoors, perhaps outside the school. This was not a one-room school; the students are approximately the same age. Hillsdale, Michigan, a busy railroad town, had a graded school system. The boys wear shirts, suspenders, and jackets; girls wear pinafores or aprons over their dresses. The teachers wear high-necked, long-sleeve dresses with aprons.

Children Playing Baseball in Dodge School Yard, Harrison, Michigan, circa 1888

Photographic print

This photograph documents a northern Michigan school as well the local economy. Children of various ages are in the schoolyard. There is no playground but the children make their own fun with a game of baseball. The few scrubby trees and distant forest illustrate Harrison's founding as a lumber town.

Book, "McGuffey's Eclectic Primer," Revised Edition 1881, Published 1909

Textbook

The McGuffey Readers textbook series was used in American schools during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Readers emphasized the fundamental skills of reading and writing but included stories on a wide range of subjects from many sources (hence, "eclectic"). The books were also intended to develop proper character in children, and had a religious overtone.

Trade Card for C. M. Henderson & Company Boots and Shoes, circa 1900

Trade card

Trade cards were advertisements found in product packages or distributed by local merchants. This trade card offers a glimpse of a rural schoolyard and the students' recess activities. Girls talk, while one holds a hoop toy. Boys play leapfrog and perhaps jacks on the grass. Note that the children are not closely supervised.

Students and Teacher in a One-Room School near Richmond Hill, Georgia, circa 1940

Photographic print

Henry Ford purchased vast amounts of land around present-day Richmond Hill, Georgia, beginning in the 1920s. After acquiring the property, Ford became interested in the economic and civic improvement of the area. This photo shows the poor learning conditions faced by many students in the area. In 1940, Ford opened the new George Washington Carver School for the African-American community.

Copy of Oil Portrait of Noah Webster, after 1823

Painting (Visual work)

Noah Webster was an influential American educator and patriot. He is most famous for his American Dictionary of the English Language. But shortly after the American Revolution, and before the dictionary, Webster created an American spelling textbook to replace British and European books. Known as the "Blue-Backed Speller," the book was popular in American schools for more than a century.

Noah Webster Home

House

Noah Webster and his wife Rebecca had this comfortable New Haven, Connecticut, home built in their later years to be near family and friends, as well as the library at nearby Yale College. While living in this house, Webster published his famous American Dictionary of the English Language in 1828. His dictionary aimed to capture distinctively American words and spellings for the first time.

School Desks, circa 1900

School desk

The importance that nineteenth-century Americans put on the technology of education is indicated by the hundreds of patents on school furniture between 1860 and 1900. Desks designed to be in rows facing the teacher reveal the teacher-centered classrooms of the era. These cast iron and wood school desks and benches were manufactured in Buffalo, New York, in about 1900.

School Bell, circa 1900

Handbell

A teacher in a one-room school in the nineteenth and early twentieth century would have stood at the door and rung this bell to call students in. Bells were one of many suggestions given by educator reformer Horace Mann during the 1830s and 40s which we still use in schools today.

Portrait of Educator William Holmes McGuffey Reading a Book, circa 1860

Photographic print

Growing up in the Ohio wilderness, William Holmes McGuffey walked many miles to be tutored. McGuffey taught school to fund his college education, and later became a college professor and president. A well-respected educator, McGuffey was asked to publish a series of graded textbooks. McGuffey's Eclectic Readers were used in schools nationwide during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Textbook, "New McGuffey Second Reader," Revised Edition, Published 1901

Book

The McGuffey Readers were a textbook series used in schools throughout the United States during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Readers emphasized the fundamental skills of reading and writing but included stories on a wide range of subject matter. The books were also intended to develop proper character in children, and had an overtone of religion.

William Holmes McGuffey School

Schoolhouse

The McGuffey School was built in Greenfield Village in 1934, created out of barn logs from the 1790s southwestern Pennsylvania farmstead where textbook author William Holmes McGuffey was born. Children living in frontier communities learned to read in rustic schoolhouses like this one. McGuffey's Eclectic Readers gave them an easy, standardized way to do it.

William Holmes McGuffey Birthplace

Cabin (House)

This log home is typical of Scots-Irish log structures built in the densely forested area of southwestern Pennsylvania during the late 1700s. Anna and Alexander McGuffey lived here for five years and had three children before moving west to Ohio. Their second child, William Holmes (1800-1873), went on to create the popular Eclectic Readers for frontier schoolchildren.

Miller School

Schoolhouse

Henry Ford attended Miller School at age nine. He followed a favorite teacher, John Chapman, there from the Scotch Settlement School. The small, one-room building was typical of rural schools throughout the United States in the 1800s. Ford had this replica built in Greenfield Village in the early 1940s.

