Spring Slate 2008
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2008 Annual Conference
Saturday, May 17, in Livonia
Greenmead Historical Park in Livonia is the
site of the 2008 MORSA annual conference.
Saturday, May 17, is the date.
Once again participants will eat, talk, listen,
reminisce, laugh and learn.
Livonia’s Greenmead Historical Park is a
collection of thirteen buildings recreating the
four-corners called Newburg in western Wayne
County. Our conference will be held in the large
Greek Revival (1843) Alexander Blue House and
we’ll visit the nearby Newburg School (1861) as
well as other restored historic buildings.
We’ll open the conference with “Finding History in the Outhouse,” the unlikely title of
Dave Bridgens’ talk. Bridgens is from the
Michigan Historical Museum and will show us
what outhouse excavation can teach about people
and life in bygone times.
Jack Peirce, an expert on oral history, will do
a session on “Oral History Basics” and will lead
a demonstration of how to conduct an oral history
of a one-room school.
Greenmead’s Sue Daniel has nearly completed
her historical survey of all the one-room
schools that have ever existed in virtually every
county in Michigan. She will show her survey
results and we are invited to find our own school
in the survey.
After lunch participants will share favorite
memories of one-room school days and describe
experiences with restoring or using one-room
schools. Visits to other Greenmead buildings
will be held at that time.
Registration materials and directions to
Greenmead are contained in this issue of The
Slate. |

Newburg School
Greenmead, Livonia, MI

Newburg School -
Circa Early 1900's
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| Young Teacher
By William Winglar
Teachers in rural one room schools often
assumed roles beyond just teaching. They
often served as nurses, cooks, treating students
for head lice and so on. One dedicated
young teacher, Miss Martha Klawwiter, had
a very unusual way of going to the school
where she taught. She lived in Grand Rapids
(Michigan) when she accepted a teaching
assignment in a rural one room schoolhouse,
Riverbend School, (pictured at right) in a
neighboring county. The problem was the
matter of getting to the school. The schoolhouse
was about six miles from the city but
there was no public transportation available
nor did she own an automobile. There was
an inter-urban line going west from Grand
Rapids that had a stop in Jenison that was
about two miles from the school. But this
posed another problem; there was the
treacherous Grand River separating Jenison
from the school.
Undaunted she resolved this problem by
walking to the river and then using the boat
of a local farmer to row across the river. After
hiding the oars, she walked nearly a mile
over hilly terrain to reach the school. There
she spent the day teaching 45-50 students in
the eight grades. One of the school board
members was very concerned about her
safety because at times the Grand River
could be very turbulent. So she and her
brother bought her a Model T automobile to
alleviate their concerns about her safety.
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The new car created a bit of excitement one day when the new driver, according to her own report, "almost knocked down the
building located across from the school." In backing up the reverse stuck and only a mud hole saved the side of a church from destruction. Area residents used boards in the
long struggle to free the car from the hole. Miss Klawwiter later married a Mr. Hoag and spent most of the remaining years
teaching school until she retired.

Riverbend School, Ottawa Co., Mich.
Circa 1920
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Kitchen School
By William Winglar
Kitchen School, located in Davison Township, Genesee County, Michigan, was built in 1870 and replaced a log schoolhouse that had been built in 1846. After closing in 1957, it was used for various purposes for several years
until finally abandoned in 2005. The township decided that since it was the last intact remaining old schoolhouse in the township, it should be saved.
Available funds did not support restoring it to the original 1870 era schoolroom design, so the period of 1940 was chosen instead The pictures below show the school before and after restoration.
~Information and pictures contributed by Samuel
Painter of the Davison Area Historical Society, Davison,
Michigan. |
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White Lake One-Room School Lives
Again or How to Rescue a Blackboard!
by Marge Sawruk, Schoolhouse Chairperson.
