Seventy-five years of public education in Nemaha, County, Nebraska

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SEVENTY-FIVE. YEARS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN NEMAHA COUNTY, NEBRASKA

by K enneth S t i e r s

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFIIMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS i n th e GRADUATE SCHOOL o f th e UNIVERSITY OF OMAHA

1950

UMI Number: EP73829

All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion.

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, UMI EP73829 Published by ProQuest LLC (2015). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter I.

Page

THE PROBLEM

1

Purpose o f the Study Del imih t at io ns Need for the Study Sources of Data '

1 1 2 3

1

II.

BACKGROUNDS OF EDUCATION IN NEMAHA COUNTY, NEBRASKA

III.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF POPULATION TRENDS IN NEMAHA COUNTY, NEBRASKA ' .

12

LOCAL SUPPORT OF THE SCHOOLS OF NEMAHA COUNTY, NEBRASKA ,

20

IV.

5

V.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE RURAL SCHOOLS OF NEMAHA COUNTY

31

VI.

THE CERTIFICATION OF TEACHERS

kh

V II.

SCHOOL DISTRICT REORGANIZATION

50

VIII.CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

%

LIST OF TABLES T able

I.

Page

The F ir st Census o f the Nebraska Territory Taken in the Year 1851*

13

I I . Population o f Nebraska From the Year 1855 to 1950

ll*

I I I . Population o f Nemaha County by P recincts During the Years 1870, 1880, 1920, 1930, 191*0

15

IV. Census o f Nemaha County From i860 to 19i*0

17

V.

Rural School Enrollment of Nemaha County From 1893 to 19l*9

18

V I.

The Per Capita Expenditure For Education in Seven Mid­ western S tates For the Years 1870 to 1913

20

VII. Expenditure Per Rural School in Nemaha County -^rom 1912 to 19l*9

22

VIII.Expenditure Per City and V illa g e School in Nemaha County from 1912 to 191*9

21*

IX. Total Expenditure For Supplies and Textbooks Per Year in The Rural Schools of Nemaha County From 1895 to 191*5

25

X.

The length o f the School Term in Days in Six Mid-western State From 1870 to 1913

35

XI. Textbooks o f a Rural School in Nemaha County in 1876

39

XII. Number o f Students Purusing a Normal Training Course in the Normal Schools o f Seven Mid-western S tates in 1896

1*6

1

CHAPTER I The

Problem

Purpose of the study This study has been undertaken for the purpose of providing a body of data upon which an adequate program of rural education can be founded.

It,

th erefo re, dedicates i t s e l f to the task of providing the b asis for a p u b licrela tio n s program designed to re-kindle in the minds of la y people a sincere and genuine in te r e st in public education in Nemaha County, Nebraska# ain minor problems presented themselves#

Cert­

F ir s t, the problem of determining

trends -which, when woven together in to a composite whole, have made s i g n if i c ­ ant contributions to the general program of education in the county.

Second,

to trace th ese trends through the c e r tif ie d records which are on f i l e in the d ifferen t o ffic e s in order to b u ild up the body of data needed.

The study

attempts to define the present sta tu s of the school in a manner which w ill be understandable and meaningful to the layman# D elim itations The study has been lim ited to an examination of the elementary school with emphasis upon the one-room rural school in Nemaha County.

Two reasons

e x is t for th is lim ita tio n : 1. The rural elementary school has been under vigorous attack during recent years.

2. It was f e l t that the secondary

school c o n stitu te s the b asis for a sim ilar study in i t s e lf # Two reasonably w ell defined philosophies are brought in to sharp focus almost daily#

One view holds th at the rural school i s inadequate to meet

the challenge of modern so c ie ty and the other b eliev es that the rural school i s good enough as i t is today.

Since these two philosophies ou tlin e the

thinking of a great m ajority of rural people, i t seemed necessary to confine the study to the rural sch ool.

2

Need f o r th e s tu d y At th e c lo s e o f th e n in e te e n th c e n tu r y , th e e a s t e r n s t a t e s w ere b e g in n in g t o v iew t h e i r p u b lic sc h o o l system s q u ite c r i t i c a l l y .

As t h e p io n e e r moved

w estw ard in s e a rc h o f a p la c e t o b u ild h i s home, he b ro u g h t w ith him an e a r n e s t z e a l f o r a d e c e n t e d u c a tio n a l o p p o r tu n ity f o r h is c h i l d r e n .

B ecause

of th e many h a r d s h ip s , problem s and d i f f i c u l t i e s w hich had t o be f a c e d , th e p io n e e r d id n o t p ro v id e an a d e q u a te system o f sc h o o l r e c o r d s ; e ac h s c h o o l if

seemed t o e x i s t as a t i n y em pire w ith in i t s e l f and th e v a r ia n c e in p ro c e d u re s was d e te rm in e d by th e p e o p le th e m s e lv e s . re s p e c ts .

Each sc h o o l was d i f f e r e n t i n many

In fo rm a tio n p e r t i n e n t t o th e g e n e ra l problem o f r u r a l e d u c a tio n

has b e en s c a t t e r e d th ro u g h o u t th e re c o rd s i n su ch a m anner as t o make i t v a lu e l e s s t o th e laym an.

I t may be c o n clu d e d w ith re a s o n a b le c e r t a i n t y t h a t

many o f th e c o n c e p ts i n f l u e n c in g r u r a l e d u c a tio n in Nemaha C ounty, N ebraska a re b a se d upon in a d e q u a te and in c o m p le te in f o r m a tio n . I f th e a ssu m p tio n i s a c c e p te d t h a t a know ledge o f w hat has b een done in th e p a s t i s e s s e n t i a l t o th e developm ent o f f u t u r e p l a n s , a th o ro u g h s tu d y o f th e sc h o o ls needed t o be m ade.

D uring th e p a s t t h r e e q u a r te r s o f a c e n t-

i

u r y th e s c h o o ls o f Nemaha C ounty have made n o ta b le c o n tr ib u tio n s t o s o c i e t y . An u n d e rs ta n d in g o f th e s c h o o ls o f th e p a s t sh o u ld a s s i s t i n r e - c a p t u r i n g t h e i r w o rth w h ile elem en ts and c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s f o r th e s c h o o ls o f th e f u t u r e . S ources o f d a ta The c h i e f so u rc e o f d a ta f o r th e s tu d y was th e o f f i c i a l re c o rd s w hich a r e on f i l e i n th e o f f i c e of c o u n ty s u p e r in te n d e n t o f Nemaha C ounty.

C onsid­

e r a b le e x a m in a tio n o f s i m i l a r re c o rd s i n n e ig h b o rin g c o u n tie s was made in o rd e r t o e v a lu a te th e s t a b i l i t y o f th e s e r e c o r d s .

The b i e n n i a l r e p o r t s o f

th e s t a t e s u p e r in te n d e n t o f p u b lic i n s t r u c t i o n t o th e g o v e rn o r of th e S ta te

3

of Nebraska have been very u sefu l in the preparation of the report. Six generations of the w r ite r 1s people have liv ed in Nemaha County. Throughout the years, the story of education in the county has been a source of constant in te r e st and enthusiasm to him.

As a resu lt of th is c u r io s ity ,

some of the d e ta il for the study has been obtained from personal in terview s. In almost every in stan ce, accounts obtained through these personal in te r ­ views have been valid ated by the d iffe re n t records. The H istory Of The State of Nebraska, published in 1882 by the Western H isto rica l Company of Chicago, I l l i n o i s , has been an invaluable source of general and s t a t i s t i c a l data.

The book is massive con sistin g of several

thousand pages and, although s p e c ific editorship is n o t.c le a r ly shown, i t i s believed that various individuals associated with the U n iversity of Nebr1

aska a ssiste d with the ed itin g of the work.

Researchers v is it e d the d iffe r ­

ent communities to gather the information upon which the lite r a tu r e of the book is based.

A very considerable portion of the-book is purely document­

ary in nature. A H istory of Nemaha County w ritten by John W. Dundas has been used exten­ s iv e ly .

This work i s based upon newspaper accounts of the various happenings

w ithin the county dating back to the e a r lie s t period of the county1s h isto r y . The book i s w ritten , prim arily, from the standpoint of a small-town publisher and i s colored somewhat by what seemed to be personal in terp retation ; however, the fa ctu a l d e ta il stands up very w e ll. The Commissioner’s Reports are t h e ,o f f ic i a l reports of the Commissioner of Education in the executive branch of the federal government.

These reports

have served as a s ta b iliz in g force in evaluating lo ca l data.

1 . Statement v e r ifie d by le t t e r frcm Librarian, U niversity of Nebraska.

4

The d a ta c o n ta in e d in th e C om m issioner’ s R ep o rts have n o t been u s e d e x te n ­ s i v e l y f o r th e re a s o n t h a t th e s e d a ta , a lth o u g h a c c u r a t e , w ere som etim es in c o m p le te as t o d e t a i l * D e fin itio n The r u r a l sc h o o l i s d e fin e d a s a s c h o o l l o c a t e d i n th e open c o u n try and s e r v in g o n ly th e l o c a l community*

The u n i t i s th e sm a ll l o c a l d i s t r i c t

c o n s i s t i n g , g e n e r a l l y , o f f o u r s e c tio n s o f land*

CHAPTER I I

Backgrounds of E d u c a tio n in Nemaha .County, N ebraska "The f i r s t th o u g h t o f a la r g e m a j o r i t y o f th o s e who came t o th e T e r r i t o r y was n o t one lo o k in g t o perm anency o f re s id e n c e o r th e u ltim a te p r o s p e r i t y w ith in th e l i m i t s o f th e new W est. I t was th e p u rp o se o f n e a r l y a l l t o f i n d sudden w e a lth t h a t t h e y m ig h t r e t u r n t o th e B a st and spend th e rem ain d er o f t h e i r l i v e s . And u n d e r su ch b u rd e n in g w e ig h t began th e e x is t e n c e o f a r e g io n , i n i t s s o c ia l c h a r a c te r and c i v i l i z e d p r o g r e s s i o n , -which h a s p ro v en i t s pow ers t o be g r e a t e r th a n th e accu m u lated f o r c e o f a d v e rse c irc u m s ta n c e s .* ’ 1

The above q u o ta tio n was ta k e n from an a d d re s s d e liv e r e d b y A. S . Paddock b e f o r e th e B oard of A g r ic u ltu r e d u rin g th e N ebraska S ta te F a i r i n th e y e a r 1878.

