Discipline in Early One-Room Schools: From Cruel to Creative
When working with “scholars” in a living history program, oftentimes some of the most animated and specific questions from the students center around one topic—discipline. Students are intrigued by the relics of corporal punishment and they zero right in on the "hickory stick" and the paddles of various sizes we may display as artifacts. They are shocked at the public embarrassments they learn were inflicted on scholars in the early district schools of America, yet find some others laughable. The ability to maintain discipline was always viewed as the key to successful teaching and teachers were regularly evaluated by their ability to maintain control and administer corporal punishment as necessary. Early district school teachers were often feared or revered depending on their reputations as brutal or benevolent disciplinarians. Over time, reformers promoted a kinder and gentler approach to modifying classroom behavior, but some practices lingered into the 20th century. Here we offer an article by our CSAA friend Mike Day that is reprinted here from our former CSAA newsletter. The article is telling and still very useful as we research the practices of how old time country schools maintained order. Thanks again to Mike Day!
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Proud of Our Privies: Need Some Reading Material?
It is interesting to note how proud country school preservationists are when they say their schoolhouse still has the "original privies." Sometime back, a visitor to our website asked if we had any information on how to build a "two-holer." Our members came up with some very interesting answers proving they have some particular knowledge of these rustic "throne rooms." Richard Lewis of West Bay Common School Museum wrote: “If you want better quality and better choices of plans, you may want a book entitled - The Vanishing American Outhouse: Privy Plans, Photographs, Poems, and Folklore, by Ronald Barlow. Mike Day wrote, "There is a delightful little book that I would recommend to anyone thinking about privies; it's called "The Specialist," by Charles (Chic) Sale, copyright 1929, renewed 1956. It appears to be a speech by a man who is quite proud of the special skills he has developed in his particular line of work, the design and construction of outhouses. I'm not sure just how seriously to take it, but it does cover many of the fine points that us modern types would not know to consider when building an outhouse. It's a cute little book - 27 pages - and a number of copies are available from Amazon. Not really a schoolhouse book, but fun anyway. Fay Stone of the Pioneer Sholes Schoolhouse wrote: "Privies were usually a simple tall box with no windows but a design (often a new moon) cut high in the door for light. The roof was slanted to allow snow and rain to run off. The important thing was the two holes. A considerate builder would make one side lower than the other, for smaller people, and the hole smaller for obvious reasons. Sometimes they had a lid, but rarely. I doubt there was ever a written plan. If I were making one for use today, I'd include a simple hinged lid, as it cuts down on odor. We dug in a large metal barrel split into half under the holes, and they were pumped out often by the caretaker or garbage crew. We built a fence between boys and girls and planted a vine along it." Recollections about school privies abound, but a recent post in the Washington County, WI Outsider (March 25, 2024) by Dave Bohn of West Bend, Wisconsin was also instructive. "There was an outhouse behind the school near the woodshed. We would have to bundle up in the winter to go out and use it. In cold weather, not too much time was spent in the outhouse. The toilet was a two-holer without any partition in between. It was just a plank seat and the area between the two holes was maybe a foot. I don’t ever remember using the outhouse with another kid in there, but maybe the second hole was a slightly smaller size for the little kids. I don’t really remember though. The toilet paper was yesterday’s newspaper. Lime was used to keep the smell under control. The lime was poured down the hole every few days. This helped absorb the odor and helped compost the contents of the outhouse. Using lime was common for all outhouses at the time. Lime is a stone crushed really fine and the stone was very easy to come by, as there was a lot of limestone in the area." Research has been done by others already, so enjoy your journey through the story of buildings that have always been "necessary." Here are some suggestions found on Amazon, Abe Books or Alibris: Passing of the Outhouse, by Tom G. Murray The All-American Outhouse: Stories, Design & Construction, by Bob Cary Nature Calls: The History, Lore and Charm of Outhouses, by Dottie Booth (Very Funny!) Outhouses by Any Other Name, by Tom Harding Ode to the Outhouse: A Tribute to a Vanishing American Icon by Roger Welsch Outhouses, by Roger Welsch Flushed with Pride, The Story of Thomas Crapper by Wallace Reyburn Outhouse Humor, by Billy Edd Wheeler In researching the books, we found that outhouses have many other supporters out there, as evidenced by a calendar, a shower curtain, a rustic sign with outhouse rules, and hand towels with an outhouse motif. Good luck in your research! ![]() Betsy Ross for Your Opening Exercises Our living history museums are places where we can still offer a lesson in patriotism cloaked in the rich tradition of all of our country schools of the past. The Pledge of Allegiance was a staple among our country schools and continues today as the go to statement of love of country. If your schoolhouse pre-dates the Pledge of Allegiance, opening exercises would have been different than those post-1892. Why? The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States was first published