Written February 13, 2004
Thanks to many volunteers, the township officials,
the support of local businesses and trades people donating
much time and talent, the Thompson One-Room
School will once again be home to students. Only this
time, instead of students living in 1876, it will host students
from the 2151 century. The school was originally
built on the Thompson Farm on Bogie Lake Rd, near
Cedar Island Rd. It was used from 1876 until 1943 at
that location. When the last teacher joined the Waves
during World War II and school consolidation took
place, it was moved to Milford on the grounds of then
Milford High School on Hickory St. It lived on and was
used as a band room until 1960. After this it was
boarded up and used as storage for the school district.
In 1989 the White Lake Historical Society, which
had just formed two years prior, learned that the school
was available for the asking. It was investigated and
determined that it was cost prohibitive to move it for the
fledgling organization.
On October 25th, 1995 Marge Sawruk read in the
Spinal Column newspaper that the Huron Valley Cultural
Council, which was hoping to reuse the school,
could not find the funds to move the school either.
Therefore the school board announced that the Adamo
Demolition Company would be arriving on October 30th
to take down both schools.
On Thursday October 26th Marge called Randy
Westerman of the Huron Valley Schools, to see if they
could rescue the original slate blackboards before demolition
to use in a possible future replica. He agreed to
meet her Friday October 27th and she asked fellow
members Jim Thompson and Bill Garvey to join her.
The last time any historical society members were
in the school it was empty, but when they arrived it was
full of beautiful wood that had been stripped from the
high school. They asked what would happen to it and the
answer was, "It goes with the wrecking ball on Monday".
It broke their hearts to see such beautiful oak go to
waste so they asked Mr. Westerman if he could get permission
to move it in addition to the slate blackboards.
The answer was yes, so on Saturday morning October
28th at 9:00 Jim Thompson, Charlie Spoor, Phil
Wooledge and Jeff Sawruk met and worked on loading
Jim Thompson's trailer truck.
Every once in awhile on Friday and Saturday Jim muttered; "You know we could just take the whole school. All we have to do is cut off the roof and fold the walls down." Marge kept saying, "Jim, as much as I would love to do that we just don't have the time or manpower, remember you are supposed to leave for vacation on Monday."
The idea of rescuing the entire school must have overwhelmed Jim (several relatives had attended the school, so that might have helped his decision) because Sunday night at 6:15 he called Marge and said, "I will take the school down and Jay Brendel is willing to help; can you get permission and additional help?" Marge proceeded to call Mr. Westerman at home and he asked her to call Pat Donahue, Assistant Superintendent of Schools. Marge left a message for Mr. Donahue and proceeded to call for approval and help from society members. In the meantime permission was received
and they were told that Mr. Westerman would meet them on Monday and help them with the demolition company so they didn't get in each other's way. Marge spent hours on the phone explaining to members or member's spouses what they were doing and trying to recruit help on Monday. Unfortunately,
almost all said, "No" and understandably, based. on previous commitments etc. Bill Garvey, said, "Yes, but I can only stay a couple of hours because I have to work in the afternoon." Another member, Marie Hewitt called several contractors to see if they knew of available men, but to no avail.
Marge arrived at 7:55 a.m. October 30th to make sure the demolition team did not decide to take the one room school first (they had not been informed of the attempt to save it). Jim already had his flatbed in place, but there was no sign of a demolition team. Jim arrived with his sons, Dale and Mike, and friend, Phil Wooledge around 8:30; Bill arrived a little after 9 and things were underway. Marge played unofficial photographer for the day, runner for nuts and bolts, met with Darlene Waldrop, township building official, and Pat Donahue. Ron Hinman joined the historical society demolition team later to take video and help where possible; people wandered in throughout the day including neighbors, a Milford Times photographer and an Oakland County Weighmaster. |

Thompson School
After three sides were down at 5:45 Marge said
good-bye as light was ebbing; she did not believe it
when they told her they weren't going to quit until they
had all four walls down.
Tuesday morning 8: 15, October 31st Ron Hinman
and Marge arrived in a drizzling rain and Jim and Mike
were already at work; Bill Garvey arrived as did Ron
Voorheis. This time they dismantled the end piece, cut
the floor in thirds and loaded the truck.