A p p a re n tly , t h e d o m in a tin g f o r c e b e h in d th e e a r l i e s t s e ttle m e n t was

t o g a in w e a lth q u ic k ly and r e t u r n t o a more s e t t l e d c o u n try w here l i v i n g w ould be l e s s h a z a rd o u s and burdenscm e compared w ith th e r i g o r s o f th e W est.

Only a few w h ite men had t r a v e r s e d th e u p p e r re a c h e s o f th e M is s o u ri

R iv e r p r i o r t o th e Lewis and C la rk E x p e d itio n .

Those who had gone b e fo re

w ere h u n te r s and t r a p p e r s i n t e r e s t e d o n ly i n th e ta k in g o f a h a r v e s t o f f u r s * D o u b tle ss th e v iv id and glow ing a c c o u n ts w hich th e men o f th e Lewis and C la rk p a r t y c a r r i e d back w ith them had c o n tr ib u te d g r e a t l y t o th e b e g in n in g o f th e f i r s t g r e a t movement o f p e o p le i n t o N eb rask a.

U n re st th ro u g h o u t th e

c o u n try as a r e s u l t o f th e grow ing i n t e n s i t y o f t h e s l a v e r y q u e s tio n cau sed many t o t u r n t h e i r f a c e s w e stw a rd . The h a rd y and r e c k le s s came f i r s t .

T h e ir e n th u sia sm f o r c i v i c and s o c i a l

developm ent was m easured o n ly i n te rm s o f th e e x te n t w hich such a c t i v i t y w ould in c r e a s e t h e i r p e rs o n a l g a i n .

Seme h i s t o r i a n s c o n s id e r th e P a n ic o f

1857 as th e end o f th e e r a of s p e c u la t io n and th e b e g in n in g o f a new p e r io d o f w estw ard e x te n s io n . The f i r s t a tte m p t t o c r e a te a t e r r i t o r y w e st o f th e M isso u ri R iv e r was

1 . A. S . Paddock was an e a r l y s o c i a l and c i v i c le a d e r and an a u t h o r i t y on A g ric u ltu re .

6 1 made i n th e y e a r 1851.^ Due t o th e s e r io u s n e s s o f th e s l a v e r y q u e s tio n a t

t h i s tim e , th e C ongress f a i l e d t o c o n s id e r t h e p o s s i b i l i t y o f a new te rrito ry #

In 1853, a b i l l was drawn i n t h e House o f R e p r e s e n ta tiv e s d e s ig ­

ned t o c r e a t e th e ”T e r r i t o r y o f th e P l a t t e ” . th e t e r r i t o r y w hich i s now N e b rask a ,

The b i l l in c lu d e d n e a r l y a l l

R e p r e s e n ta tiv e s from th e s o u th e r n s t a t e s

w ere m ost v ig o ro u s i n t h e i r o p p o s itio n t o th e b i l l b e c a u se th e y f e l t t h a t th e new t e r r i t o r y w ould be f r e e s o i l . b i l l p r e v a ile d and i t was t a b l e d .

The f o r c e s w hich w ere opposed t o th e

The t h i r t y - s e c o n d s e s s i o n o f C ongress con­

vened on December 5, 1853, w ith a la r g e d e m o c ra tic m a j o r i t y i n b o th h o u s e s . C o n sid e ra b le p r e s s u r e was b e in g b ro u g h t t o b e a r upon th e l e g i s l a t o r s b y th o s e who w ere c lam o rin g f o r th e r i g h t t o lo c a t e i n th e new l a n d .

These p e o p le

f e l t t h a t th e y c o u ld n o t r i s k th e h a z a rd s o f th e c o u n try u n t i l th e y c o u ld be p a r t i a l l y p r o te c te d b y t e r r i t o r i a l la w .

By t h i s tim e , t h e In d ia n s o f

t h e p l a i n s w ere b e g in n in g t o aw ak en -to th e s i g n i f i c a n c e o f so many w h ite men in t h e i r c o u n try .

The b i l l c r e a t i n g th e N ebraska T e r r i t o r y f i n a l l y

p a s s e d and was s ig n e d b y P r e s id e n t P ie rc e on May 3 0 , 1 8 5 4 . E d u c a tio n a l m a tte r s r e c e iv e d e a r l y a t t e n t i o n .

At t h e f i r s t s e s s i o n of

th e t e r r i t o r i a l l e g i s l a t u r e Simpson U n iv e r s ity o f Omaha, N eb rask a U n iv e r s ity a t F o n te n e lle and th e N ebraska C ity C o lle g ia te and P r e p a r a to r y I n s t i t u t e w ere founded and in c o r p o r a te d .

In 1822, t h e f i r s t s c h o o l i n N ebraska was 2

opened a t F o r t A tk in so n i n t e r r i t o r y w hich l a t e r became a p a r t o f th e s t a t e . In a t i n y lo g s c h o o l h o u s e , S e rg e a n t Mumford d i r e c t e d h i s s c h o o l f o r th e In d ­ i a n c h ild r e n i n a s tu d y o f th e T hree R* s .

The e r a w hich fo llo w e d t h i s humble

b e g in n in g seemed t o have b e en a s te a d y p r o g r e s s io n o f e f f o r t on th e p a r t o f v a r io u s r e l i g i o u s o rd e rs t o b r in g e d u c a tio n t o th e In d ia n s and th e few

1* H is to r y of th e S ta te o f N ebraska W estern H i s t o r i c a l Company, C h icag o , 1882 page 101 2 , H ughes, Hayden D. B eg in n in g s of Form al E d u c a tio n i n N ebraska M aster* s T h e s is , U n iv e r s ity o f N e b ra sk a , 1934, page 8

7

•white c h i l d r e n who had come t o th e new t e r r i t o r y *

The l i t e r a t u r e of t h i s

p e r io d in d ic a te d q u ite s t r o n g l y t h a t t h i s e d u c a tio n a l work was s tim u la te d by a d e s ir e on th e p a r t of th e m is s i o n a r ie s to b rin g C h r i s t i a n i t y t o th e sav ag es an d , a t th e same tim e , to o f f e r a s tr o n g e r inducem ent t o th e immi­ g r a n t f a m ily t o s e t t l e in th e a r e a . The d e s ir e t o found i n s t i t u t i o n s o f h ig h e r e d u c a tio n b u rn e d s t r o n g l y in th e m inds of th e p io n e e r s .

W ith in two y e a rs from th e tim e th e f i r s t le g a l

s e t t l e r e n te r e d N eb rask a, p r o v is io n h ad been made f o r sev en u n i v e r s i t i e s 1 and c o l l e g e s . Mount Vernon C o lle g e , lo c a te d a t P e ru in Nemaha County was a p r i v a t e sc h o o l u n d e r th e a u s p ic e s of th e M e th o d is t C hurch, founded in th e y e a r 1866.

A f te r one y e a r of o p e r a tio n th e p r o p e r ty o f th e c o lle g e was g iv e n t o

th e Normal B oard,

The f i r s t te rm o f sc h o o l d e v o ted t o th e t r a i n i n g of 2 te a c h d r s opened O ctober 24, 1867. The f a c t t h a t th e norm al sc h o o l was th e p r o p e r ty of th e S ta te o f N ebraska seemed t o have g iv en r i s e t o a v e ry

n o ta b le in c r e a s e i n e n th u sia sm f o r e d u c a tio n in Nemaha C ounty.

Many o f

th e p e o p le f e l t t h a t a more ab u n d an t s u p p ly o f t r a i n e d te a c h e r s would b y a v a i l a b l e f o r th e s c h o o ls . There i s t o be found in th e l i t e r a t u r e o f th e s e tt le m e n t of N ebraska a summary of th e e a r l y s c h o o ls o f Nemaha C ounty.

This a cc o u n t c o v e rs th e

s c h o o ls from th e e a r l i e s t d a te as a t e r r i t o r y t o th e y e a r 1880.

B ecause

t h i s a c c o u n t seemed to have been b a se d upon f a c t and was a c c u r a t e l y s u p p o rte d by o th e r in f o r m a tio n , i t h a s been p r e s e n te d in i t s e x a c t form : The e a r l i e s t s c h o o ls i n Nemaha C ounty o f w hich th e o ld s e t t l e r s have any r e c o l l e c t i o n was ta u g h t by M iss A n g e lin a C o le , i n th e summer o f 1855, th r e e m ile s w est of B ro w n v ille , i n w hat i s now known as London 1 . S iam pos, H elen E a rly E d u c a tio n i n N ebraska N ebraska H i s t o r i c a l S o c ie ty , q u a r t e r l y b u l l e t i n , N ebraska H is to r y , J u n e , 1948, page 11 9 . 2 . S h e ld o n , A ddison E. S e m i-c e n te n n ia l H is to r y o f N ebraska page 147.

