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Under One Roof |
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The Strawberry Schoolhouse, Arizona's oldest standing schoolhouse, is owned by the Arizona Historical Society and operated by the Pine-Strawberry Archeological & Historical Society, Inc., Pine, Arizona. Now a museum, it attracts more than 7,000 visitors each year. Intrigued by the significance of the one-room schoolhouse in American history, many of those visitors have asked if one comprehensive directory of America's earliest schoolhouses was available. Under One Roof is such a compilation. The concept for the book began three years ago, when historical society members determined a need to produce it. Several sources were used to identify schoolhouses and contact their managing agencies to determine interest in participating in the project. A number of positive responses were received, and a search for funding assistance and a managing editor was begun. In late 1999, Grace S. Schoerner, former columnist for the Plainfield Sun, Copley Chicago Newspapers, Plainfield, Illinois, now living in northern Arizona, agreed to coordinate the project, compile the information, and publish a book on behalf of the society. Potential participants were contacted in April 2000, and the result is Under One Roof, a 224-page book which documents 300 historical schools, and contains one- to two-page histories of more than 80 of them. These pages also contain 66 photographs of both exteriors and interiors of the schools. |
Under One Roof is divided into four geographic sections, northeast, south, midwest and west. At the beginning of each section a map identifies the location of the documented schools within the region. The maps are particularly noteworthy for showing density of the school locations: northeast showing the greatest concentrations in Connecticut; south showing noteworthy density in Maryland; midwest showing the heaviest concentrations in Iowa; and the west showing the most restored schools in Colorado. The book documents at least one restored schoolhouse from each of our 50 states. The 80 "featured" listings are all museums, open to the public as noted by the manging agency. The remaining documented schools are all public buildings, but may or may not be schoolhouse museums furnished inside with desks, blackboards, McGuffey Readers, and other artifacts of the past. In some cases, these schools have been restored and are being used as chamber of commerce offices or local history museums, and, in at least one case, as a bed & breakfast. |
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