Around noon Mr. Westerman came by and mentioned
that there might be good wooden flooring left in
the high school. Curiosity got the best of them so they
had to check it out and Jim said, "Gee, wouldn't this
maple make a great floor for the old school?"
A boarded up window on the second floor of the
old high school had to be knocked out and they had to
see if Jim's "cherry picker" would fit on the sidewalk in
front of the school, it did, but just barely.
Bill had to leave as he had to go to work since he
had taken off the day before (his couple hours on Monday
turned into all day). They started ripping up the
flooring, bundled it, and hauled it out the window, into
the cherry picker and into Jim's van. It was quite a "bucket brigade".
Ron Hinman and Marge left about 3 :00 in search
of the former one-room school foundation on Cedar
Island Rd. just about the time the demolition team was
arriving.
November 2nd arrived bright and beautiful and
Marge met Jay Brendel (who was going to use his truck
to tow the flatbed trailer) at the site just before 9:00 to
photograph the departure from Milford back to its
home in White Lake. The White Lake police escorted it
down Commerce Rd. to Bogie Lake to M-59 and to the
Kelley-Fisk Farm; it arrived about 9:40 a.m. Before it
arrived Marge managed to snap a photo of it traveling
past two other White Lake one-room schoolhouses;
now connected and converted to a dentist's office.
An addition was necessary to comply with the
Americans with Disabilities Act. In addition to the restrooms
the remaining space will be used for the research
and storage of archival materials.
The "blackboard rescue" obviously became much
more and it is sincerely hoped that that future generations
will appreciate the preservation of the past and in
so doing will carry on the memories in the future.
The school is currently located on the grounds of
the historic Kelley-Fisk Farm at 9180 Highland Rd. in
White Lake Township. |
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What is a School?
(From 1000 Ways of 1000 Teachers
by A.C. Mason, 1882)
A school is a business institution created for specific purposes. It should be conducted in all of its
management upon the principles of business. Its business is to assist, as being one of the many corporations created and fostered by the state, in
increasing the wealth by increasing the productive power of the state. These ends are served when the attending learners are acquiring sound knowledge in the sciences and the arts, when they are learning to respect authority, when they are cherishing a proper self-respect, when they are understanding their elation to their peers, when they are establishing the imperative habits demanded by business, when they are founding all their dealings on the general principles of law, morals, and religion.
— F.H. Hoose. |
Old Clipping
A boy in school was asked to write a composition
on a goose and here is the result: “The goose is a low, heavy-set bird, composed mostly of meat and feathers. His head sets on one end, and he sets on the other. He cannot sing much on account of the moisture in which he lives. He carries a toy balloon in his stomach to keep from sinking. A goose has two legs, and they set so far back on his running gear that they come pretty near missing his body. Some geese, when they get big, are called ganders. Ganders don’t have to set and hatch, but just loaf, eat and go swimming. If I was a goose, I’d rather be a gander.”
~ Youth’s World |
SCHOOLHOUSE BULLETIN BOARD |
Two New Books About
Michigan One-Room Schools
By Larry Schlack
Two recently published books give additional
glimpses into the history and remaining
evidence of one-room schools in Michigan:
“Country Schools of Bay County, Michigan
1838-1970” by Odeal L. Sharp is a 290-
page volume depicting the background of virtually
every one-room school that ever existed in
Bay County. It is profusely illustrated with pictures
of the buildings, teachers, and students. A
plus is the personal stories of teachers and students telling of their memories and experiences
in these long-abandoned buildings. The book
was published in 2007.
MORSA member Odeal Sharp speaks with
authority. She was born in Bay County in 1912,
attended Seidler School through eighth grade,
graduated from Bay City St. Mary’s High
School in 1929, and then attended Bay County
Normal School graduating in 1930. She taught
in Bay County schools until retirement in 1970.