8

P r e c i n c t . The sc h o o l house was b u i l t o f l o g s . She ta u g h t t h i r t y pupiibs f o r th r e e m o n th s. The f i r s t te a c h e r i n B ro w n v ille was H .S . T horpe, who ta u g h t tw e n ty s c h o la r s i n th e autumn o f 1855, i n a cottonw ood e d i f i c e , l S ’ xlS* f e e t , lo c a te d on M ain S t r e e t b etw een F i r s t and S econd. H is f i r s t term was o f t h r e e m onths d u r a ti o n . The f i r s t house e r e c te d i n th e c o u n ty , d e sig n e d e s p e c i a l l y f o r sc h o o l p u rp o se s was co m p leted in O cto b er of 1857 and b u i l t a t th e c o rn e r o f S ix th and A t l a n t i c S t r e e t s , a t a c o s t o f |9 5 0 . On Monday, J u l y 1 8 , 1859, th e H igh S chool o f B ro w n v ille was opened by T. W. T ip to n i n c h arg e o f advanced c l a s s e s . The C o n g re g a tio n a l Church b u ild in g was u s e d as th e sc h o o l h o u s e . P u b lic n o tic e was g iv e n t h a t t u i t i o n was f r e e a g a in to a l l a c tu a l r e s i d e n t s of th e B ro w n v ille School D i s t r i c t . N o n -re s id e n ts a d m itte d on m o d erate t e r m s . . . . On th e 1 5 th o f A p r i l , 1867, th e B ro w n v ille H igh School commenced a s ix -m o n th 1s te rm i n t h e . la r g e new b u ild in g u n d e r th e s u p e r v is io n of C h a rle s A. B aker an e x p e rie n c e d P r i n c i p a l and a g ra d u a te o f H arv ard U n i v e r s i t y . Over two h undred s c h o la r s w ere e n r o l l e d i n t h i s f i r s t t e m o f h ig h s c h o o l. B ro w n v ille C o lle g e was o rg a n iz e d i n December 1859, w ith th e Rev. T .W .T ipton as P r e s i d e n t ; D. C. S a n d e rs , Chairman o f th e Board o f T r u s te e s ; R.W. F u rn a s , S e c r e ta r y ; R. Brown, T r e a s u r e r . The M ed ical C o lleg e was o rg a n iz e d a t th e same tim e , and a c o u rse of l e c t u r e s d e liv e r e d t o a c l a s s o f t w e n t y - f i v e . But one c o u rse of le c t u r e s was d e l i v e r e d .

The in d iv id u a l who had b e en more c o n cern ed w ith th e problem of g a in in g im m ediate w e a lth th a n w ith g enuine c i v i c and s o c i a l developm ent d id n o t long rem ain as a le a d e r i n th e community; e i t h e r he moved on w e s t, r e tu r n e d to th e E a s t o r became a b e l i e v e r i n t h e f u tu r e o f th e new la n d .

As th e

s t a t e d ev elo p ed from a v a s t and u n e x p lo re d re g io n i n t o one w here a t l e a s t a sem blance o f s t a b i l i t y e x i s t e d , s o c i a l and c i v i c developm ent began anew. An overw helm ing m a j o r i t y o f a l l c la s s e s o f p e o p le seemed re s o lv e d t o rem ain and fa c e th e h a rd s h ip s o f th e w ild e rn e s s in o rd e r t o have t h e i r own hom es. One o f th e f i r s t th o u g h ts of t h i s e a r l y c i t i z e n a f t e r h is house had b een co m p leted was to b u ild a s c h o o l house f o r h is c h i l d r e n .

R e g a rd le ss o f

1 . H is to r y o f th e S ta te of N e b rask a , W estern H i s t o r i c a l Company, C h icag o , 1882, Page 1142

s t a t i o n i n l i f e o r s ta n d in g i n th e community, th e p e o p le w ere a lm o st u n iv e r ­ s a l l y o f th e common o p in io n t h a t th e f i r s t community e n t e r p r i s e sh o u ld be th e o r g a n iz a tio n o f a sch o o l#

The s t o r y i s t o l d of how a band o f d e s p e ra d o e s ,

som etim es c a l l e d , ”Jay h a w k ers” , jo in e d w ith th e men o f th e community t o e x te rm i n a te a f i r e w hich th r e a te n e d t o d e s tr o y th e t i n y lo g sch o o lh o u se#

The le a d e r

of th e band s to o d g u ard w ith lo a d e d p i s t o l in o rd e r t o g u a ra n te e th e s a f e t y of h is men as th e y b a t t l e d th e b l a z e .

H is to r y does n o t a c c u r a t e l y r e c o r d

th e f i n a l outcome of th e f i r e b u t th e c h r o n ic le does s e r v e t o show t h a t even th e m ost la w le s s c h a r a c te r o f th e f r o n t i e r was w i l l i n g t o s u b s c rib e t o th e b e l i e f t h a t a p u b lic sc h o o l was of c o n s id e r a b le im p o rta n c e . The y e a rs from 1854 t o 186-7, r e f e r r e d t o as th e t e r r i t o r i a l p e r io d , saw a sh a rp in c r e a s e i n p a p u la t io n .

The C iv il War h ad been b ro u g h t to a c o n c lu ­

s io n and many p e o p le th ro u g h o u t th e c o u n try fo u n d th e m selv e s fa c e d w ith th e 2 s e r io u s problem of r e h a b i l i t a t i o n . A ccording t o D undas, as many as f i f t y f a m ilie s a r r i v e d in B ro w n v ille d u rin g a s in g le w eek.

The new a r r i v a l s w ere

no lo n g e r d riv e n b y th e z e a l f o r q u ic k and e a s y w e a lth ; th e c o n c e p t h ad changed These p e o p le w ere re s o lv e d t o fa c e th e d a n g ers of th e new la n d in o rd e r t o "grow up w ith th e c o u n tr y ” . U s u a lly t h e i r w o rld ly goods c o n s is te d of a yoke of oxen, a few sim p le h o u se h o ld t o o l s , a p lo w sh are and a m u s k e t.

The problem of b u ild in g and

f u r n is h in g a s c h o o l m ust have seemed trem endous in i t s p r o p o r t io n s .

D e sp ite

th e many d i f f i c u l t i e s and h a r d s h ip s , c h u rc h es w ere e r e c te d a lm o st s im u lta n e o u s ­ l y w ith th e sc h o o l and home.

When i t became e v id e n t t h a t th e new community

was t o be perm anent th e p r i c e of farm la n d ro s e r a p i d l y and th e r a i l r o a d s were e x te n d e d t o th e v a r io u s c o m m u n itits .

Thus a re a d y m ark et f o r th e f a r m e r s 1

1 . S ta te m e n t b a se d upon p e r s o n a l in te r v ie w w ith a p e rs o n who was an eye w itn e s s t o th e e v e n t d e s c r ib e d . I&mdas, John W. H is to r y o f Hemaha C ounty, Page 5 .

10

g r a in and l i v e s t o c k was c r e a t e d . b een opened.

The d o o r o f p r o g r e s s in th e new la n d h ad

11 SUMMARY

The e a r l y c i t i z e n o f Nemaha C ounty was an a d v e n tu r e r .

H is p rim a ry

p u rp o se i n coming t o th e w ild e rn e s s was t o g a in w e a lth as q u ic k ly as' p o s s ib le and r e t u r n t o h i s fo rm er home.

T his ty p e of p e rso n d id n o t lo n g re m a in .

As t h e p e r io d of s p e c u la tio n ended th e ty p e of s e t t l e r changed from one dom inated by th e z e a l f o r a d v e n tu re t o t h e f a m ily u n i t w hich was i n t e r e s t e d in b u ild in g a home.

E d u c a tio n a l m a tte r s r e c e iv e d e a r l y a t t e n t i o n .

S chools

w ere e r e c te d a lm o st as soon as th e l a s t lo g was l a i d i n t o th e c a b in w a l l . The z e a l f o r h ig h e r e d u c a tio n b u rn ed h ig h i n th e new com m unity.

W ith in a

s h o r t tim e a f t e r th e fo u n d in g o f B ro w n v ille t h i s community h a d e s t a b l i s h e d a c o lle g e . The p a t t e r n of p ro g re s s soon became c l e a r l y d e f in e d . t r a t e d th e w ild e r n e s s .

R a ilro a d s p en e­

The r a i l r o a d b ro u g h t in to th e community an elem ent

o f la w le s s n e s s re m in is c e n t of th e e a r l y p e r io d b u t i t a ls o b ro u g h t t o th e w ild e rn e s s f a n n e r a re a d y m ark et f o r h is g ra in * l iv e s t o c k and f r u i t .

12 CHAPTER I I I

The S ig n if ic a n c e of P o p u la tio n Trends i n Nemaha C ounty, N ebraska The tr e n d i n p o p u la tio n i n Nemaha C ounty has n o t alw ays fo llo w e d th e g e n e r a l p a t t e r n of s e ttle m e n t th ro u g h o u t th e s t a t e o f N e b rask a .

D o u b tless th e f a c t t h a t

th e " T e r r i t o r y o f th e P l a t t e " l a y d i r e c t l y i n th e ro u te t o th e g o ld f i e l d s o f C a l i f o r n i a and th e Oregon T e r r i t o r y had a s i g n i f i c a n t in f lu e n c e upon th e e a r l y s e tt le m e n t of th e c o u n ty .

The s e t t l e r s came i n w av es.

I t was n o t uncommon f o r

an e n t i r e w a g o n -tra in t o lo c a t e on one community s im u lta n e o u s ly . o v er n ig h t th e p o p u la tio n o f a community m ig h t be d o u b le d .

Thus, a lm o st

One may r e a d i l y

a p p r e c ia te how much l o c a l a c t i v i t y m ust have been i n t e n s i f i e d .

I t seemed t h a t

th e r e s u l t a n t c o n fu s io n had a m arked e f f e c t upon th e s c h o o l. The f i r s t cen su s of th e N ebraska T e r r i t o r y was ta k e n in th e y e a r 1854. The a r e a was d iv id e d i n t o s i x d i s t r i c t s w ith a d e p u ty m a rsh a l in c h arg e of e ac h d i s t r i c t .

