 Class reunions serve as an endearing American tradition where old friends and classmates gather to review their shared school experiences and cherished (or forgettable) memories. In time, with age and dwindling attendance, these reunions sometimes disappear. Not so with a group of hardy public schoolers who still keep their school's legacy alive. The Iddles School: 98 Years Holding Reunions Submitted by Clare Adkin Iddles, a one-room country school located in southwest Allegan County Michigan, open in 1859 in a small log structure. In 1867, in a manner reminiscent of a community barn raising, it was replaced with a frame school house. The second school house served until the turn of the century when it was replaced by a modern red brick school house. Iddles ceased as an independent school district in 1962 when it voted to annex with Fennville Public Schools. It was certified as District #3, Casco Township, Allegan County, MI. Iddles operated as an independent K-8 school until 1962 when it annexed to Fennville Public Schools. Fennville utilized the school for three more years for grades 2-3. During the summer of 1928, Mary Litts, the daughter of the school’s builder, Thomas Iddles, organized an all-school reunion. From the start past and present students, their families and teachers were invited. Nearly 100 attended the first reunion potluck and its popularity demanded the planning of a second for the following year. Iddles has held an annual all-school reunion starting in 1928 and is currently planning to celebrate #99 on July 19, 2026. Loyal alumni are determined to celebrate number 100 next year. Iddles alumni believe they are members of the longest running annual one-room school reunion both in Michigan and nationally. So far no one has stepped forward to dispute their claim. And so a tradition began that has never been broken, even during the height of the 2020 Pandemic. The youngest alum is over 65 years old. 32 alumni attended last summer’s 2025 reunion which included Thomas Iddles’ Great-Great-Grandson, Brian Iddles. Jane Ann Nally in 2018 was the last Iddles teacher to attend a reunion. Jane Ann began her teaching career in 1952 at Iddles but could not sign her contract until the start of school, having to wait until she turned 18. Question: Does Iddles have the longest running consecutive year all-school reunion for one-room schools in the United States? Iddles alumni think so!
  Seated L-R Linda Stennett Wauchek, LeRoy Hogle, Kay Kuney Brush, Mary Ann Adkin Schlack, Chuck Stennett, Sharon Jerue Kuiper Middle Row L-R LuAnn Rainey Winfrey, April Adkin Wright, Larry Osman, Joanne Dailey McCauslin, Sally Stevens, Dora Lee Ransom Young, Sue Adkin Asher, Rose Ransom Merriweather, Dawn Osman Bronson, Dawn Clark Roose, Renee Kark Wilkinson, Dian Schlack Liepe, Judy Dailey Chatterson, Nora Dailey Drew Back Row L-R Martin Overhiser, Ted Stevens, Clare Adkin, Holly Adkin Wohlfert, Gary Flora (in hat), Robert Osman, Craig Osman, Tim Stennett, Russ Latchaw, Brian Iddles, Dorothy Stennett, Sharon Cope Parrett. Barb Latchaw Perrin attended but was not in the picture.
