Story about Mary Murphy, 1917 Schoolteacher
In 1917 Marie was ten years old, and she was a student in a small school in Houghton, a town in upper-peninsula Michigan that served children from families of many ethnic backgrounds, for many fathers worked in the nearby copper mine. Schools that had more than one room usually hired one of the teachers to serve as the principal as well as teach. Mary Murphy was single, for had she been married, she would have been refused employment as a teacher in most parts of the United States. The story reveals teacher-student relationships that might strike today’s readers—more than 100 years later—as unusual.
In 1925, Marie was able to go off to two years of teacher preparation classes at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Michigan. She served as a one-room schoolteacher and then worked in a two-room school before she married at the age of 26 and had to give up teaching. This brief story and reflection was written in the mid-1940s by L. Marie Kallio. It is about Mary Murphy, her fifth-grade teacher in 1917. The paragraphs in the photo were part of Marie’s longer column for the Women’s Guild in the newsletter for Chicago’s Trinity Lutheran Church. At the time she was a stay-at-home mother of three girls, ages 13, 11, and 2. The manuscript was typewritten on a stencil and run off on a mimeograph machine. Donation This artifact was donated to MOTAL by Greta Nagel, Marie Kallio’s youngest daughter. She was always proud of her mother’s teaching career, despite its relative shortness. Greta had a long career as a teacher, and both of Greta’s sisters also served as teachers during parts of their adult lives. |
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A Short History of the One-Room Schoolhouse
Before the 18th century, the education of children was primarily performed at home by parents or private tutors. One of the earliest known schoolhouses was in Prussia (modern-day Germany), which housed students in one or two rooms, for studies and games. This was funded by taxation, as Prussia had enacted compulsory education for boys and girls. This model was adapted throughout Europe by the late 1800s.
During the mid-1800s, American educator Horace Mann was lobbying for public education for children in order to produce a better citizenry. The public schools were primarily built in fast-growing cities, supporting a growing immigrant and industrialized population. Accordingly, rural America was left to supply the means for their children to attend school.
Early on, one-room schools in America were centered somewhere near the center of town. This allowed the teacher to be close to the school, especially for female teachers, who were expected to lodge with a family or with another female.
Often the one-room schoolhouse classroom was held in the town’s church, which also served as a community center, but more affluent towns built a separate building, dedicated to teaching alone. Students would walk to school or ride in wagons or by horseback. The teacher would often come early to start the stove and prepare lessons. Hired and paid by the community, rural teachers were under contract and followed community rules.
The school provided lessons for as many as eight grade levels. Teachers would teach a subject, tailoring the lessons to all students according to their abilities.
Today many states have preserved their rural, one-room schoolhouses. These buildings stand as a nostalgic example of the growth of America and the importance of education for children in America.
Before the 18th century, the education of children was primarily performed at home by parents or private tutors. One of the earliest known schoolhouses was in Prussia (modern-day Germany), which housed students in one or two rooms, for studies and games. This was funded by taxation, as Prussia had enacted compulsory education for boys and girls. This model was adapted throughout Europe by the late 1800s.
During the mid-1800s, American educator Horace Mann was lobbying for public education for children in order to produce a better citizenry. The public schools were primarily built in fast-growing cities, supporting a growing immigrant and industrialized population. Accordingly, rural America was left to supply the means for their children to attend school.
Early on, one-room schools in America were centered somewhere near the center of town. This allowed the teacher to be close to the school, especially for female teachers, who were expected to lodge with a family or with another female.
Often the one-room schoolhouse classroom was held in the town’s church, which also served as a community center, but more affluent towns built a separate building, dedicated to teaching alone. Students would walk to school or ride in wagons or by horseback. The teacher would often come early to start the stove and prepare lessons. Hired and paid by the community, rural teachers were under contract and followed community rules.
The school provided lessons for as many as eight grade levels. Teachers would teach a subject, tailoring the lessons to all students according to their abilities.
Today many states have preserved their rural, one-room schoolhouses. These buildings stand as a nostalgic example of the growth of America and the importance of education for children in America.
Learn More!
If you would like to learn more about one-room (or two-room) schoolhouses, we recommend the following:
"Day in My Life: Inside a Two-Room Schoolhouse" by Kathy (Lake Superior Spirit blog, April 1, 2013)
If you would like to learn more about one-room (or two-room) schoolhouses, we recommend the following:
"Day in My Life: Inside a Two-Room Schoolhouse" by Kathy (Lake Superior Spirit blog, April 1, 2013)