W rite rs of th e p e r io d w ere i n c lin e d t o d is c o u n t th e a c c u ra c y

o f t h i s cen su s f o r tw o r e a s o n s :

1 . a g r e a t many p e o p le w ere n o t p a r t i c u l a r l y

a n x io u s to have t h e i r w h ereab o u ts known t o th e g e n e r a l p u b l i c .

2 . The f a c i l i t y

f o r ta k in g an a c c u r a te census was g r e a t l y lim ite d th u s c a u s in g many of th e rem o te­ l y s i t u a t e d f a m ilie s t o be o v e rlo o k e d .

H ow ever, allo w an ce f o r th e s e f a c t o r s does

n o t d e s tr o y th e im p o rtan ce o f th e f a c t t h a t , a t th e m id -p o in t of th e n in e te e n th c e n tu r y , th e a r e a w hich was t o become N ebraska was p r a c t i c a l l y an u n e x p lo re d and u n in h a b ite d w ild e r n e s s . An e f f o r t h a s b een made t o m a in ta in a c o n s ta n t com parison of p o p u la tio n betw een th e s t a t e and Nemaha C ounty.

The c o u n ty i s s i t u ate d on th e w e st bank

o f th e M is s o u ri R iv e r and f o r many y e a rs B ro w n v ille was th e l a s t o u tp o s t t o th e W est.

The f i r s t o f f i c i a l c en su s i s p r e s e n te d i n Table I t o su p p o rt th e s t a t e ­

ment t h a t th e grow th in p o p u la tio n d u rin g th e e a r l y p e r io d was v e r y r a p i d .

13

Table I

The F i r s t Census o f th e N ebraska T e r r i t o r y Taken i n th e Y ear 1854

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

236 185 95 250 74 89

26 24 16 29 1 7

181 138 101 131 8 12

190 127 44 115 13 27

214 127 97 120 10 27

4 9 0 0 0 0

851 614 353 645 106 163

_______________________ 929

103

560

553

594

13

D is tric t 1 2 3 4 5 6

2 ,732

E x p la n a tio n o f h e a d in g s : 1 -w h ite m ales o v er 21 y e a rs o f ag e; 2 -w h ite m ales from 1 6 -2 1 ; 3-m ales u n d e r 16 y e a rs o f a g e , 4 - f e m ales 16 y e a rs and upw ard; 5 -fe m a le s u n d e r 16 y e a rs o f a g e; 6 - s la v e s ; 7 - t o t a l f o r a l l d i s t r i c t s . The d is c o v e ry of g o ld in C a l i f o r n i a d o u b tle s s cau sed many p e o p le t o embark upon th e lo n g and h a za rd o u s jo u rn e y t o t h e W est. was in th e d i r e c t ro u te t o th e g o ld f i e l d s .

The MLand o f th e P l a t t e " ^

The t r a v e l e r , w eary from h is lo n g

t r i p up th e r i v e r , may have b een i n a r e c e p tu a l fram e o f m ind as he view ed f o r th e f i r s t tim e th e b o u n d le ss e x te n t o f r i c h grow th o f g ra s s and w ild f r u i t a lo n g th e M is s o u ri R iv e r.

T his e x te n s iv e grow th may have s u g g e s te d t o him th e

g r e a t p o s s i b i l i t e s f o r a g r i c u l t u r e i n th e a r e a .

T a le s o f w ild la w le s s n e s s and

th e d an g ers posed by th e savage In d ia n s o f th e p la in s p ro b a b ly te n d e d t o d is c o u r­ age th e l e s s h a rd y from c o n tin u in g th e jo u rn e y .

Men who had b ro u g h t t h e i r fa m i­

l i e s w ere more s t r o n g l y in flu e n c e d by th e s e c o n d itio n s th a n th e o th e rs and as a r e s u l t th e number o f c h ild r e n and y o u th among th e s e t t l e r s was g r e a t e r th a n th e number o f a d u lts * re p a ir.

.Much o f th e equipm ent was b a d ly worn and in need of

I t was n o t uncommon f o r a wagon t r a i n t o s e t o u t from B ro w n v ille o n ly

t o r e t u r n in a s h o r t tim e , th e le a d e r s h av in g d e c id e d t o s e t t l e in th e c o u n try .

The name g iv e n to th e t e r r i t o r y w hich was t o become N e b rask a .

14

In th e y e a r 1855, th e re c o rd e d p o p u la tio n o f t h e e n t i r e s t a t e o f N ebraska 1 was l e s s th a n f i v e th o u s a n d p e r s o n s . T ab le I I p r e s e n ts t h e p o p u la tio n f i g u r e s f o r N ebraska from t h e y e a r 1855 t o 1950. T ab le I I P o p u la tio n of N ebraska From th e Y ear 1855 t o th e Year 1950

1855 1860 1870 1880 1890

1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 I9 6 0 2

4 ,4 9 4 23,341 122,993 482,402 1 ,0 6 2 ,6 5 6

1 ,0 6 6 ,3 0 0 1 ,1 9 2 ,3 7 6 1 ,2 9 6 ,3 7 6 1 ,3 7 7 ,9 6 3 1 ,3 1 5 ,8 3 4 1 ,2 9 7 ,0 0 0

T a b le I I i n d i c a t e s r a t h e r c l e a r l y t h a t th e grow th in p o p u la tio n f o r th e s t a t e o f N ebraska was r a p id d u rin g th e e a r l y y e a r s . c e n tu r y th e p eak of th e t r e n d had b e e n re a c h e d .

By t h e c lo s e of th e n in e t e e n th The economic d e p re s s io n w hich

g rip p e d th e n a tio n d u rin g th e y e a rs b etw een 1930 and 1940 re d u c ed t h e employ­ m ent p o s s i b i l i t i e s on th e farm s t o a v e ry low l e v e l and many p e o p le w ere f o r c e d t o move t o th e c i t i e s w here th e p o s s i b i l i t y f o r governm ent sp o n so re d employment was much g r e a t e r .

I t i s re a s o n a b le t o assume t h a t many o f th e s e

p e o p le who w ere f o r c e d t o move may have m ig r a te d t o o th e r s t a t e s . D uring th e e a r l y y e a rs th e s e t t l e r s came t o Nemaha C ounty i n g r e a t num bers. E n t ir e com m unities came i n t o b e in g a lm o st o v er n i g h t , ' As a consequence o f t h i s t r e n d , th e demand f o r t h e b e t t e r farm la n d became g r e a t and as th e s e l l i n g p r i c e o f la n d r o s e , many o f th e l o c a l sc h o o l d i s t r i c t s found th e m se lv e s i n p o s s e s s io n o f c o n s id e r a b le sums o f m oney.

D uring th e p e r io d when th e v a lu e o f

ta x a b le p r o p e r ty was in c r e a s in g r a p i d l y t h e t a x r a t e was b e in g s t e a d i l y lo w e re d .

1 . H is to r y o f th e S ta te o f N ebraska W estern H i s t o r i c a l Company, C h ic ag o , 1882 Page 170 2 . U n o f f i c ia l e s tim a te o f th e B ureau o f th e C en su s, 1950

A t a c o m p a ra tiv e ly e a r l y d a te a new tr e n d emerged*

P eo p le w ere b e g in n in g t o

le a v e th e r u r a l a re a s and move t o th e c i t i e s and v i l l a g e s .

In th e ab sen ce of

d e f i n i t e r e s e a r c h d a ta , th e re a so n f o r t h i s m ig r a tio n became a m a tte r o f c o n je c t ­ u re *

I t i s known t h a t f a m i n g d u rin g th e e a r l y y e a rs was d i f f i c u l t *

th e la b o r was p erfo rm ed by hand in v o lv in g long h o u rs each day*

Much o f

U s u a lly , th e

farm home was a lm o st d ev o id of th e c o n v en ie n c es common to th e c i t y d w e lle r . The r u r a l s c h o o l p la y e d a v i t a l r o le i n t h i s t r e n d i n t h a t v e ry l i t t l e program was d e sig n e d t o d ev elo p th e a d v an ta g e s o f r u r a l l i f e .

of i t s

An a n a ly s is o f

th e tr e n d o f movement to w a rd th e c i t i e s and v i l l a g e s i s p r e s e n te d in T able I I I * T able I I I P o p u la tio n o f Nemaha C ounty b y P r e c i n i t s D uring th e Y ears 1870, 1880, 1920, 1930, and 1940 P r e c in c ts A sp in w a ll A uburn, c i t y B edford B enton B ro w n v ille B ro w n v ille , c i t y D ouglas G lenrock J u lia n , v illa g e I s la n d L a f a y e tte B rock, v i l l a g e P eru P e ru , v i l l a g e S t* D eroin W ashington Jo h n so n , v i l l a g e Nemaha Nemaha, c i t y London T o ta ls

1870 572 .

1880 735/ ‘

195 456 2386 2100

580 951 1601 1200

393

880

618

187 1072

1164

1187

276 ■373

190 789

628

908 699

9111

10979

1920

1930

1940

649 0 523 2863 3068 688 696 867 871 645 638 463 426 598 623 921 785 181 156 129 133 1254 1157 274 328 1434 1373 783 835 55 57 1262 1196 255 288 8 20 731 320 396 572 510

442 3639 579 812 836 581 564 727 136 98 1077 373 1590 1024 23 1175 301 808 §79 411

15033 14790

15575

E xcept f o r th e v i l l a g e o f B ro w n v ille , t h e r e a p p e a re d t o be a d e f i n i t e tr e n d to w ard an in c r e a s e in p o p u la tio n u n t i l th e y e a r 1920.

B ro w n v ille w as,

in th e e a r l y y e a r s , a la n d in g p o in t f o r th e r i v e r s te a m e r s .