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 THE DISTRICT SCHOOL By William Ladd Taylor The Youngest Early Country School Learners A reprint from our former CSAA newsletter... By Michael Day, Barkhamsted, CT Here's a word you don't hear anymore: Abecedarian (/ā″bē-sē-dâr′ē-ən/). A teacher in the 19th century would have been very familiar with this word, for it denoted those young students whose immediate task was to learn the alphabet. The term was also occasionally used to denote the person who taught the simplest aspects of literacy. Outside of school, the word carried the connotation of learning by rote the basic elements of a subject in a pre-determined order. Warren Burton, when writing about attending school in 1800 (The District School As It Was) recalled that he was, "three and a half years old when I first entered the old school-house as an abecedarian." In his second year at school, he "looked down upon two or three fresh, slobbering abecedarians with a pride of superiority, greater perhaps than I ever felt again." The word can be traced back to the early 17th century and clearly is it derived from the first four letters of the alphabet. Some writers emphasized this connection in their spelling of the word. Samuel G. Goodrich (who would later achieve great fame in the world of children's literature as "Peter Parley") in his 1856 autobiography described the seating arrangement of the school he attended as a child: "The larger scholars were ranged on the outer sides at their desks; the smaller fry of a-b-c-darians were seated in the center." The term was in common use as late as 1880 when the New England Journal of Education in an article on schoolhouse scheduling recommended that, "abecedarians be called to recite four times a day". It's not clear just when the term went out of fashion, but it was probably when the district schools were consolidated, and kindergarten became a standard feature of modern education. While the term is no longer in everyday parlance, it may still be found in a certain research areas. Modern youngsters love big words, especially those that seem to just roll off the tongue. Next time a group of young visitors comes to your schoolhouse, introduce them the term that might well have described them a century ago: Abecedarian. Picture: The District School by William Ladd Taylor: Abecedarians slouch on steps and benches awaiting their turn at recitation, while older scholars toe the line. Michael Day of Barkhamsted, CT was a regular contributor to our e-newsletter of old, and we thank him again. He also sold print resources for one-room school museums called Clippership Publications, but we hope to hear from him and that he re-opens his business. Help us find Mike Day! I've reached out to the Barkhamsted Historical Society for information on how to contact Mike.  CLICK ON SANTA TO ACCESS THE MHS NEWSLETTER! Santa at the Schoolhouse December 6th-12:00-3:00
Thanks to member Ralph Buglass for keeping his eye open for our Report Card readers. He received the November digital newsletter from the Medford Historical Society in New Jersey and suggested that it is certainly worth sharing for its great ideas. We concur. CSAA member, Pat Alvino, is not only a Trustee and Director of Cross Keys Schoolhouse programs, but a recent recipient of our CSAA Service Award for her many years of dedicated work on behalf of their schoolhouse museum. She continues her work with other MHS activities and this holiday season at Cross Keys promises to be a good one. Just reading Medford's newsletter is inspiring to see a thriving membership actively engaged in all things historical...and fun! MHS President Bill Pflug's Page highlights the Apple Festival, Country Day, Quilt Show and Flea Market, wine tasting, blacksmithing, new Civil War and WWI exhibits, sprucing up the buildings, planning for our nation's Semiquincentennial, the Charlie Zahm Holiday Concert at the Quaker Meeting House, opening the Haines-Tomlinson House as a shuttle stop for the Dickens Festival...and drumroll....Santa at the Schoolhouse! Check out the flyer: apple cider, 19th century decorations on the tree, and a visit with Old St Nick! Free admission. If you're looking to improve your group's communication and participation you'll certainly find inspiration and some great ideas from the Medford Historical Society!  Corn Husk Dolls, photo by Michele Thomas A Re-cycle Drop Off Became Our Treasure! If you're involved with a preserved country school museum, you know well how we're always on the lookout for artifacts for our schoolhouses, and sometimes they just find us! Ebay, Facebook Market Place, antique shops and fairs...are always fun to browse. This time it was one of our own schoolmarms in New Hampshire, Michele Thomas, who hit pay dirt while just keeping an eye out. Michele lives in the picturesque suburban town of Mont Vernon boasting some 2,500 residents, with the name presumably derived from none other than George Washington's estate minus the "u." We do try hard to call it Mont, like "font." Following the practice of frugality, some friendly villages in New Hampshire like Mont Vernon have set up swap shops at their local dump or landfill where you buy nothing because the things people leave