School Days
Schools
 One-room
district schools (often called "little red schoolhouses" even
though the buildings were not red) were the centers of late 19th century
education in rural Michigan and smaller communities. By the 1880s most
of these had been replaced by newer frame, stone, or brick buildings
heated by wood stoves. Larger cities were constructing large multi-floor
school buildings with central heating
In 1880 school
buildings in Michigan varied widely in quality, size, and type of
material. That year there were 6,400 schoolhouses in Michigan. Their
material of construction was recorded as follows: stone: 75; brick: 816;
frame: 4,949; log: 560. The buildings could house 446,029 students and
had an estimated property value of $8,977,844.00.
Who Went to
School?
Not all Michigan
children had the opportunity to go to school. More than 25% of
Michigan children did not attend school on a regular basis in the late
19th century. Many worked in mines, mills or factories or on
farms to support themselves or help their families. Some had to overcome
obstacles.
Being
the only coloured boy in the village, I had to thrash nearly every
white boy in town before I was allowed to go to school in peace.
Often, during my first months in school, I was soundly flogged by the
teachers and deprived of my recesses, sometimes, I felt, quite
unjustly. But this did not affect my determination to go to school.
James
Corrothers
Irregular
attendance made it difficult, it not impossible, to follow a rigid plan
of studies. Despite a state law passed in 1871 mandating compulsory
attendance, enforcement was minimal at best. The average length of
the school year was 7.6 months, but this figure varied widely,
especially in rural districts. Country schools often had two terms
during the year. Winter term had to be at least three months for the
school district to receive a share in the distribution of interest from
the primary school fund. In 1883 the Michigan legislature firmly decreed
that all children between eight and fourteen must attend school at least
four months a year.
Well,
this morning I got up about half past seven, helped get breakfast. Was
late to school. I shall get up earlier after this.
Adeline Eliza
Graham
December 6, 1880
Students found
the opportunity to pull the occasional prank on classmates.
We
have some new scholars, including Ella Graham & Charlie Smith. Ell
sits right in front of me and wears all the jewelry she can put
together, I guess. She is terribly silly and affected. I despise such
girls. I couldn't help sticking my toe up through the seat yesterday
and seeing her jump. She did it quite naturally, and I flatter myself
that, that action was not affected, at least.
Adeline Eliza
Graham
January 11, 1881
Punishment for
such actions was often swift and sure.
[T]he only punishment was by a wooden ruler applied to the
palm of a hand, and to be obliged to stay after school, which was as
much a punishment to the teacher. There were strict rules of behavior
and punishment for infringement thereof.
Alice Laura
Stevenson
There were no
cafeterias in late 19th century one-room schools. Everyone, including
the teacher, brought his or her lunch.
The standard dinner pail of my early school days contained
two or three slices of bread of more than generous thickness, maybe a
hunk of some kind of cold meat, a hardboiled egg, a piece of pie, a
doughnut . . . and inevitable pickle. If there was room for an apple
it went in, otherwise it went into a coat pocket.
Della
Thompson
 What Did
Students Study?
Students
entering the seventh grade in a rural school in 1890 did not necessarily
study the same subjects or use the same supplies as today's students.
Courses in 1890 included reading, physiology and hygiene, spelling,
arithmetic (mostly business math), penmanship, grammar, and geography.
Students used textbooks, often sharing their books.
Today I took up two new studies. Philosophy & Physical
Geography. I also study Arithmetic, Geometry and reading. Friday I was
examined in Civil Govern. I just passed and that was all, for I stood
75.
Adeline Eliza
Graham
December 6, 1880
Younger students
did their lessons with a slate and slate pencil. Older
students—especially in the rural schools—might use the slate for
practice work, but also used steel nibbed pens, an ink sponge, and
practice paper.
We did have a man for a special writing teacher, Prof.
Carrier, who fitted little leather harnesses on each right hand and
instructed us in arm movement, to write a beautiful, flowing
Spencerian hand, but when he left the room, those unruly hands resume
their original scribbling habit.
Alice Laura
Stevenson
Free textbooks
statewide were approved by law in 1889, and 520 school districts
implemented it in the first year.
Who can forget the delicious smell of those new books and the
beauty of their pristine-fresh covers and pages. Of course, the mamas
covered them with dark cotton covers neatly fitted as a protection. We
felt sorry for the children who had to buy shabby books at second
hand—they missed the joy of the new smell and the fresh looks.
Alice Laura
Stevenson
Between 1880 and
1895 Michigan education was largely in a state of transition. Schools
were changing from ungraded courses of instruction oriented toward basic
knowledge to more specialized courses in a graded system, where
information was presented according to skill and age levels.
The first step, of course, was to learn the alphabet.
Spelling was a corollary and then came reading: "I see a cat. No,
it is a rat. I see a dog." etc. We first learned to print, as
writing was a later accomplishment. . . . Number work came soon and
what a terrifying experience it was, to stand up at the blackboard to
do a sum before all those watching eyes.
Alice Laura
Stevenson
In the late
1870s, the State Teachers Association and State Superintendents for
Public Instruction began to make recommendations outlining a uniform
course of study specifying the subjects to be taught each year. The
first version of this outline was presented in 1881 and defined a daily
program for the schools, listed textbooks required and accessories needed by
the student, teacher, and schools. The outline was modified in 1883 and
a new course of study was adopted in 1890. About the only major change to the course of study for
rural students between 1881 and 1890 were the additions of hygiene and
physiology as mandated by law. The late 1880s also saw more civil
government emphasis as part of the U. S. History courses. With the
exceptions of hygiene and physiology, the rest of the course of study
included the following for up to the 8th grade only:
reading
writing
arithmetic |
spelling
geography
U. S. history |
language
grammar |
City schools had
all of the above, but also tended to include music and drawing.
I went to school to day as usual and "flunked" in
my Geography. (That's a new word I learned to night—it means missed.)
Adeline Eliza
Graham
December 19, 1880
I played the organ some for the rest to dance by at school,
at recess.
Delevan
Brotherton
January 12, 1883
A typical high
school curriculum included the following subjects:
algebra
arithmetic
botany
bookkeeping
composition
English
literature
general history
French
geometry |
grammar
German
mechanical drawing
natural philosophy
physical geography
physiology
rhetoric
science of government
zoology |
Stormy.
Went to school. We had recitations, essays, etc. after recess this
afternoon. I had a selection entitled "Cato on Immortality".
Delevan
Brotherton
January 19, 1883
Classical languages (Greek, Latin),
music and chemistry were not included.
High schools had no vocational tracks to prepare mechanically-minded students. Most
districts assumed that students would end their education with high
school and did not offer a
college preparatory program.
Most high schools had a large number
of extracurricular activities such as publications, lyceums and sports.
Sports were often intramural affairs with teachers, principals and
students all participating.
Who
Taught School?
 In 1880,
Michigan schools employed 13,949 teachers. Of these, 9,877 were women;
4,072 were men. Pay for men averaged $37.28 per month, whereas women
teachers averaged $25.73. Teachers often boarded in homes of residents
near the schools. Schools with graded systems paid the teachers
considerably more than ungraded (one-room) schools.
Teachers
were certified by either a county official's exam, State Board of
Education exam or by city systems to teach in their schools for a
limited duration. In the 1890s, numerous efforts were made to raise
qualification standards by creating tougher tests. The State Board of
Education raised exam standards under Superintendent Henry Pattengill's
administration.
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