A ls o , f e r r i e s

o p e ra te d a t t h i s p o in t as a s e r v ic e t o th e wagon t r a i n s and d u rin g th e p e r io d when th e r i v e r was e i t h e r f r o z e n o v er o r a t a low s t a t e i t c o u ld be c ro s s e d w ith co m p arativ e s a f e t y .

Many o f th e w estw ard t r a i l s f o c a liz e d a t t h i s p o i n t .

As a r e s u l t of th e s e combined in f l u e n c e s , B ro w n v ille h ad a t t a i n e d a p o p u la tio n of s e v e r a l th o u sa n d i n h a b i t a n t s a t th e tim e o f i t s in c o r p o r a t i o n .

The p e r io d

from 1880 t o 1920 was o m itte d from th e s tu d y f o r th e re a s o n t h a t th e t r e n d d u rin g th e s e y e a rs was so i n d i s t i n c t t h a t in c lu s io n o f th e f i g u r e s d id n o t seem ju s tifie d .

The c o n c lu s io n t h a t m ig r a tio n away from th e r u r a l a r e a s o f Nemaha

C ounty was c o n tin u in g as l a t e as 1950 was f u r t h e r s u p p o rte d by th e f a c t t h a t e ig h te e n ho u ses i n th e r u r a l a r e a s of th e c o u n ty w ere v a c a n t d e p p ite th e f a c t t h a t an a c u te h o u sin g s h o rta g e e x i s t e d in n e a r l y a l l o f th e towns o f th e c o u n ty . The t r e n d aw^y from th e r u r a l a re a s has had a s i g n i f i c a n t e f f e c t upon th e sc h o o ls th e r u r a l s c h o o l fo u n d i t s e l f a lm o st w ith o u t s tu d e n ts and th e v i l l a g e sc h o o l was crowded beyond i t s norm al c a p a c i t y , 1 A ccording t o o f f i c i a l c en su s r e p o r ts th e p e r c e n t o f r u r a l p o p u la tio n as compared w ith u rb a n p o p u la tio n i n N ebraska changed from a p p ro x im a te ly 95 p e r c e n t r u r a l in 1870 t o 6 0 .9 p e r c e n t r u r a l i n 1940,

The tr e n d away from th e

r u r a l a re a s has b een somewhat s tr o n g e r in Nemaha C ounty. in c r e a s e d t o e x a c t l y 50 p e r c e n t .

In 1920 th e p e r c e n t

An e x a m in a tio n of th e p o p u la tio n tr e n d in

Nemaha C ounty c l e a r l y in d ic a te d t h a t w h ile u rb a n p o p u la tio n was i n c r e a s i n g , th e t o t a l p o p u la tio n of th e c o u n ty had f a l l e n from a h ig h o f 1 3 ,0 0 0 , in 1900 t o 11,201 in 1950. 1 . B ureau o f th e C ensus, N ebraska 1940

17

Table IV h a s been in tr o d u c e d a t t h i s p o i n t f o r th e p u rp o se of d e m o n stra t­ in g how d i s t i n c t l y t h i s tr e n d had m a n ife s te d i t s e l f d u rin g th e f i r s t f o r t y y e a rs of th e tw e n tie th c e n tu r y .

There a p p e a rs t o be a d is c r e p a n c y b etw een

Table I I I and Table LV f o r th e y e a r 1940.

The s t a t i s t i c a l d a ta f o r T able I I I

was ta k e n from th e re c o rd s in th e o f f ic e of th e c o u n ty c l e r k of Nemaha C ounty. A th o ro u g h s tu d y o f t h i s d is c r e p a n c y r e v e a le d t h a t d u rin g th e decade 1930 to 1940, r i v e r im provem ent work sp o n so re d by th e Corps o f E n g in e e rs , U n ite d S ta te s Army, had b ro u g h t in to t h e c o u n ty an e s tim a te d two th o u sa n d p e rso n s who w ere in c lu d e d in th e d a ta u se d i n T able I I I b u t n o t in c lu d e d in th e re c o rd s of th e c o u n ty c le rk * Table IV1 Census o f Nemaha C ounty From 1860 t o 1940

I8 6 0 1870 1880 1890 1900

3,139 7,593 10,451 1 1,250 13,095

1910 1920 1930 1940 1950

1 2 ,8 8 7 12,5 4 7 12,356 12,781 11,201

These te m p o ra ry c i t i z e n s had e s t a b l i s h e d homes i n th e c o u n ty , t h e i r c h i l ­ d ren a tte n d e d th e p u b lic s c h o o l y e t many w ere n o t re c o rd e d on t h e t a x r o l l s . The tr e n d in sch o o l p o p u la tio n fo llo w e d th e g e n e r a l p o p u la tio n tr e n d r a t h e r c l o s e l y u n t i l 1920.

T h e r e a f te r , th e l o s s in r u r a l s c h o o l e n ro llm e n t was

f a r i n e x c e ss of th e lo s s in p o p u la tio n .

I t seemed l o g i c a l t o co n clu d e t h a t

th e s t r e s s o f th e d e p re s s io n y e a rs added t o th e g e n e r a l tr e n d away from th e r u r a l a re a s had a cc o u n te d f o r th e sh a rp d e c re a s e in e n ro llm e n t in th e r u r a l s c h o o ls .

1 , D ata s e c u re d from th e B ureau of th e C en su s, N eb rask a, 1940

18

The d e c lin e i n r u r a l sc h o o l e n ro llm e n t became d i s t i n c t i n th e y e a r 1893. P r i o r t o t h i s tim e th e change h a d n o t b e e n s u f f i c i e n t l y d i s t i n c t and u n ifo rm t o be c o n s id e re d a t r e n d .

Table V i s an a n a ly s is o r th e e n ro llm e n t o f th e r u r a l

s c h o o ls o f Nemaha C ounty from 1893 t o 1949.

A com parison o f th e s e s t a t i s t i c s

w ith th e d a ta c o n ta in e d in T able IV i n d i c a t e s t h a t th e d e c re a s e in r u r a l s c h o o l e n ro llm e n t was c o n s id e r a b ly g r e a t e r th a n t h e g e n e r a l downward tr e n d i n p o p u la tio n . 'Table V R u ra l S chool E n ro llm e n t o f Nemaha County From 1893 t o 1949 Y ear 1893 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1949

S ch o o l en ­ ro llm e n t 3 ,5 7 3 2,198 2,152 1 ,7 7 6 1,2 5 2 691 648

P e r c e n t of D ecrease 0 36 2 .5 17 29 81 6

E x cept f o r th e y e a rs 1942 t o 1946, th e c i t y and v i l l a g e s c h o o ls have shown a s l i g h t in c r e a s e in e n ro llm e n t eac h y e a r .

D uring t h e w ar years^m any r e s id e n ts

h ad moved t o th e p ro d u c tio n c e n te r s th ro u g h o u t th e n a ti o n t o work in d e fe n se p la n ts .

A p p ro x im a te ly s e v e n ty p e r c e n t o f th e p e o p le who l e f t Nemaha County

t o work in th e war p ro d u c tio n e f f o r t t e t u r n e d to th e c o u n ty a t t h e end o f th e w a r.

2

1 . W orld War I I 2 . S ta te m e n t b a se d upon a p e rs o n a l s u rv e y .

19 SUMMARY

N ebraska d ev elo p ed from an u n c h a rte d w ild e rn e s s i n to an im p o rta n t s t a t e w ith in th e p e r io d of h a l f a c e n tu r y .

Many f o r c e s w ere a t work t o d i r e c t th e

stream, o f e m ig ra tio n to w ard N e b rask a .

Nemaha County was a f o c a l p o in t f o r

t h i s t i d e o f movement to w ard th e West and a s a r e s u l t , th e c o u n ty was s e t t l e d v e ry ra p id ly . The number of s c h o o ls in c r e a s e d in p r o p o r tio n t o th e r a p id in c r e a s e i n p o p u la tio n .

D uring th e e a r l y y e a rs th e g r e a t problem o f th e sc h o o l was t o f i n d

s u f f i c i e n t space t o house th e c h i l d r e n . s e e m e d s s ta b le .

For many y e a rs th e p o p u la tio n tr e n d

The e f f e c t of p o w erized m a c h in e ry and th e g r e a t econom ic

d e p re s s io n of th e decade 1930 to 1940 c o n tr ib u te d m a t e r i a l l y t o th e m ig r a tio n away from th e r u r a l a re a s o f Nemaha C ounty.

Because o f t h i s tr e n d th e e n ro llm e n t

in th e r u r a l sc h o o ls d e c lin e d s t e a d i l y down t o th e y e a r 1949.

CHAPTER IV

L ocal S u pport o f th e Schools- o f Nemaha County The g e n e r a l tr e n d in l o c a l s u p p o rt o f th e s c h o o l s ‘of Nemaha County was i n t e r e s t i n g from th e s ta n d p o in t of t h i s study*

An ad eq u a te com parison of

t h i s tr e n d w ith o th e r c o u n tie s was e x tre m e ly d i f f i c u l t b e c a u se many o f th e e a r l y re c o rd s o f n e ig h b o rin g c o u n tie s w ere n o t a v a ila b le f o r stu d y *

B ased

Upon in c o m p le te d a ta , i t may be s t a t e d t h a t th e g e n e ra l t r e n d i n l o c a l s u p p o rt i n n e ig h b o rin g c o u n tie s has been much th e same as th e tr e n d in Nemaha County* D e sp ite th e la c k of money and t h e p h y s ic a l h a rd s h ip s w hich th e p io n e e r was c a l l e d upon t o f a c e , i t seemed e v id e n t t h a t th e e a r l y c i t i z e n of Nemaha County and N ebraska was w i l l i n g and a n x io u s t o s u p p o rt h is sc h o o l a d e q u a te ly . Table VI p r e s e n ts s i g n i f i c a n t d a ta c o n c e rn in g t h i s m a tte r c o v e rin g th e e a r l y p e r io d of th e s t a t e ’ s h i s t o r y . Table VI The P e r C a p ita E x p e n d itu re f o r E d u c a tio n in Seven M id -w e ste rn S ta te s F or th e Y ears 1870 to 1913 S ta te

1870

1880

N ebraska D akota^ M is s o u ri Iowa Wyoming C olorado K ansas

f2 .6 1 1.29 .99 2.70 .71 1 .4 4 2 .2 4

12.45, 1 .8 1 1 .2 3 2.76 1 .3 7 2.03 1 .8 6

1890 |3 .1 9 3 .1 5 2 .03 3 .3 4 3.71 4.08 3.48

1900 14.13 4 .0 0 2 .52 3.81 2 .7 4 5.18 3 .1 4

1910

1913

|6 .2 7 6 .5 6 3.9 7 4 .7 6 5 .4 6 6 .5 2 5 .8 1

$7.48 6 .3 0 4 .6 3 7 .0 4 6 .4 7 7.39 6 .4 1

In th e y e a r 1870 N ebraska was ex pen d in g f o r e d u c a tin n an amount a lm o st e q u a l t o th e e d u c a tio n a l e x p e n d itu re in Iow a, a s t a t e w hich had been o rg a n iz e d many y e a rs e a r l i e r .