in the swap shop are free. Good stuff is preferable. Michele was doing her civic duty recycling when she spied a box of skillfully crafted corn husk dolls in her swap shop. Each doll was performing a farm chore typical of the 19th century. She knew instinctively that these well-preserved dolls would be useful for any number of activities and stories relative to our schoolhouse program, so she adopted the lot. Michele tried to find out who was so kind or desperate to give up these beautifully hand-made dolls to no avail. Consequently, she donated this treasure trove to our District #1 Schoolhouse in Nashua where she works with her "schoolmaster" husband, Ralph Sommese. Our knowledge of corn husk dolls was limited to our newly acquired treasure, so we took to the web for answers. This post could go on and on about corn husk dolls, but in the interest of brevity, links are provided if you wish to delve into their history and craft. "Google images" offers hundreds of pictures and Wikipedia posts information. We have even included the AI response when asked: "Can you tell me about corn husk dolls from the 19th century." To pique your interest...we can certainly thank our Native American cultures for their earliest contribution. Watch the video provided to see how Cherokee corn husk dolls are made and think of how you could construct them with students or feature the craft during heritage days. You can easily relate them to frontier farm life and schoolhouse history, so you may wish to incorporate the story with your class. Have fun! See links below to learn of: Native American Origins- Use by Pioneers- Their Appearance- Folk Art, etc.  Bill Sherman front and center... Dear CSAA Friends, It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of William "Bill" L. Sherman, a board member and friend of the Country School Association of America, on October 27, 2025. Bill dedicated his life to the service and promotion of country schools and preservation of early American schooling. During this time, Bill led the charge on several notable recognitions and country school conferences for his home state of Iowa and served as a founding charter member of our national organization, CSAA. Some of his work included: promoting the redesign of Iowa’s quarter with a schoolhouse, editing of two reference books on Iowa country schools, years of service to the Iowa Historic Preservation Alliance, Humanities Iowa Speakers Bureau, State Historical Society of Iowa Board of Trustees, and so many other contributions. His legacy will continue to inspire and benefit our CSAA community for years to come. We extend our heartfelt condolences to Bills family, his wife, Faith, and loved ones during this difficult time. Bill will be deeply missed by all who had the privilege of knowing him. A link to his obituary can be found below: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/obituaries/piow1316485 Faith Sherman’s address is 3928 Twana Drive, Des Moines, IA 50310. Donations in Bills memory can be made from the CSAA website using a credit card on the “give to CSAA” page: https://www.countryschoolassociation.org/give-to-csaa.html or by check to Country School Association of America, P O Box 152, Colts Neck, New Jersey 07722. Please indicate in memory of Bill Sherman. We stand together with Bill and all the members of his family at this difficult time. Please keep them in your prayers. "God of love and mercy, embrace all those whose hearts today overflow with grief, unanswered questions and a sense of loss. Grant them space to express their tears. Hold them close through the coming days." Yours, Dr. Veronica Ent CSAA President Note: We will all miss Bill, without whom, CSAA might not exist. He was "Mr. Country School," enthusiastic and dedicated to the end. We owe him much as he and Lucy Townsend spearheaded our organization and encouraged us at every turn to expand and carry on our preservation efforts. He was a character, known all over Iowa for his Preservation Iowa conferences which many of us attended in addition to CSAA. Every conference trip to Iowa was held in a different town and all were well attended and filled with activities. Bill's last conference was in 2023 in Clinton, Iowa. In the May 2025 edition of The Report Card we posted a classic narrated slide show on Noah Webster by Susan Webb, entitled "Webster in Your Classroom." Feel free to check it out again. In this edition, we offer even more information with easy to use PDF's loaded with fun facts for children about his Blue Back Speller and his "Webster's Dictionary" that became a staple in education for centuries. His dictionary grew from 40,600 definitions in 1806 to 70,000 in 1828, with over 225,000 today. Two PDF's in one file are available by clicking on the image below: Noah Webster's Dictionary Happy Birthday, Noah Webster! The activity sheets posted here would probably have Webster in a tizzy as HE was one of the major promoters of copyright laws to protect someone else's work. These were clipped from unknown newspapers, on an unknown date many years ago, but we promise that if there is an objection lodged here we will take down the post. Hopefully readers will value them for pedagogical use and the creators will be lenient on us.