Young Henry Ford, circa 1876, with Waterwheel, by Irving R. Bacon, 1935

Oil painting (Visual work)

Henry Ford had his favorite artist Irving Bacon paint several scenes Henry remembered from his childhood. This painting depicts a dam and a waterwheel Henry and a group of friends installed in a small stream. Behind them is the Miller School building, which a grown up Henry had replicated at Greenfield Village.

Scotch Settlement School

School (Building)

Henry Ford attended this one-room schoolhouse from age seven to ten. Because of Ford's fondness for his teacher John Chapman, he not only followed Chapman to Miller School but also brought Chapman's house to Greenfield Village. This school, originally built in 1861 in Dearborn Township, was the first classroom of the Greenfield Village school system Henry Ford started in 1929.

"A Day in Mary Carrow's School," 1848

Book

Boy's Suit, 1820-1830

Suit (Main garment)

Eton-style suits -- the short jacket and long, straight trousers shown in this example -- were common for young boys in the early 19th Century. This more expensive silk version was owned by a member of a rural New York State family. Boys wore Eton suits for school or special occasions. Boys from poorer families likely wore just shirts and trousers.

Girl's Dress with Pantaloons, circa 1850

Dress (Garment)

The short hem of this dress and the pantalettes beneath allowed the young girl who wore them freedom of movement. This dress and pantalettes are homemade, pieced from scraps of cotton fabric. Cotton prints like these were often used for everyday garments -- they were inexpensive and the patterned fabrics helped hide dirt between washings.

Trade Card for "School Shoes," C. M. Henderson & Company, circa 1885

Trade card

In the last third of the nineteenth century, an unprecedented variety of consumer goods and services flooded the American market. Advertisers, armed with new methods of color printing, bombarded potential customers with trade cards. Americans enjoyed and often saved the vibrant little advertisements found in product packages or distributed by local merchants. Many survive as historical records of commercialism in the United States.

Boy's Shirt and Breeches, circa 1880

Suit (Main garment)

This young boy's blouse waist and breeches are comfortable and casual -- allowing the boy to move freely. The blouse, or shirt, buttoned to the breeches along the waistline to help keep it tucked in. The flannel blouse and sturdy denim breeches are hand sewn and were probably made at home. Older boys wore long trousers instead of breeches.

Girl's Dress, 1870-1880

Dress (Garment)

Mothers were responsible for dressing their children, often making many of their clothes themselves. This wool dress is homemade, with most of the stitching done on a sewing machine rather than by hand. The woman who made it attempted to provide her daughter with a stylish dress. Young girls' dresses reflected the latest fashions, but had shorter skirt lengths and different trims.

Copybook of Mary S. Lewis, "Her Book," 1800

Copybook (Instructional materials)

This copybook reveals arithmetic rules and examples and a student practicing numeration (place value), addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and conversions. The real-life problems reveal how Americans used math in their daily lives in 1800: measuring, buying and selling, making things, farming, eating and drinking, and more.

Writing Slate, 1880-1910

Blackboard slate

In the nineteenth century, schoolchildren's access to paper was limited. Slates were used to practice handwriting and arithmetic without wasting precious paper. After a teacher's approval, the students were allowed to copy their best slate work into a paper copybook, as a record of accomplishment. Students also memorized concepts, rules and even long literary passages, thus conserving paper.

Slate Pencils, circa 1875

Pencil (Drawing and writing equipment)

In the nineteenth century, schoolchildren used slates to practice handwriting and arithmetic without wasting precious paper. Slate pencils were made of soapstone or softer pieces of slate rock, sometimes wrapped in paper like this one. Many students remember the sound of the slate pencil -- like nails on a chalkboard. In the late nineteenth/early twentieth century, chalk was used instead.

Textbook, "McGuffey's First Eclectic Reader," Revised Edition 1879, Published 1920

Book

The McGuffey Readers textbook series was used in American schools during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Readers emphasized the fundamental skills of reading and writing but included stories on a wide range of subjects from many sources (hence, "eclectic"). The books were also intended to develop proper character in children, and had a religious overtone.

Textbook, "McGuffey's Third Eclectic Reader," Revised Edition 1879, Published 1920

Book

The McGuffey Readers textbook series was used in American schools during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Readers emphasized the fundamental skills of reading and writing but included stories on a wide range of subjects from many sources (hence, "eclectic"). The books were also intended to develop proper character in children, and had a religious overtone.

Textbook, "McGuffey's Fourth Eclectic Reader," Revised Edition 1879, Published 1920

Book

The McGuffey Readers textbook series was used in American schools during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Readers emphasized the fundamental skills of reading and writing but included stories on a wide range of subjects from many sources (hence, "eclectic"). The books were also intended to develop proper character in children, and had a religious overtone.