In 1913 t h i s e x p e n d itu re was th e h ig h e s t o f th e group

1 . N orth and South D akota r e p o r te d j o i n t l y u n t i l 1900* f i g u r e s u sed in Table VI a r e a v e r a g e s .

A fth e r t h i s d a te th e

21

o f s t a t e s u n d e r c o n s id e r a tio n .

The p e r c a p i t a e x p e n d itu re f o r e d u c a tio n

d u rin g t h i s p e r io d in Nemaha C ounty was c o n s id e r a b ly low er th a n th e s ta te w id e e x p e n d itu r e •

1

The v a lu e o f farm la n d in Nemaha County ro s e s t e a d i l y from 1870 t o 1913. D uring W orld War I farm la n d ro s e in p r ic e t o a lm o st a s tro n o m ic a l h e i g h t s . T his s te a d y in c r e a s e in th e v a lu e of r e a l e s t a t e t o g e th e r w ith th e sh a rp i n ­ c re a s e i n th e p r i c e of farm com m odities d u rin g th e w ar p e r io d had a re so u n d in g e f f e c t upon th e f i s c a l p o l i c y of many of th e s c h o o ls ,

As a d d i t i o n a l fu n d s w ere

made a v a i l a b l e t o th e s c h o o l th e g e n e r a l le v y was red u ced w ith l i t t l e

c o n s id e r ­

a t i o n g iv e n t o a program of im prevm ent of, th e s c h o o l or s c h o o l s i t e . 2 In 1912, t h e sum of $ 8 ,7 0 0 ,0 0 8 .0 4 was expended f o r p u b lic e d u c a tio n i n 3 N ebraska below th e se c o n d a ry l e v e l . In 1920, $ 1 9 ,5 6 3 ,0 6 4 .1 9 was expended

f o r e d u c a tio n a t b o th th e se c o n d a ry and e le m e n ta ry l e v e l .

Of t h i s am ount,

a p p ro x im a te ly 68 p e r c e n t was expended f o r th e s e c o n d a ry sc h o o l program in N e b rask a .

A rem ain d er of s l i g h t l y more th a n s i x m illi o n s o f do& lars was

a p p lie d a t th e e le m e n ta ry sc h o o l l e v e l .

D uring t h i s e ig h t y e a r p e r io d p o p u la t­

io n in c r e a s e d a p p ro x im a te ly 8 p e r c e n t .

The q u e s tio n a r o s e : Has a program o f

g e n e r a l im provem ent and developm ent as r e f l e c t e d in th e amounts expended f o r e d u c a tio n k e p t pace w ith th e in c r e a s e in th e v a lu e of p h y s ic a l and human r e s o u r ­ ces in Nemaha County?

In 1912, th e a s s e s s e d v a lu a t io n o f r e a l and p e rs o n a l

p r o p e r ty in Nemaha County was $ 5 ,7 6 8 ,2 7 4 .0 0 ; i n 1949, t h i s f i g u r e had r i s e n t o $ 2 6 ,1 5 2 ,8 2 0 .0 0 .

In 1912, # 5 8 ,7 5 1 .7 5 D o lla rs w ere expended f o r r u r a l e d u c a t­

io n and in 1949, t h i s f i g u r e had r i s e n t t o $117,813,78*

D uring th e p e r io d

u n d e r s tu d y a s s e s s e d v a lu a t io n s had in c re a s e d a p p ro x im a te ly f i v e tim e s w h ile e x p e n d itu re f o r e d u c a tio n i n th e u r u a l sc h o o l had d o u b le d .

These d a ta p o in t

1 . E x p e n d itu re f o r Nemaha County f o r 1870 was $1.51 p e r c a p i t a ; f o r 1913, $6.43 2 . R eport o f th e Com m issioner o f E d u c a tio n f o r th e y e a r ended June 30, 1912, V o l. 1 . W ashingto n, Government P r i n t i n g O f f i c e , 1913 T w en ty -S ix th B ie n n ia l R eport o f th e S ta te S u p e rin te n d e n t t o th e G overnor o f The S ta te o f N e b rask a •

r a t h e r c o n c lu s iv e ly

t o a la g on th e p a r t o f th e r u r a l s c h o o ls t o m a in ta in a

g e n e r a l improvem ent

program i n k e ep in g w ith th e p ro g re s s o f t h e com m unity.

What c o n s t i t u t e s books and s u p p l i e s ,

th e g e n e ra l e x p e n d itu re o f a sc h o o l?

T eacher*s s a l a r y ,

and g e n e r a l m a in te n an c e and r e p a i r co m p rise a p p ro x im a te ly

95 p e r c e n t o f th e t o t a l e x p e n d itu re f o r th e r u r a l sch o o l*

In o rd e r t o show

th e d i r e c t i o n of t h i s tr e n d in Nemaha C ounty s in c e 1912, T able Y II h as been d e v e lo p e d . T able V II E x p e n d itu re P e r R u ral School i n Nemaha County From 1912 t o 1949 E x p e n d itu re Teacher* s.. S a la r y Textbooks R e p a irs and M aintenance

1912

1922

1932

1942

1949

$355 .97 5 .5 0

$700 5 .3 0 4 .9 0

$630 2 .1 0 2 .0 0

$645 2 .0 4 .9 4

■$1,430 .96 5 2 .0 0

The te n d e n c y to w a rd in c r e a s in g th e te a c h e rs * s a l a r y seemed t o have m et c o n s ta n t re s is ta n c e . p e r m onth.

In 1912, th e r u r a l te a c h e r e a rn e d a p p ro x im a te ly t h i r t y d o l l a r s By th e y e a r 1942 t h i s f i g u r e had in c r e a s e d t o $ 5 8 .7 5 .

This r a t e

o f in c r e a s e was e n t i r e l y in a d e q u a te t o m eet th e in c r e a s e in th e c o s t of l i v i n g , p e r s o n a l needs and c o n tin u e d e d u c a tio n .

The a c u te s h o rta g e o f r u r a l e le m e n ta ry

te a c h e r s in th e y e a rs 1948 and 1949 b ro u g h t i n t o sh arp fo c u s th e extrem erly low ra te of pay.

When th e l o c a l b o a rd f u l l y r e a l i z e d th e s i g n i f ic a n c e of th e

im pact of th e t e a c h e r s h o r ta g e , s a l a r i e s w ere in c r e a s e d s h a r p l y .

I t was s t a r t ­

l i n g ' t o d is c o v e r t h a t , i n th e y e a r 1942, one r u r a l d i s t r i c t expended f o r i n s t r u c t ­ i o n a l s e r v ic e th e sum of two h u n d red and f i f t y d o l l a r s . te x tb o o k s fo llo w e d th e same g e n e r a l p a t t e r n . from th e e f f e c t of th e d e p re s s io n o f 1932.

The e x p e n d itu re f o r

Many o f th e s c h o o ls d id n o t re c o v e r D uring th e y e a rs betw een 1912 and

1 . The f i g u r e in t h i s column i s t h e c o s t p e r p u p il

23

1932, Nemaha County e n jo y e d a p e r io d o f c o n s id e ra b le p r o s p e r i t y ; b o a rd members w ere more w i l l i n g t o s u p p ly th e n e c e s s a r y te a c h in g m a t e r i a l s .

By 1932, th e

t r e n d was s h a r p ly downward and i n 1 9 4 9 , d e s p ite th e in c r e a s e in m a n u fa c tu rin g and p r o d u c tio n c o s ts o f s c h o o l books and m a t e r i a l s , t h e e x p e n d itu re s p e r p u p il had f a lle n to n in e ty -s ix c e n ts . V ery l i t t l e

a t t e n t i o n h a s b e e n g iv e n t o th e m ain ten an o e anri r e p a i r o f th e 1 sc h o o l b u i l d i n g . B u ild in g s a r e o ld . In a few in s ta n c e s money w hich h a d b een r a i s e d b y sc h o o l program s was u sed t o re d e c o r a te th e i n t e r i o r o f th e sc h o o l h o u se ; o c c a s io n a ll y , p e o p le o f th e d i s t r i c t f u r n is h e d th e n e c e s s a r y m a t e r i a l s 2 and la b o r t o r e d e c o r a te . I n 1949, th e L e g is la tu r e e n a c te d a law d e sig n e d t o e q u a liz e t a x a t i o n w ith in th e r u r a l d i s t r i c t s .

The in f l u e n c e b f t h i s l e g i s l a t i o n

may have c a u se d a number o f d i s t r i c t s t o expend c o n s id e r a b le sums i n th e b e l i e f t h a t su ch e x p e n d itu re c o u ld be a p p lie d on th e re fu n d u n d er th e la w .