Note: The "Noah Webster's Dictionary" page is from The Mini Page 2008 Universal Press Syndicate, which became Uclick (now defunct). Texas Schoolhouse Serves a Community When you meet members of the CSAA someday, you'll find that we are all involved in some manner with a schoolhouse: enjoying, owning, preserving, curating, researching, repairing, fundraising, programming, teaching in them, or writing about them. We talk about schoolhouses like others talk about their grandchildren or their pets. What we have in common is that we're trying to save these quaint little buildings and their history. One of our previous posts talks about how it takes a village to care for them, and luckily, many of them are part of a historic village. Two of our CSAA board members, Richard and Catharin Lewis (TX) know all too well what it takes to save a schoolhouse, moving it 45 miles to League City, Texas in 1992. The website tells us that, "West Bay Common School Children’s Museum is a League City Historical Society project. This One Room Schoolhouse sits on the site of League City’s original school built in 1894 on land donated by JC League. The school provides a hands-on-history program where over 100,000 school aged children have experienced what a day was like in a one room school in the late 1800’s." When we speak of LCHS's village, the site also includes a fabulous Barn Museum, an Ice House and a Barber Shop, an original Outhouse and a Water Pump. And with all that history to share, it appears members of LCHS never rest. The community events they organize are varied and fascinating often drawing hundreds of people of all ages. Check out their website for ideas for your own society including: White Linen Night, National Night Out at the Museum, Punkin' Parade, Murder and Mayhem in League City, Music in the Historic District, Victorian Christmas Tea....etc. Remember, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. When you meet Catharin and Richard at the annual conference in June 2026...they'll tell you about their decades of involvement with this wonderful village.  Finding the Long Sought For A-5 Speedball Pen Nib
If you've been reluctant to utilize an AI program thinking it might eliminate your NEED TO THINK, I can't predict the future or assuage your concerns. Believe me, I don't wish to dumb MYSELF down by over reliance on ChatGPT, but for sure, asking a question now and then has saved me a lot of time in my research on all things schoolhouse, health, history, etc. I must admit I haven't used any of the more creative applications of AI beyond generating a picture or getting an answer. I also haven't submitted this post to AI to correct grammatical errors or punctuation ...in case you noticed. Most recently I was searching the web high and low for A-5 Speedball Nibs for our writing lessons in our schoolhouse's living history program. They're pretty darn rugged, but our visitors often apply a bit too much enthusiasm in their cursive writing lesson. Hence replacement. My old vendors failed me and stopped selling them. They weren't easy to find until the lightbulb went on and I remembered AI! I asked a simple question: "Where can I purchase Speedball A-5 nibs in bulk, like 30...not in a set?" Wow! My search was over. AI provided me almost instantly with explanations and vendors I never knew existed beyond Amazon and Dick Blick! So, to save you time in your own pen nib search, I'm going to share the VENDORS suggested by my new best friend, ChatGPT. I'm not advertising for them and I'm not an influencer. Just trying to help. BTW, Amazon has very reasonably priced "Nib Pen Holders." Utrecht Art Supplies Paper and Ink Arts Wet Paint Art Blick Art Materials Speedball Art (Beautiful Digital Calligraphy Catalogue, but no online ordering)  One Dozen Good Reasons to Attend a CSAA Conference!
2026 at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Lake Seneca No big explanation here, just a list to jump start your plans to attend the 2026 Annual CSAA Country School Conference in Geneva, New York on beautiful Lake Seneca. Everyone nation-wide is invited. See drop down menus as information unfolds. 1. Meet like-minded people with experience in schoolhouse preservation. 2. Make new friends. 3. Hear about schoolhouse topics, historical and current. 4. Discover programming ideas for schoolhouses. 5. Travel to a different state and college campus each year. 6. Enjoy a tour of area schoolhouses and heritage sites. 7. Share information about a historic your schoolhouse. 8. Engage in the local culture, museums, nature, history, architecture, scenery, and cuisine. 9. Look forward to dining and discussion with schoolhouse enthusiasts. 10. Become a presenter and offer a topic of interest. 11. Support the preservation of a national icon. 12. Revive personal energy in preservation and restoration. Not only is it time to get those grant applications in order, but a nice time to report on our 2025 recipients. The attached PDF details the schoolhouses benefitting from Preservation and Disaster Relief grants. Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Oregon schools are represented. The attached report was submitted by Dale and Joan Prouty.  CLICK ON YELLOW BANNER TO READ ABOUT 2025 GRANTS! One School Rule Bound to be Broken
Charts listing schoolhouse rules are a classic "artifact" in many 0f our living history classrooms, but we know what happens in a room full of rambunctious scholars. Rules like "no whispering" were generally mere suggestions and compliance a teacher's dream. Whispering got the best children in trouble at some time or other. Was any teacher ever successful in eradicating this "pernicious habit?" It's enlightening to find annual town reports from the common school era and read what the school superintendents wrote about classroom management. The subject of whispering came up often in one of my town's reports in the 1850's. As you read below, let's assume the scholars knew the superintending committee was coming for examination day and the schoolmarm read them the riot act. No? Is the success below genuine? Did the teachers file reports candidly? Does it seem like a lot of effort was expended to catalogue the offense of whispering?
