The Unexpected...

Saying Good-Bye to a Friend
It with a very heavy heart that I write to let you know our own Susan Webb, of Birmingham, Alabama and a member of the CSAA Board of Directors since 2006, passed away this week after a short illness. She was a founding member of the CSAA and promoted our organization wherever she traveled. This is a sad loss for all of us in the schoolhouse world, as few people were more committed, excited, or creative about sharing this history as Susan.
 
We talked a great deal about the opportunities we’ve had through CSAA conferences that allowed us to share our passion, meet new people, enjoy old friends, and experience so many interesting places in the interest of country schools. She was already preparing for the Toledo Conference in June of 2024, but fate intervened.
 
We will remember Susan for baking alphabet cookies and hauling them from Alabama to Nebraska, creating her Annual Conference Copy Book, role playing a prairie teacher, presenting the story of Noah Webster (her favorite), Julius Rosenwald Schools, Booker T. Washington & Tuskegee Institute, Reward of Merit Cards, Learning the Latta Way, Rediscovering McGuffy, and One-Room School Activities. Her conference presentations and community programs engaged her audiences with numerous hand-on lessons.
 
Susan Webb was also known as “America’s Traveling Schoolmarm,” where she offered living history programs in country schools that were preserved as museums, but did not hold traditional classes for area children. She gave countless talks across the country to colleges, historical societies, alumni groups, and the Alabama Humanities Alliance on one-room schools.
 
Susan leaves her husband and our friend Bill, who supported her unconditionally in her nationwide travels to share the history of one-room schoolhouses, leaders in education, and early public education. Bill has also been a great friend of CSAA and our members. We will miss their presence...
With great sadness,
Susan Fineman

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