When One Room is no Longer Enough
The first public school in America is considered to be the Boston Latin School in 1635. Boston was well established and urban, so resources were available to provide a high-quality education. This was far less common in the rural farm lands of most of the country. The one room country school house of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s was usually the only choice.
Early country schools were crude utilitarian structures offering no water or electricity. Seating was on long wooden benches. Blackboards were the major tool in learning. They were just simple boards painted black, and limestone was used to write on them. Pens, pencils, and paper were rare and expensive as were books, so they were rarely found in early classrooms. It required dedication and discipline on the part of parents, teachers, and students to work through these limitations and persevere.
When the men went off to war, teaching became the job of the women.
Many in the farming community could not read or write. But they almost all wanted a better life for their children. By the late 1800’s better facilities were being built. Water, heat and better learning materials began to be seen in many schools. Most schools still used outhouses. Water was brought in from a pump outside. Also, someone with dedication, usually a teacher, had to come in early and start the coal or wood burning stove. And the lucky kids had a spot by the stove. 
The farther away from the stove the colder it would be! Rural schools were located as near to the farming community as possible. Most students walked or rode horses or a buggy to school. Men were the initial teachers until the civil war. It was common that discipline came before dedication at that time! When the men went off to war, teaching became the job of the women. Children of all ages and backgrounds would be in one classroom. The farmers’ children would be sitting next to the local merchants’ children.
Clothing was usually homemade and was handed down to the younger children. Apparently, though, there was no dress code requiring children to wear shoes.
By 1900, over half the states had compulsory attendance laws. By 1910, over 70 percent of American children attended schools. And while conditions had improved tremendously with modern learning materials, better-built schools, more modern utilities, conditions were still harsh.
Being rural farm communities, the children had many chores to attend to before school. Just getting to school could be an arduous task. Cold weather, rain, snow, and distance were overcome by the dedication and discipline of parents, teachers, and students. Teachers were often taken in by local farm families so they would be near to the schools. Older boys tended to spend less time in school as they were needed on the farms mainly in the spring and fall.
Commonly, one classroom would have several different age groups learning the same lessons. Classes covered reading, penmanship (writing), spelling, geography, and arithmetic. Education was limited to the basics that enabled the young minds to go out into the world whether the goal was moving on to a higher degree of learning, into business, or to find success at farming.
A one room classroom 1906. None seemed happy to be there, although one appears to be a true patriot! Life was hard. However, the rewards were great for those with the dedication and discipline to learn and adapt to the hard conditions. Education today may not look the same as it did in the 19th century, but the goals and ambitions of the educators and students have played a central role in the system’s evolution.