Frankly, it all seems like an exercise in futility since times haven't changed all that much.  ...and His Readers (FREE BOOKLET BELOW!) The Report Card has posted about our dear friend Susan Webb, The Traveling Schoolmarm, a number of times in the past, sharing her lessons and her videos. She was one of our most dedicated CSAA board members and a regular conference presenter who passed away in 2023. One of her legacies, among many, was to offer countless free country school lessons to schoolmarms/schoolmasters across the country for use in their living history programs. In our travels we've noticed many schoolhouse programs use William Holmes McGuffey's Eclectic Readers to bring the typical 19th century reading lesson into focus. We're all familiar with McGuffey as a schoolbook writer, but Susan provided us with a handy little manual that highlights McGuffey's approach and his appeal, along with numerous sample lessons. This free resource will give you a clear understanding of the historic shift in teaching 19th century reading by providing stories that appealed to children's actual interests! This was the secret of McGuffey's success. To quote the McGuffey Publishers..."The grand object of the authors has been to afford the pupil the very best facilities for easy attainment of the art of spelling and reading in its highest perfection. It has been considered of scarcely less importance, however, to furnish him with that kind of reading that best adapted to his interest and exercise his opening faculties, and educate the heart as well as the intellect." In short, like Peter Parley, McGuffey understood what would capture his young readers' attention. Please make use of Susan Webb's resources as you may. The PDF is printable. Susan Webb's husband, Bill, one of her biggest supporters, has given his permission to share her work.  CLICK ON THE COVER ART TO ACCESS SUSAN'S BOOKLET Need a Boost for Restoration or Repair? It's that time again... Submitted by Joan and Dale Prouty Funding for schoolhouse repairs and preservation is always a challenge for many of our tiny schoolhouse organizations. CSAA wants to help once again by offering grants to offset those costs and/or serve as seed money towards other grants and funding sources. Under CSAA's SCHOOLHOUSE BUILDING GRANTS PROGRAM: Consider applying for a PRESERVATION GRANT – This can be used in restoring or conserving a one or two-room school building. It is designated for repairing or restoring some part of the building ONLY. The grant is not intended for the purchase of artifacts or grounds work. Another is for DISASTER RELIEF – This is used to cover damage from an unforeseen occurrence such as a storm, accident, or structural failure. These funds are designated to help restore some part of the damaged building. It is not for regular maintenance or building improvement. The complete guidelines and applications for the BUILDING GRANTS can be found on the CSAA website. The application can be completed and submitted electronically and the deadline is January 31st of each calendar year.  Carpenter Ben Taylor worked on the Forest Grove Schoolhouse in Bettendorf, IA for six years! The following article begs the question(s)...Are we serving our modern day students adequately or did we EVER cover the fundamentals in this test? I'll wager we'd have to review some of the words, before we could even tackle the questions!...parse, modes of a verb, decline, indicative, subjunctive, minuend, subtrahend, Avoirdupois, farthings. On the other hand, imagine what our contemporary students know that would baffle the best students of the 1800's!
