VAGABOND TRAVELER

FOLLOWING THE TRAIL OF ONE-ROOM SCHOOL MEMORIES

By Mary Emma Allen

A one room school at Callaway Plantation in Georgia Credit Kathleen Walls

As I listened to a radio program about a one-room school and the possibilities of it closing, I recalled my early years in a similar educational environment. The one-room school experience also forms part of my family heritage since my mother and grandmother taught in these small buildings.

The school I attended in New York State had six grades with 30-40 students total. One teacher prepared lessons, taught and disciplined these students without aides, parent volunteers, or principal. The district superintendent visited occasionally.

Now that I have taught and done substitute teaching, I marvel at these teachers who worked with so many students of different ages and learning levels.

Seeking One-Room Schools in Travels

I also find it fascinating to search for one-room schools in my travels, as my mother did. She made a hobby of looking for them and taking photos of these structures, generally no longer in use. She jotted down descriptions in her travel notebook and often took photos. They brought back memories of her teaching days and those of her mother and cousins.

I have pictures, for our family collection of my mother's schools, also two of my grandmother and students standing in front of her school in the late 1800s. Mother enjoyed taking photos with her Brownie camera, so snapped shots of the children working and playing at her schools.

Some of her students still visited her when she was in her 80s. It seemed that those who gave the 19-year old teacher the most problems in her first year of teaching thought the most of her and visited her in her home frequently. They laughed over some of the escapades these boys tried to get away with.

Finding Schools in My Travels

I was fascinated by a school on a Wyoming Ranch that Jim and I visited. We also met the teacher who lived in a mobile home provided on the ranch and taught her 5 -7 students in the small school building.

I've seen a one-room school at Living History Farms, near Des Moines, Iowa. This wasn't in current operation, but let today's youngsters know how their ancestors learned. It also brought back memories of my days attending a one-room school in the 1940s in New York State. (That school later was converted to a house.)

One school in New Hampshire was renovated and converted into a nursery school and kindergarten. The teacher and her assistant researched the history of this school and made it available to me when I did a news story about them.

The building were my mom attended school for grades 1-8 also has become a dwelling, as have many others. At least they're still standing.

Researching One-Room Schools

Researching the one-room schools that once existed in a town, as you travel near your home or further away, can be fascinating, too.

Collecting old school books in your travels is enjoyable as well. My daughter and I have quite a few of these...some from both our school days, others from much earlier years.

I also have some books Mother used for her teaching. If one-room schools aren't of interest to you, find another type of building that fascinates you as you travel. What about country general stores, old post offices, courthouses, churches, specific types of museums, and others?

• Keep a journal of your travels.
• Take photos and start a scrapbook.
• Research the history in general and specifically.
• Sketch or paint these buildings.
• Find postcards depicting them.

There is so much enjoyment when you find something of particular interest to search for in your travels.

(c)2011 Mary Emma Allen (Mary Emma Allen writes from her home in New Hampshire and during her travels. She also conducts classes on writing one's memories and family history. For further information, e -mail: me.allen@juno.com )