S e v e ra l

d i s t r i c t s w here sch o o l had n o t been h e ld f o r many y e a rs made p la n s t o r e d e c o r a te t h e i n t e r i o r o f t h e b u ild in g c o m p le te ly ev en th o u g h th e p r o b a b i l i t y t h a t s c h o o l w ould n e v e r a g a in be h e ld in th e b u ild in g was g r e a t .

Inasmuch as th e B la n k e t

Tax Law does n o t p e m i t a d i s t r i c t t o in c lu d e i n i t s re fu n d c la im and expend­ i t u r e f o r r e p a i r o f th e b u i l d i n g , v e r y l i t t l e

o f t h i s p ro p o se d work was d o n e ,

r■

The t r e n d i n th e c i t y and v i l l a g e s c h o o l has b e en d i f f e r e n t .

The lo n g and

te d io u s p ro c e s s of e x p a n sio n of th e s e c o n d a ry sc h o o l had i t s b e g in n in g i n Nemaha County a t th e t u r n o f th e t w e n tie th c e n tu r y .

The c h a lle n g e of a ch an g in g

s o c i e t y c au se d many p a r e n ts t o dev elo p a s tr o n g and v i r i l e i n t e r e s t i n t h e i r s c h o o l.

P e o p le l i v e d somewhat c l o s e r t o t h e a c t i v i t i e s o f th e v i l l a g e sc h o o l

an d , a s t h e y became i n c r e a s i n g l y aware o f th e many p o s s i b i l i t i e s o f an expanded c u rric u lu m , t h e i r w illin g n e s s t o p a y f o r su ch im provem ent c o rre s p o n d in g ly

1 , The a v e ra g e age o f th e r u r a l sc h o o l b u i l d i n g i n 1950 was s ix ty - s e v e n y e a r s , 2 . The B la n k et Tax Law, 1949

74757

24

in c r e a s e d .

S in c e 1912, th e e x p e n d itu re f o r g e n e ra l improvem ent o f th e v i l l a g e

s c h o o ls o f Nemaha C ounty h a s in c r e a s e d s t e a d i l y .

T ab le V I I I , w hich i s s i m i l a r

t o T able V II, has b een p r e s e n te d f o r th e p u rp o se of c o m p a riso n . .Table V III E x p e n d itu re P e r C ity and V illa g e School in Nemaha County From 1912 t o 1949 1922

1912

E x p e n d itu re

1932

1942

1949 X £

Teache r s f Salary'*' T extbooks P e r P u p il M aintenance and R e p a ir

#650 5 .1 5 305

#1260 6 .5 0 630

11330 2 .8 0 523

|13 7 7 . 1 .6 0 640

#2260 . 4.00 690

In c o n s id e r in g th e t o t a l c o s t o f m a in te n an c e i t seemed w o rth y o f m e n tio n t h a t e v e ry v i l l a g e and c i t y sc h o o l in Nemaha County had d u rin g th e p e r io d u n d e r c o n s id e r a tio n e i t h e r e r e c te d a new b u ild in g o r made m a jo r r e p a i r s upon th e o ld s tru c tu re .

C a re fu l p e r s o n a l i n v e s t i g a t i o n re v e a le d t h a t a c e r t a i n amount o f

m a in te n an c e and r e p a i r has been i n p ro c e s s a lm o st d a i l y .

U s u a lly , th e c u s to d ia n

was engaged on a f u l l - t i m e b a s is and was a b le t o make m in o r r e p a ir s as n e ed e d . The s e l e c t i o n of m a t e r i a l s and s u p p lie s t o be u se d in th e s c h o o ls w as, as a g e n e r a l r u l e , i n th e

hands of th e s u p e r in te n d e n t o r some o th e r r e s p o n s ib le

a d m in is tr a tiv e o f f i c e r who was t r a i n e d t o do t h i s w o rk .

As th e sc h o o l program

b ro ad en ed i n scope t o m eet th e n eed s o f th e y o u th of t h e community th e c o s t of th e s e r v ic e in c r e a s e d . '^he p ro c e d u re s fo llo w e d in s u p p ly in g te x tb o o k s and g e n e r a l sc h o o l m a t e r i a l s t o th e r u r a l sc h o o ls w ere s u b je c te d t o th e c o n s id e r a tio n o f a number o f v a r i a b l e s Q u ite o f t e n , a te a c h e r who was new t o th e sc h o o l would s e t ab o u t i n a s y s te m a tic m anner t o s e c u re th e n e c e s s a r y s u p p l i e s .

Sound and c a r e f u l p la n n in g and a

s tro n g p e r s o n a l p u b l i c - r e l a t i o n s program seemed t o be th e s tr o n g e s t f a c t o r s of in f lu e n c e i n th e l o c a l com m unity.

In a few in s ta n c e s a v ig o ro u s d riv e t o

1 . The f i g u r e s u se d i n t h i s t a b l e a re b a se d upon s a l a r i e s o f a l l te a c h e r s e x c e p t a d m in is tr a tiv e o f f i c e r s .

25

o b ta in a d e q u a te te a c h in g t o o l s p ro v ed e m b a rra ssin g t o th e t e a c h e r .

A lthough

no o b je c tio n was r a i s e d a t th e tim e th e m a t e r i a ls w ere p u rc h a s e d , th e t e a c h e r som etim es f a i l e d in r e - e l e c t i o n on th e grounds t h a t she was " to o e x p e n s iv e " • There seemed t o be no v a l i d s o u rc e from w hich in fo r m a tio n c o n c e rn in g th e s u p p lie s u s e d in th e e a r l i e s t s c h o o ls c o u ld be fo u n d . t r a n s p o r t a t i o n f a c i l i t i e s w ere v e r y l i m i t e d .

D uring th e p io n e e r e r a

The t e a c h e r and p u p il a l i k e w ere

a d ju s te d t o th e t a s k of c o n d u c tin g a day o f sc h o o l w ith th e s l a t e and th e b la c k b o a rd .

The y e a r 1895 was s e l e c t e d a s a re f e r e n c e p o in t upon w hich an

a n a ly s is o f t h i s phase of th e problem c o u ld be b a se d f o r two re a so n s ? 1 , There a p p e a re d t o be an e d u c a tio n a l aw akening th ro u g h o u t A m erica a t t h i s tim e , 2 , The F ree T extbook Law was p a s s e d in th e y e a r 1891,

T able IX p r e s e n ts p e r t i n e n t

d a ta c o n c e rn in g t h i s problem i n a co m p o site form as a c o n v en ien ce in e v a lu a t­ in g th e s ig n if ic a n c e of th e t r e n d . T a b le IX T o ta l E x p e n d itu re F or S u p p lie s and Textbooks P e r Y ear In The R u ral S chools o f Nemaha C ounty From 1895 To th e Y ear 1945 Year 1895 1905 1915 1925 1935 1945

^ T o ta l ' Expended # 2 ,1 4 1 .0 2 3 ,5 8 8 ,7 1 3 ,5 5 4 .8 3 1 ,1 2 3 .2 3 1 ,1 3 6 .3 3 2 ,1 8 0 .5 0

Number o f P u p ils

C ost P e r P u p il

- 2,741 .1 ,9 5 0 1 ,6 6 4 1,6 3 0 877 588

A m arked d e c re a s e i s shown f o r th e y e a r 1925,

# 0.77 1 .8 3 2 .1 3 .69 1 .2 9 3 ,7 2 E xtended i n v e s t i g a t i o n and

p e r s o n a l i n q u ir y le d th e w r i t e r t o su rm ise t h a t th e econom ic d e p r e s s io n w hich fo llo w e d W orld War I had r e - a c t i v a t e d th e te n d e n c y on th e p a r t o f many p e o p le t o v ig o r o u ls y a t t a c k a l l e x p e n d itu re s f o r p u b lic s e r v i c e s .

A p p a re n tly ,

from 1920 t o 1925, th e p r e s s u r e t o red u ce sc h o o l ta x e s h ad b een g r e a t b e ca u se each y e a r t h i s e x p e n d itu re had b een d e c re a s e d m a t e r i a l l y .

26

Many o f th e d i s t r i c t s d id n o t l i s t an e x p e n d itu re f o r te x tb o o k s i n th e a n n u a l r e p o r t*

P r e s s in g t h i s m a tte r scmewhat f a r t h e r , i t was d e te rm in e d t h a t

th e s c h o o ls showing no e x p e n d itu re f o r te x tb o o k s and s u p p lie s c o n ta in e d 32 p e r c e n t o f th e t o t a l r u r a l sc h o o l e n ro llm e n t d u rin g th e y e a rs u n d e r stu d y *

T his

f a c t gave r i s e t o t h e c o n c lu s io n t h a t th e sc h o o ls h a v in g l a r g e r e n ro llm e n ts te n d e d t o spend l e s s f o r s u p p lie s and books th a n th e s c h o o ls w ith s m a ll e n r o l l ­ m ents*

Seme i n f l u e n t i a l p e o p le in th e l o c a l d i s t r i c t o b je c te d t o th e p u rc h a se

o f books and s u p p lie s f o r th e c h i ld r e n o f m ig ra n t w o rk ers*

The re a s o n g iv en

f o r t h i s o b j e c t i o n , i n one c a s e , was s t a t e d i n a l e t t e r t o th e c o u n ty s u p e r i n t ­ e n d e n t:

"These p e o p le do n o t p a y ta x e s and w i l l le a v e t h e d i s t r i c t when c o rn -

sh u ck in g i s o v e r .” F or many y e a rs i t h as b e en a common p r a c t i c e f o r b o a rd s o f e d u c a tio n t o a u th o r iz e th e te a c h e r t o p u rc h a se s u p p lie s th ro u g h l o c a l c h a n n e ls .