There is good chance the following tests were designed to check the quality of the one-room school education against urban schools. Getting Into High School In 1860 by Michael Day In the mid-19th century, a high school education was beyond the needs - and the finances - of the average person. Many smaller communities did not even have a high school and those students who wished to attend one often needed to apply for admission to the high school of a nearby community. To be sure that students coming in "from other areas" were sufficiently prepared, many high schools had entrance examinations. Here are the questions from one such test as reported in the 1860 edition of the Annual Town Report of Chicopee, Massachusetts. GEOGRAPHY 1. How much of the earth's surface is land? 2. In what direction from Chicopee to New Orleans? 3. Mention the principal mountains in North America. 4. Where is the Black Sea? Yellow Sea? Baffin’s Bay? 5. Where is the Caribbean Sea? Hudson’s Bay? 6. Mention the political divisions of South America. 7. What is the Capital of Arkansas? Of Ohio? Of Maine? 8. Name the Southern States; the Middle States. 9. What is the capital of Austria? Of Spain? Of Prussia? 10. Where are the Pyrenees Mountains? The Alps? 11. Where is Cape Horn? Cape Sable? Cape Cod? 12. Bound Brazil, France, and the State of New York. 13. How many Zones are there? Name them. 14. How many motions has the earth? 15. What is Latitude? What is Longitude? 16. In what Latitude is Europe? S. America? Australia? 17. Name the oceans. Which is the largest? 18. Name the principal manufacturing towns and cities in New England. 19. What is an Isthmus? What is a Peninsula? 20. Suppose you were to go all the way by water from Chicopee to St. Petersburg: through what waters would you sail GRAMMAR 1. How many parts of speech are there? 2. What is a Conjunction? Pronoun? Interjection? 3. What is an Adjective? Noun? Verb? 4. How many cases have nouns? Name them. 5. What are the different modes of a verb? 6. What is a regular verb? 7. Write the principal parts of the verb to write. 8. How many tenses has the imperative mood? 9. In the sentence, "John is a better boy than Samuel", parse, is, better, boy, and Samuel and give the rules. 10. Decline the pronoun I, also the pronoun, he. 11. In the sentence, "The bird flew swiftly over the house", parse, flew, swiftly, over, and house. Which is the subject and which is the predicate? 12. Correct this: "Mary and me called to see Aunt Nancy but she had went out before we reached her house". 13. In the sentence, "I will tell you what I saw at Paris", parse will, till, you, what and at. 14. Give the indicative mode, perfect tense of the verb to come; also the subjunctive mode, future tense of the same verb. ARITHMETIC 1. Write in words these numbers 87000039, 49701342641714. 2. What is Subtraction? What is the Minuend? The Subtrahend? 3. If a man’s income is 8467 dollars a year, and he spends 269 dollars for clothing, 467 for house rent, 879 for provision, and 146 for traveling: how much will he have left at the end of the year? 4. Multiply 105070 by 8145. Divide 79165238 by 288. 5. Mr. Nelson supplied his farm with 4 yoke of oxen at 98 dollars a yoke; 4 plows at 11 dollars apiece; 8 horses at 97 dollars each, and agrees to pay for them in wheat at 1 dollar and a half per bushel. How many bushels must be given? 6. How many mills in 8 dollars? 7. How many kinds of Reduction are there? 8. Write the table for Avoirdupois Weight. 9. If a vessel sails 5 L., 2 m., 6 fur., 36 rds. in one day, how far will it sail in 8 days? 10. In £15, 19s, 11d, 8 far., how many farthings? 11. Reduce 87 & 11/24 to an improper fraction. 12. Add 9, 2/3, 1/15, 5/6, and 2/9 together. 13. If a house is worth 320 dollars, what is 9/16th of it worth? 14. What will 15 & 2/3 cord of wood cost at 8 & 6/7 dollar a cord? 15. Divide 7 & 11/17 by 3 & 3/5 and reduce the answer to a simple fraction. 16. What is the amount of $125.75 for one year, 9 months and 27 days at 7 per cent? 17. A owes B, 600 dollars; one third is to be paid in 6 months, one fourth in 8 months, and the remainder in 12 months: What is the mean time of payment? 