CSAA Home Page

BLACKWELL HISTORY OF EDUCATION MUSEUM

Learning Center,
Gabel Hall
Northern Illinois University
DeKalb, IL 60115

The CSAA brings a diverse group of individuals together including Museum volunteers, teachers, staff, faculty and students, preservationists, historians, re-enactors and interested citizens, to exchange ideas and resources. The CSAA holds an annual conference, provides a grant program, awards publication and video prizes, conducts surveys and publishes an electronic newsletter, all in support of the country schooling experience.

The CSAA is for people who wish to preserve schools, create or maintain museums, promote living history programs, and allow children of all ages to experience schooling as it was many years ago. It allows seniors a chance to relive their fondest schoolhouse memories, while offering educators and writers a forum to share research. Additionally, this organization encourages research on country schooling and provides a forum for those who wish to publish their articles. The annual CSAA conference grows larger as a forum for exchanging ideas among academics, preservationists, re-enactors, and just plain history buffs.

One Room Schoolhouse Jewelry and Decor Items Check out our newest web pages under OTHER on the menu to your left, for miscellaneous items such as One Room Schoolhouse jewelry or high quality bowls and trays. Also a drawing for making your own schoolhouse window shades, just like before. Much more to come as we gather more and more resources for you to use. Over the next few months, this is the area where you will find gift shop items and where to get them, "how to" guidelines for making and doing things, as well as patterns, directions and ideas. Much more as we expand and grow this fascinating source of information for you. Keep an eye on it... and us.........

School Houses - by James Johonnot (1871) (Google Digital Images) Here is a digital copy of this valuable book that was stored for generations on library shelves before it was painstakingly scanned by Google in a project to make the world’s books available online. It has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain. A public domain book is one that was never subject to copyright or whose copyright term has expired. Public domain books are our gateways to the past, representing a wealth of history, culture and knowledge that is often difficult to discover. Marks, notations and other marginalia present in the original volume will appear in this file - a reminder of this book’s long journey from the publisher to a library and finally to you... Find this 397 page book HERE (Caution very large file)

Spencerian Penmanship - Named after Platt Rogers Spencer (1800-1864), Spencerian Script, a uniquely American form of ornamental penmanship, became an important part of business and personal life in the United States. Spencer was a dynamic individual whose vision and boundless energy were responsible for ushering in a major period of economic and artistic endeavor in America . The Golden Age of Ornamental Penmanship lasted from approximately 1850 to 1925, and resulted in perhaps the most elaborate penmanship every written by the human hand. Click HERE for this little writeup and four other Spencerian items including a rare Spencerian Workbook called Practical Penmanship.

A One Room Schoolhouse for the 21st Century - This back-to-basics educational venue, made famous during the 1800s, is surprisingly feasible today — even in the center of Manhattan, NY. Could it get students learning again? Click HERE and look under Experiments.