• Home
  • News
    • Politics & Government
    • Business & Economy
    • Crime / Courts
    • Health / Medicine
  • Sports
    • High School Sports
    • Radio Iowa Poll
  • Affiliates
    • Affiliate Support Page
  • Contact Us
    • Reporters

Radio Iowa

Iowa's Radio News Network

You are here: Home / Education / Group continues effort to save one-room schoolhouses

Group continues effort to save one-room schoolhouses

October 3, 2007 By admin

Some people only know about one-room schoolhouses from TV shows like "Little House on the Prairie," but an Iowa group that helps to preserve the by-gone educational icons meets this week in Coralville. Bill Sherman is on the executive board of the Iowa Historic Preservation Alliance which is gathering dozens of people from across the state who are devoted to saving the aging structures.

Sherman says many of the "country schools" have already been preserved and the folks have made school-museums of them and need suggestions for making improvements and make more comprehensive programs. He says virtually every one of Iowa’s 99 counties has at least one schoolhouse preserved, and some counties have two or three. In all, he says about 200 one-room schoolhouses have been saved in Iowa, most of which are now museums.

He says: "The one room country school was the backbone for education in Iowa from 1830 until 1945, so it was really the main delivery system of education and they had a tremendous impact on our history and culture. In many places, the country school was the only public building in the township."

Sherman says it’s paramount this bit of Iowa history is preserved — in real life, not just on the back of the state’s commemorative quarter. "I think it’s important that we save these buildings so that children today can learn what it was like to go to school 100 years ago and maybe compare and contrast their current school experience with what children were experiencing years ago," according to Sherman.

Senior citizens, too, can benefit from the old schoolhouses, as Sherman says they may’ve attended school in such a building and would enjoy reliving those old memories. The conference, The Future of Country School Preservation and Programming, is scheduled for Friday and Saturday at the Johnson County Historical Society Museum. For more information, call Sherman at 800 434-2039.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: Education, Human Interest

Featured Stories

Reynolds signs her ‘school choice’ bill into law

Governor Reynolds touts 2024 Iowa Caucuses in Inaugural Address

University of Iowa grad presiding over U.S. House Speaker vote

Iowan who was oldest person in the U.S. dies

Iowa Lottery to start making some payments via debit cards

TwitterFacebook
Tweets by RadioIowa

Iowa State names new receivers coach

No. 2 Iowa visits No. 1 Penn State in wrestling dual Friday night

Iowa’s Clark brings increased exposure to women’s basketball

No. 18 Iowa State women visit TCU

Northern Iowa men host Valparaiso

More Sports

Archives

Copyright © 2023 ยท Learfield News & Ag, LLC