Tales from Kentucky One-Room School Teachers

By: William Lynwood Montell

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Synopsis: This colorful collection of stories celebrates a fascinating aspect of Kentucky&’s cultural heritage in &“a fascinating look back at a bygone era&” (Kentucky Monthly). In an educational era defined by large school campuses and overcrowded classrooms, it is easy to overlook the era of one-room schools, when teachers filled every role, including janitor, and provided a family-like atmosphere in which children also learned from one another. In Tales from Kentucky One-Room School Teachers, oral historian William Lynwood Montell reclaims an important part of Kentucky's social, cultural, and educational heritage, assembling a fascinating collection of schoolroom stories. The firsthand narratives and anecdotes in this collection cover topics such as teacher-student relationships, day-to-day activities, lunchtime foods, students' personal relationships, and, of course, the challenges of teaching in a one-room school. Montell includes tales about fund-raising pie suppers, pranks, outrageous student behavior—such as the quiet little boy whose first &“sharing&” involved profanity—and many other topics. Montell even includes some of his own memories from his days as a pupil in a one-room school.