MUSEUM GOES BACK IN TIME TO ONE-ROOM SCHOOLS

June 29 program offers historical context, a look at local impact, and an  exploration of Diamond Valley School

Through exhaustive research and a thorough presentation, visitors to the historic Bethel Church on the campus of Heritage Hall Museum & Archives last weekend were treated to a trip back in time to a world few think about anymore, and others know nothing about: The one-room country schoolhouse.

That was the topic of the program presented by the local community museum Sunday afternoon, June 29, and its one with which HHM&A shares a strong connection. That’s because its campus collection of outbuildings includes the Diamond Valley School, one of the earliest educational institutions to operate in Hutchinson County. Located in Valley Township a mile-and-a-half south of Freeman on the west side of Highway 81, the Diamond Valley school building that served District 56 was built in 1884 and operated until 1969, when district reorganization and consolidation marked the beginning of the end of the one-room country schoolhouse. It was moved to Freeman in 1970 and was in place at its current home at Heritage Hall Museum & Archives in time for the centennial celebration of 1989.

Guests attending Sunday afternoon’s program learned about that and much more through detailed and engaging presentations offered by Ryan Mews, a museum board member and former summer intern; current intern Becky Hupp, a Nebraska native and graduate history student at the University of South Dakota; and Tim L. Waltner, former Courier publisher, historian, and communication and education director at the museum.

Sunday’s program was organized in three parts:

• A broad historical context offered by Mews;
• The beginning of the end of country schools and that relationship with Freeman Junior College and Academy presented by Waltner;
• And what life was like at the Diamond Valley School shared by Hupp.

Historical context

In his portion of the presentation, Mews shared with the guests how one-room schoolhouses began springing up across the country in the late 19th century — a connection to a broader American educational system dating back as far as the colonial period, a time that “reflected a concern for childhood education and a Puritan belief that learning was an essential part of preparing for salvation.”

The earliest colonial schools served white, middle- and upper-class children, often excluding those that came from farming and other labor families, because the children were needed for work. Study began with rudimentary Latin and biblical teachings, Mews said, before moving into the three Rs — reading, writing and arithmetic. Extended education was also offered in those earliest days for those pursuing legal, clerical or ministerial careers.

Things began shifting following the Land Ordinance Act of 1785, which served as a template for westward expansion and a township structure, where land was reserved for education. This evolution also included a move from subscription schools to public schools, with Bon Homme being the first in Dakota Territory.

Mews noted that early one-room schools were typically two miles apart and first built out of logs, sod and/or adobe, before shifting to box construction in the 1920s and 1930s. They also varied in sizes.

“(That) may have reflected how much money was used for the construction, the amount of school children nearby, and the general size of land available,” Mews said. “A 36 foot by 30 foot construction could comfortably fit 20 students with the teacher. You could also cram up to about 30 in there.”

Mews’ presentation included a host of other details like architectural design, climate control, seating systems, teacher roles and responsibilities, discipline, academic standards, and how these all changed over time. He concluded by noting a push toward consolidation — an effort that came to Turner and Hutchinson counties in the 1940s, and the decline and closure post-World War II. By 1970, he said, half of the one-room schools across the country had closed.

Read through Mews’ entire presentation in an outline posted here.

FJC impact

In the second part of the museum’s June 29 program, Waltner charted the course of one-room country school decline and consolidation — how from 1955 to 1964, the number of South Dakota districts dropped from 3,295 to 2,873; how, by the 1970-71 term, only 283 remained; and how, for the rest, it was only a matter of time.

“The rural schools that had dotted the rural landscape had closed,” he said, “and had been absorbed by city school districts.”

The Freeman community’s history shows a unique connection to rural schools, Waltner said, because South Dakota Mennonite College — later known as Freeman College and then Freeman Junior College — was established in 1900 in large part to train young adults to be teachers in these rural classroom settings.

Waltner cited the 1951 book, “For Half a Century: A History of Freeman Junior College and Academy,” written by Marie J. Waldner. In it, the author noted, “from the days of the first graduating classes, the school has supplied elementary school teachers of the community to the community. Today, most of the rural teachers in the surrounding communities are graduates of its teacher training department.”

But, as noted by Mews, by the 1960s these one-room country school houses were well into their decline, and two decades later — in 1986 — Freeman Junior College would close.

“History shows us that the growth of one-room rural schools in the late 1800s helped spark the establishment of Freeman Junior College,” Waltner said. “And the demise of one-room rural schools seven decades later led to the closing of the college program and a focus on the lower grades.”

For more on Waltner’s presentation, see the outline posted with this story at freemansd.com.

Diamond Valley

Finally, Hupp dove into the Diamond Valley School District 56, which was in operation by 1883, when districts were organized through South Dakota legislation.

District 56 was organized in March 10, 1882 and first operated out of homes before a permeant school building — the one on the museum’s campus — opened in time for the 1884-85 term. It was originally located in central Valley Township for convenient accessibility before moving to the Meridian Highway — today Highway 81 — in 1889.

Hupp shared a myriad of details about the school; about renovations over the years and decades, the additions of amenities like a flagpole in the 1930s, electricity in 1947 and the installation of a telephone and cistern in 1958. She talked about student recreation, the daily schedule, teaching methods, curriculum, how the school was used for other community events, and preservation efforts in later years.

And she quoted Martha Tschetter, a teacher at the school starting in the 1940s, from a Diamond Valley history book published following its closure in 1969.

“There’s nothing so powerful as the teaching, learning and sharing process that took place in the one-room rural school,” Tschetter said. “The natural, quiet, conservative surroundings for those children, grades one through eight, in spite of the lack of conveniences and living as one large family were very productive for anyone.”

Like the presentations offered by Mews and Waltner, more on Hupp’s portion of the program can be studied in the outline posted with this story at freemansd.com.