Textbook, "McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader," Revised Edition 1879, Published 1907

Book

The McGuffey Readers textbook series was used in American schools during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Readers emphasized the fundamental skills of reading and writing but included stories on a wide range of subjects from many sources (hence, "eclectic"). The books were also intended to develop proper character in children, and had a religious overtone.

Textbook, "McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader," Revised Edition 1879, Published 1921

Book

The McGuffey Readers textbook series was used in American schools during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Readers emphasized the fundamental skills of reading and writing but included stories on a wide range of subjects from many sources (hence, "eclectic"). The books were also intended to develop proper character in children, and had a religious overtone.

Book, "Smiley's Atlas for The Use of Schools and Families," 1839

Atlas

This world atlas with lovely color maps would have been found in fortunate American homes and schools. The atlas reflects modern knowledge of natural geography in most ways, but not all (the shape of Michigan, for instance). The names, borders and even existence of countries have changed since 1839. Most maps include illustrations the mapmaker likely saw as symbolizing that land.

Agreement to Hire Elizabeth Hitchcock to Teach School, May 2, 1800

Agreement

In the early United States, there was no taxpayer-funded public school system; children learned skills and even reading from their parents, neighbors, and clergy. Some local communities organized schools, and parents generally had to pay for their children to attend. This is a contract for a teacher in Bethany, Connecticut; the signatures likely belong to her students' parents.

School Reward of Merit Given to James Grattan by His Teacher, Miss Carman, 1850-1859

Reward of merit

During the nineteenth century, teachers recognized students with "rewards of merit." These were generally printed and colorfully decorated papers with space available for names of the student and teacher. While the accomplishment of James Gratten is unknown, the image on the reward shows a bat and ball game in 1850s America. But is it baseball, rounders, townball, or just spontaneous schoolyard fun?

Reward of Merit Given to Sarah White by Her Teacher, Alexander McGuffey, Washington County, Pennsylvania, 1833

Reward of merit

This is a handmade reward of merit given by a notable teacher. Alexander McGuffey was the younger brother of William Holmes McGuffey, originator of the McGuffey Readers textbook series and he himself the writer of the Fifth and Sixth Readers. In 1833, Alexander was the 17-year-old teacher of ten-year-old Sarah White at Harmony School in Washington County, Pennsylvania.

Trade Card for Lee's Drug Store, Detroit, Michigan, circa 1885

Trade card

Trade cards were advertisements found in product packages or distributed by local merchants. This card advertises textbooks and other school supplies at Lee's Drug Store. Textbooks were not provided by schools, even in large cities like Detroit. Books were passed down as students advanced and students often shared books. Note that these prices are in cents, not dollars.

Reward of Merit Card, circa 1885

Reward of merit

During the nineteenth-century, teachers recognized students with paper "rewards of merit." These small tokens commended a student's excellent work, perfect attendance, good behavior or other noteworthy accomplishment. Some contained simple handwritten sentiments from the teacher to the pupil. Many were printed and colorful, with space available to write in the student's name as well as their own.

Ink Bottle, circa 1870

Ink bottle

In the nineteenth century, schoolchildren recorded only their best work on paper. To write, they had to dip their pen in a bottle of ink. At this time, inventors were still trying to solve the problem of pens with ink inside. The Moores' company manufactured its "Excelsior School Writing Ink" from 1858 through the first decades of the twentieth century.

Quill Pen, 1850-1950

Quill pen

In the nineteenth century, schoolchildren's access to pens and paper was limited, especially on the frontier. Quill pens such as this one could be made with only a knife and a feather (generally from a goose). To write, the pointed tip of the quill was dipped into ink. Quill pens had to be sharpened regularly.

Dip Pen, circa 1890

Dip pen

Pens with metal tips called nibs became widely used in the mid-1800s thanks to mass production. To write, the tip of the pen was dipped into ink. The metal tip was replaced when it became dull. Pens with metal nibs required dipping into ink less often than quill pens (made of a feather), which had been used for thousands of years.

Hill's Spelling Blocks, 1867-1880

Educational toy

There have always been toys intended to have an "instructive" purpose. Educational toys for young children taught concepts like learning letters and numbers as well as telling time. S.L. Hill was the first manufacturer in the United States to produce blocks in great quantity. The blocks in this set contain numbers, letters, and pictures.

Marbles, 1800-1900

Marble (Game object)

Marbles have been a popular toy for thousands of years. They have been used to play hundreds of different games. Marbles also have been made from various materials - glass, stone, ceramic, metal and plastic. These marbles date from the 1800s and are made of clay.