in the juvenile periodical The Youth’s Companion on September 8, 1892, in the following form: “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands; one nation indivisible, with liberty and Justice for all.” Presenters at CSAA conferences have schooled us in the history of the pledge noting controversies over authorship and the various changes made over the years. These CSAA presenters, including Maureen O'Connor Leach and Susan Webb offered us the background for how we might use the proper rendition of the pledge for our re-enactments. Their programs were longer and more fascinating than space allows on this post but we could convince Maureen to share her research here one day on The Report Card. (Note: Attend a CSAA conference and find many intriguing presentations each year!) Earlier schoolhouses may or may not have had a flag displayed since the big push for visibility in schools came after the 1892 pledge was introduced. For opening exercises, schoolmarms and schoolmasters often relied on short history vignettes of bravery, loyalty, or patriotic duty designed to raise the consciousness and virtues of our future voting citizens. For example, often invoked were Washington crossing the Delaware, Lexington and Concord, Patrick Henry's, "Give me Liberty or give me death!" Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, or "Remember the Alamo!" Another more common theme related the traditional story of our first American flag, the so-called Betsy Ross flag....and its notable creator, Betsy Ross. Our First Flag: The Story of Betsy Ross If this sounds like something you might like to include in your living history program, here you'll find a synopsis of the accepted story of how Betsy was chosen by George Washington himself for the job of creating our first American flag. Fact or fiction has been debated, but it's mostly accepted that Betsy Griscum Ross Ashburn Claypoole played a significant role in the design of our first American flag prior to its evolution from stars in the round to rows of five-pointed stars on a canton of blue. (The background story of her marriages is also interesting!) 1. Our First Flag- The Story of Betsy Ross - CLICK ON THE BETSY ROSS FLAG. 2. Cut a 5-Pointed Star-CLICK ON THE TAN PICTURE. 3. YouTube Video -CUT AN ORIGAMI STAR...easier. CLICK ON THE BLACK BUTTON. Also included is a recommendation for a definitive history book of the event in question that offers a volume of evidence (CLICK ON THE BOOK PICTURE). It is a fascinating look at Betsy and other notables who directed the design that would serve as a symbol of an emerging United States.
Does Your Schoolhouse Have a Virtual Visit Video? In 2021, when our CSAA members were homebound and fighting off COVID 19, we opted to hold an on-line conference in lieu of our annual in-person event. The 22 presentations proved to be a huge success, and in place of the annual "COACH TOUR OF AREA SCHOOLS" we were treated to an "EASY CHAIR TOUR" of some our participants' schoolhouses. By way of these virtual video tours, we were able to hear the stories of their history, preservation, restoration and programming. It was a way of stepping inside the very schools we might never get to experience. Our videos might be homespun or created professionally, but all are informative and entertaining. As different as they are, they will spark ideas about how to make your own one-room school virtual visit, promotional video, or slide show. Taylor #4, Marshalltown, Iowa This month we will highlight Taylor #4 in Marshalltown, Iowa produced and narrated by CSAA member Julie Lontz Lang. Julie was an early savior of the schoolhouse and has successfully re-created the year 1913 in this wonderful museum school. Turn your clocks back to 1913 and spend a day with your schoolmarm at Taylor #4. The school is furnished with fixtures and equipment from Marshall County schools and depicts a typical Iowa educational experience of the era. Beautifully restored and maintained, this is an authentic school day where students experience all subjects taught straight from the 1913 Taylor register. To their great delight every child in Marshall County, Iowa has experienced this free program for the past 17 years. You will no doubt use many of these ideas for your own living history program. Enjoy your tour! Video production by Julie Jontz Lang and Rita Smith. Taylor #4, 60 N. Second Ave., Marshalltown, IA Our Email: [email protected] Our Website:www.marshallhistory.org Julie Lang loved teaching fourth grade, in Marshalltown, IA, for 34 years (BA and MA in Education). For 28 years, she's been a volunteer housewife at the 1900 farm at Living History Farms in Des Moines and has been active in her local historical society for many years. In 2005-2006, Julie became the volunteer director of Taylor #4, a 1913 one-room school, and restored it back to its original appearance. After much research, Julie wrote the reenactment curriculum and started the free, full-day, authentic 1913 living history program. Rita Smith, who also leads re-enactments, and Julie Lang are proud to have had every fourth grader in their county (plus home-schoolers) participate at the schoolhouse for the last fourteen years. Unfortunately, year fifteen was pre-empted by tornado damage repairs and COVID 19. Rita Smith, after 18 years of teaching second and fifth grade and many years of subbing, was happy to teach the Taylor #4 re-enactments (BA and MA in Education). Loving history and teaching children makes this a perfect fit for Julie and Rita who truly make schoolhouse history come alive. Their program proves it! |
The story of what went on inside that eminently successful country school is an important part of Americana. It should be preserved along with a few remaining buildings wherein the great cultural pageant took place." ARCHIVES
January 2025
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