Her book may be purchased directly from
Odeal L. Sharp, 707 Scheurmann St., Essexville,
MI 48732.
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“A Cultural Incubator: The Post Street
Schoolhouse 1888—Present” by Tawny Ryan Nelb (2006) is a fascinating look at an
1888 building that stands today in Midland,
Michigan. Photos of the brick building as it
looked in 1888 and as it looks today show a building
whose architecture can
hardly be classified. Is it
gothic revival? Is it classical
revival? Does it matter?
It’s a Michigan treasure
and it’s alive and well
with a new life as a research
archives facility.
Here are author Nelb’s words, “The Post Street
schoolhouse, originally known as the Third
Ward School, is one of the oldest school buildings left in Midland County and epitomizes
adaptive use over its long history to allow it to
survive as a cultural icon in the community.. . .
It flourished first as a primary school and as a
teacher’s training school, then as a theater, an
artist’s workshop, and now a research archives.” Photographs illustrate all of the uses the building has had over the years.
The 46-page book may be ordered from Post
Street Archives, 205 Post Street, Midland, MI
48640 (telephone 989/832-0870). Cost is $5.50. |
Schoolhouse Stamps Available for Sale
Want to dress up your letters with a U.S. postage stamp depicting one of Michigan’s
beautiful one-room schoolhouses? Here’s how to do it.
MORSA has a supply of 41-cent U.S. postage
stamps. One shows the Town Hall School
on EMU campus in Ypsilanti, Michigan, one
shows the 1860 Capitol Hill School in Marshall,
and one shows the Little Red Schoolhouse
located on M-22 south of Glen Arbor in
Leelauau County. Stamps showing other
schools will be available from time to time.
A sheet of 20 stamps costs $17 and may be
ordered from Larry Schlack, MORSA Treasurer,
2906 Woodgate Lane, Kalamazoo, MI
49008.
Please note, stamps have increased to 42 cents. |

Sheets may be ordered by mail at the
above address, or by phone (269) 385-1502,
or by email (lawr@net-link.net).
By Larry Schlack
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Nine Parts of Speech
Three little words you often see,
Are Articles—a, an, and the.
A Noun’s the name of anything,
As school, or garden, hoop or swing.
Adjectives tell the kind of Noun,
As great, small, pretty, white, or brown.
Instead of Nouns the Pronouns stand—
Her head, his face, your arm, my hand.
Verbs tell of something to be done—
To read, count, sing, laugh, jump or run.
How things are done, the Adverbs tell,
As slowly, quickly, ill, or well.
Conjunctions join the words together—
As man and woman, wind or weather.
The Preposition stands before
A noun, as in, or through a door.
The Interjection shows surprise,
As oh! How pretty—ah! how wise.
The wholly are called Nine Parts of Speech,
Which reading, writing, speaking teach.
—Dr. Chases Recipes of Information for Everybody,
published 1867. |
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Do you have a schoolhouse you would like to tell us about?
A special memory of a one-room school?
A one-room school dedication or information about one such school? Pictures?
Please let us know.
Information may be sent to:
Hannah Geddes Wright, Slate Editor
4209 N. Dearing Rd.
Parma, Michigan 49269
The Slate is a bi-annual publication of the Michigan One-Room Schoolhouse Association.
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Michigan One-Room Schoolhouse Association |
2006 / 2007 Officers |
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Steve Rossio, Vice-Chair
Suzanne Daniel, Membership Chair |
Larry Schlack, Treasurer
Hannah Geddes Wright, Secretary |
Board Members |
Rochelle Balkam
Linda Chapman
Dana Deimel
Tamara Gady
Thomas Gwaltney |
Yvonne Hafner
Tom Johnson
Judy Shehigian
Mickey Segrest
Helen Squiers
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Hannah Geddes Wright
Editor, board member |
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$10 Senior (age 62+) or Student
$15 Individual. $25 Organizations. $100 Life |
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The Slate is a biannual publication of the Michigan One-Room Schoolhouse Association.
Download PDF for printing the Newsletter
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