18. How many days have you lived? It would be interesting to see how many of today's high school students - or for that matter, their teacher - can pass this test ! Michael Day has been a regular contributor to our former CSAA Newsletter and was the owner of Clippership Publications providing reprints of country school educational materials from the 19th century. We thank him for his articles of particular interest to schoolhouse enthusiasts, published earlier. Historic Villages Practice Country School Preservation In future posts on The Report Card we'll recap some unique times we've shared in 20 years of CSAA annual conferences. Ask any attendee you know and they'll tell you the annual conference offers a lot more than an exchange of ideas! We traditionally add the best experiences a location can offer. Grand university campuses, local museums, regional music, historic sites, trolley rides, train trips...we've sampled them all at some point in the past 20 years. While our focus on country schools is not "grand" in any sense, the more simple pleasures found in them are most rewarding. Appreciating an antique hanging globe, discovering schoolhouse advertising curtains, photographing manufactured ironside desks, hearing a song from a restored pump organ, envying a perfectly preserved set of Holbrook's apparatus...are all experiences we've been afforded. The pleasure of a visit is multiplied when our schoolhouse tour is part of a historic village. There we get to step into a period home, a country store, a meeting house or chapel, a firehouse, a barn, a barber shop, a dentist office, or possibly a bank, well preserved and outfitted with furniture and proper artifacts. We always make a beeline to the schoolhouse though. New London Historical Society In 2017 the CSAA annual conference was held at Colby-Sawyer College in New London, New Hampshire. After a full day of presentations, we paid a visit to the New London Historical Society a half a mile away. This perfect, small New England town boasts of a historic village of 15 buildings representative of the 1800's in New Hampshire. The 2-MINUTE video below (GET ACQUAINTED WITH THE VILLAGE) gives a brief overview of what we saw there, but the two buildings we want to call attention to are schoolhouses, one of them being REPURPOSED into the Colby, Greenwood & Seaman's Country Store. A slide show follows... Note: Next month we'll visit West Bay Common School Children's Museum in League City, Texas!   Piece by Piece, a Beautiful Renewal Amazing, the valuable information you find when you're not looking. After visiting countless schoolhouses over the years, I find the most eye-catching artifacts in the classroom surely include the pot bellied stove and the well-worn manufactured desks with the cast iron legs. The designs are numerous and beautiful. Original matching desks are a treasure if your museum owns and displays them. Many of us covet them. That's why it's not unusual to find CSAA members bending and twisting to get the perfect photograph of these genuine works of art. If a schoolhouse museum has undertaken a restoration of their desks, they have undoubtably faced a labor of love and a lot of elbow grease. If you are thinking of repairing, restoring, or just freshening up your desks, I stumbled upon a gentleman on YouTube who has provided us with a three-part video series that runs viewers through the process. The initial deconstruction of the desk is an amazing thing to watch and gives us an idea of just how much work is involved in a single set, desk and seat. Country school enthusiasts have always been impressed by the quality and workmanship in this type of desk, but wait until you witness the ingenious method of connecting the wood to the iron and why everything operates so smoothly. Even if you aren't looking for this information, the videos are helpful in learning how to repair and restore 19th century manufactured desks, and a big help to those who are considering it. Thank you to Underwood Industries! Restoring an Antique Desk from the Early 1900's "Underwood Industries" on YouTube  Recently, I was organizing my collection of schoolhouse related "stuff" and came across a large lined writing pad, a "Big Chief Tablet." It came to me as a gift at CSAA's 2014 Annual Country School Conference tucked into our conference swag bags. Now this wonderful conference was held in St. Joseph, Missouri at the Pony Express Museum under the direction of Cindy Daffron and it was unforgettable. As for the tablet and the city's connection?
