Our Past Is Present July 26, 2018

July 26, 2018

            KJCK Auction OR….

            This is “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society.

            Your host for this program is also a host on Thursdays at our Museum at the corner of Sixth and Adams Streets in Junction City.  We have one room on the second floor of our building that is a dedicated exhibit to the one room school house.  In it are a variety of different sized desks, which would have been for the students of different ages.  We have slate chalkboards for students to write on and a slate chalkboard for the teacher.  There is a potbellied stove in the room that would have been used to keep the students and teacher warm during the cold weather season and a single dipper for the students to get a drink of water during the day. 

            At the front of the room is a mannequin dressed in a white blouse and long black skirt.  This is to depict what the female teacher would have worn.  During the tour of this exhibit, docents like to share that the expectation of country schoolteachers was high.  Besides being able to maintain discipline and teach students of a wide age-range all at the same time, a strict code of personal conduct was also a part of the requirements of the teacher.  Here are a few:         

1.      They will not marry during the term of the contract

2.      They are not to keep company with men

3.      They will be home between the hours of 8:00 PM and 6:00 AM unless attending a school function

4.      The teacher may not loiter downtown in ice cream stores

5.      They may not travel beyond the city limits unless given permission of the chairman of the Board of Education

6.      Teachers may not ride in a carriage or automobile with any man unless he is the father or brother of the teacher

7.      They may not smoke cigarettes

8.      They may not dress in bright colors and must wear two petticoats

9.      They may not dye their hair

10.  Dresses must not be any shorter than two inches above the ankle

11.  The teacher must keep the schoolroom neat and clean; the floor must be swept at least once daily; the floor scrubbed at least once a week with hot, soapy water; the blackboards cleaned at least once a day and start the fire at 7:00 AM so the room will be warm by 8:00 AM

It is curious to your host that little direction seemed to given about how or what to teach, focused more on other things. 

            Well… that’s today’s story on “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society.