From Wikipedia: In 1906, William Albrecht established the Western Tablet Company in St. Joseph, Missouri, which later became the world's largest paper tablet producer. In 1947, the company trademarked the Big Chief tablet. The tablets were crafted with newsprint paper and widely spaced lines—perfect for young children learning to write—and featured a bold cover with an American Indian head in full headdress, which inspired the name “Big Chief. Production of there tablets ended in St. Joseph, MO from 2001-2004, but relaunched in 2012 under American Trademark Publishing. I think everyone at the conference but me knew the significance of this bright red tablet with the image of a stately Native American on the cover.They genuinely enjoyed owning one again! It flooded the attendees with memories of their elementary school days and what it meant to most schoolchildren of the 50's and 60's (my vintage), but I have no recollection of ever owning one. Possibly it was more of a midwest staple as I attended school in a large city in Massachusetts. Help me out on this one. I use ChatGPT sparingly, but I made a simple request for information on the Big Chief Tablet like this... "Please find information on Big Chief school writing pads. History?" AI graciously filled in the blanks as to the history and evolution of the Western Tablet Company, but more interesting was a blog they cited written by one Kristy Darnell Battani in 2021, entitled, No Big Wahoo. I will gladly share her link because she tells the wonderful history of the Native American image on the cover of the tablets. Battani skirts the issue of cultural sensitivity with references to Ralphie's use of his Big Chief Tablet in the movie, A Christmas Story, etc. But the public comments at the end of her article assure the reader that childhood memories of the tablet were dear and her historical information about the image is well done. Take what you like and leave the rest.  Little Welsh Schoolhouse on the Prairie - 1906 In 2018 The CSAA Annual Country School Conference was held in Beatrice, Nebraska and hosted in part by the National Park Service at Homestead National Monument. On our Wednesday coach tour of area country schools we had the pleasure of visiting the "Little Welch Schoolhouse." With our thanks, CSAA is proud to re-introduce the Pleasant View Schoolhouse to our members and readers, one of our listees on the CSAA National Schoolhouse Registry! The videos below were submitted as programs in our 2021 VIRTUAL CONFERENCE held during the year of COVID closures. Pleasant View, also known as the "Little Welch Schoolhouse-District #81" displays a fabulous restored advertising curtain, while our hosts take you on an informative tour of the other artifacts in their schoolhouse. BTW...Note the CSAA Registry plaque on the schoolhouse! From the curators in 2021: "We're excited to share the first of our virtual tours of the Great Plains Welsh Heritage Project, featuring the historic District #81 Schoolhouse built in 1906. Board vice president Janey Rudder tells the history of the schoolhouse attended by the children of Welsh and German immigrants. Board president Gwen Colgrove and volunteer Dean Cole, who were among the last students to attend the school before its closure in 1960, recall their memories of growing up in the “Little Welsh Schoolhouse on The Prairie.” From their website: The Historic District 81 Schoolhouse is a fully furnished 1900-era one-room schoolhouse museum. The interior of the schoolhouse has been restored to its original appearance. Thomas J. and Elizabeth (Rowlands) Humphreys held the first local school in their home until George U. Jones donated the land in 1878 and School District 81 was established, three years before the town of Wymore was established. The present schoolhouse was built in 1906 and was originally located about two miles south of Wymore at the north end of the Welsh settlement centered on the Bethel Welsh church. This was the first school to be built by the Welsh community for the education of their children. At first, many children only spoke Welsh. Therefore, it was important that teachers come from the Welsh community, and many teachers were recent graduates of Wymore High School. The school was closed in the fall of 1960 and relocated to McCandless Park in 1967. Twice a year volunteers from the Great Plains Welsh Heritage project offer “A Day at Country School” event at the schoolhouse for local 4th graders. Students experience a day of authentic 1929 lessons and learn a little Welsh. They also learn about the history of country schools and the significance of this particular school in the Welsh settlement. The Pleasant View Schoolhouse is open to visitors Memorial Day weekend, Sam Wymore Days in June and on request.  Can Our Schoolhouse Participate?
Of course! It is all about community engagement and getting the word out about having fun. Schoolhouses are fun, aren't they? This year National Night Out will be held nationally on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, (and in Texas, the first Tuesday of October.) From the NNO website... "National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live. National Night Out enhances the relationship between neighbors and law enforcement while bringing back a true sense of community. Furthermore, it provides a great opportunity to bring police and neighbors together under positive circumstances. Millions of neighbors take part in National Night Out across thousands of communities from all fifty states, U.S. territories and military bases worldwide on the first Tuesday in August (Texas and select areas celebrate on the first Tuesday in October). Neighborhoods host block parties, festivals, parades, cookouts and various other community events with safety demonstrations, seminars, youth events, visits from emergency personnel, exhibits and much, much more." In addition to meeting the police departments, many civic groups will have tables and displays set up to introduce families to the various opportunities available in their area. The Merrimack Historical Society in New Hampshire, for example, will greet families and get the word out about the schoolhouse being restored with a planned opening this fall. They will give each family a 1800's reproduction reader, a flyer, alphabet cookies, and have a fun photo op sitting at a schoolhouse desk or dunce stool. You can think of oodles of ways to "bring your schoolhouse" to this fun event! For more information for this year or next... website below: |