T h is p r a c t i c e

seemed t o have th e e f f e c t o f s im p lif y in g th e p ro cu rem en t o f m a t e r i a l s . r u r a l d i s t r i c t s , in 1950, c a r r i e d an open a cc o u n t w ith l o c a l f i r m s .

Many

When th e

te a c h e r p u rc h a s e d s u p p lie s th e amount was e i t h e r added t o h e r s a l a r y check o r c h arg ed t o th e d i s t r i c t .

An a u d it o f th e f i s c a l r e p o r ts o f th e d i s t r i c t s

r e v e a le d t h a t when th e te a c h e r p a id f o r th e s u p p lie s and was re im b u rse d l a t e r b y th e b o a rd , t h e amount shown as a c tu a l s a l a r y was i n e x c e ss o f h e r r a t e of p a y b y th e e x a c t amount o f th e s u p p lie s p u rc h a s e d . c o rre c tly c la s s if ie d .

The a c c o u n ts had n e v e r been

B asing an o p in io n upon t h i s e v id e n c e i t seemed re a s o n a b le

t o assume t h a t th e amount o f money expended f o r books and s u p p lie s was g r e a t e r th a n th e amount shown i n th e c e r t i f i e d r e c o r d s .

There can be no d o u b t, how ever,

t h a t th e c h i l d r e n in many o f th e r u r a l d i s t r i c t s w ere f o r c e d t o a t t e n d s c h o o l day a f t e r day w ith o u t an a d e q u a te s u p p ly o f te x tb o o k s and g e n e r a l s u p p lie s b e in g a v a i l a b l e t o them .

27

The r e a l s ig n if ic a n c e of th e p ro c e d u re w hich h a s b e en o u tlin e d i n th e fo re g o in g p a ra g ra p h was n o t t h a t th e amount of money expended f o r te x tb o o k s had b een g r e a t l y li m i t e d b u t r a t h e r , th e m anner in w hich th e s e l e c t i o n o f th e s e books was o f te n made*

Many tim e s th e problem o f s e l e c t i o n o f a te x tb o o k

was p la c e d i n th e hands of a c l e r k i n th e l o c a l s to re *

-*n o rd e r t o d e m o n strate

th e e x tr e m ity t o w hich t h i s c a r e l e s s p r a c t i c e h a s b een c a r r i e d , a s p e c i f i c s i t u a t i o n i s d e s c rib e d i n d e t a i l ,

^he te a c h e r o f a r u r a l s c h o o l had su b m itte d

an o rd e r f o r s u p p lie s and te x tb o o k s t o a l o c a l f ir m .

W ith in th e body of t h i s

o rd e r was found th e fo llo w in g s ta te m e n t: T,R eading, any good book” . The s e l e c t ­ io n o f th e b a s ic re a d in g t e x t f o r t h i s sc h o o l h ad been p la c e d in th e hands o f a l o c a l b u s in e s s m an. The te x tb o o k l i b r a r i e s o f th e r u r a l s c h o o ls o f Nemaha County w ere c a r e f u l l y 1 in v e n to r ie d and e v a lu a te d in 1949 on th e b a s is o f an a c c e p te d c h e c k - l i s t . I t was fo u n d t h a t th e q u a l i t y and q u a n t i t y of s a t i s f a c t o r y te x tb o o k s in th e s c h o o ls w hich fo llo w e d th e p r a c t i c e o f c o n s u ltin g w ith th e c o u n ty s u p e r in te n d e n t b e fo re s e l e c t i n g th e book was much h ig h e r th a n in th e sc h o o ls w here no o rg a n iz e d sy stem o f p rocurem ent of s u p p lie s was u s e d . The l i t e r a t u r e d e a lin g w ith th e s u b je c t o f f r e e te x tb o o k s f o r th e p u b lic s c h o o ls c o n ta in e d many s ta te m e n ts le a d in g to th e c o n c lu s io n t h a t t h i s law met w ith s t e r n r e s i s t a n c e when i t was f i r s t p ro p o s e d . law h a s le s s e n e d g r e a t l y in r e c e n t tim e s .

D ir e c t r e s i s t a n c e t o th e

The te n d e n c y to w ard c a r e le s s

p ro cu rem en t of te x tb o o k s r e s u l t i n g in u n s a t i s f a c t o r y s e l e c t i o n was a p p a re n t in Nemaha County in 1951.

Many o f th e r u r a l sc h o o ls do n o t own a s u f f i c i e n t

number of te x tb o o k s t o e n a b le th e t e a c h e r t o p la n and d ev elo p an a d eq u a te program b a se d upon m odern c o n c e p ts o f c u rric u lu m -m a k in g .

1 . C h e c k - lis t p ro v id e d by th e o f f i c e o f th e s t a t e s u p e r in te n d e n t.

28

C ra b tre e s t a t e d : ,flh e argum ent w hich /S ta te S u p e rin te n d e n t Thomspon made i n h i s f i r s t b i e n n i a l r e p o r t , 1878, f o r f r e e te x t-b o o k s was a v o ic e c ry in g i n th e w ild e rn e s s t o p re p a re th e way f o r our s p le n d id te x t- b o o k law p a sse d by th e l e g i s l a t u r e o f 1891 u n d e r th e a d m in i s t r a t io n o f S ta te S u p e rin te n d e n t A.K.Goudy t o whom th e law w i l l alw ays s ta n d as a monument. The argum ents s e t f o r t h b y Goudy w ere o f c o n s id e r a b le i n t e r e s t .

H seemed c l e a r

t h a t t h i s e d u c a to r was aware o f th e problem s f a c in g e d u c a t io n .i n N ebraska a t th is e a rly d a te .

Goudy*s argum ents w e re:

1. The necessary books are ready at the beginning of the term. 2. 3. 4. > 5. 6. 7.

E very p u p il h as th e r i g h t k in d o f books and enough o f them . A b so lu te u n if o r m ity i s s e c u re d . More p u p ils go t o sc h o o l where books a re f r e e . Needed changes can be made w ith o u t a d d i t i o n a l c o s t . I t i s much c h e a p e r. Where f r e e te x t- b o o k s a re f u r n i s h e d , i f a man moves i n t o a d i s t r i c t h is c h ild r e n can go i n t o sc h o o l a t once w ith o u t f u r t h e r e x p e n s e .

The p r i n c i p l e of f r e e te x tb o o k s f o r a l l c h ild r e n h as n o t y e t b een u n i v e r s a l l y a c c e p te d b y th e s e v e r a l s t a t e s .

D o u b tle ss th e s e t o f argum ents shown above

c o n s t i t u t e th e fo u n d a tio n f o r th e f r e e te x tb o o k law i n N e b rask a .

The u ltim a te

aim of th e law has n o t , in 1950, b een a c h ie v e d b e c a u se e v e ry p u p il does n o t have an ad eq u a te s u p p ly of w e l l - s e l e c t e d te x tb o o k s from w hich t o s tu d y .

In

Nemaha County in th e y e a r 1948, one sc h o o l w ith f o u r c h ild r e n e n r o lle d in th e b e g in n e r and f i r s t g ra d e s d id n o t have a s i n g le te x tb o o k f o r th e s e c h i l d r e n .

The in v e stig a tio n which led to the so lu tio n of th is problem revealed that a l l 3 a v a i l a b l e money had b een expended.

The a c tu a l c o s t o f th e m a t e r i a l s n e c e s s a r y

t o s u p p ly th e s e c h ild r e n was l e s s th a n tw e n ty d o l l a r s .

The a v erag e g e n e r a l

fu n d le v y i n t h i s p a r t i c u l a r d i s t r i c t from th e y e a r 1925 t o 1950 was 3 .2 m i l l s on th e d o l l a r of v a l u a t i o n .

The v a lu a t io n of th e d i s t r i c t in 1950 was in

1 . C r a b tr e e , J.W . (S erved a p a r t o f b ien n iu m as s t a t e s u p e r in te n d e n t) Tw entys i x t h B ie n n ia l R eport of t h e S ta te S u p e rin te n d e n t t o th e G o v ern o r. * 2 . Op. c i t . y page 403-404 3 . The an n u al r e p o r t o f t h s s d i s t r i c t i n d i c a t e d an e x p e n d itu re o f $295.00 f o r p la y g ro u n d e q u ip m e n t. $ 3 .7 9 were expended f o r te x tb o o k s .

29

e x c e ss of a q u a r t e r of a m i l l i o n d o lla r s * 1 C o rb e tt made a s tu d y o f th e problem o f f r e e te x tb o o k s i n 1895*

H is

q u e s ti o n a ir e c o n s is te d o f a s e r i e s o f i n q u i r i e s c o n ce rn in g th e f r e e te x tb o o k law*

One of th e q u e s tio n s a sk e d w as: ”I s th e av erag e c o n d itio n and c a re o f

books b e t t e r o r w orse th a n i t was i n th e same sch o o l u n d e r in d i v i d u a l owner­ s h ip ? ”

E ig h ty - s ix of th e r e p l i e s in d ic a t e d t h a t th e g e n e r a l c o n d itio n was

" b e t t e r ” ; t h i r t y - s i x i n d ic a te d t h a t th e c o n d itio n was "w o rse” and f o r t y - t h r e e i n d ic a te d ”no n o tic e a b le d i f f e r e n c e ” *

N e a rly h a l f of th e p e o p le who r e p l i e d

t o th e q u e s ti o n a ir e w ere n o t i n v ig o ro u s s u p p o rt o f th e law and i t seemed re a s o n a b le t o assume t h a t a p p ro x im a te ly o n e -fo u rth o f th e r e p l i e s d e m o n stra te d h o s t i l i t y to it*

By 1900, g e n e r a l o b je c tio n t o th e law had d im in ish e d g r e a t l y .

2

Jac k so n r e p o r te d t h a t i n 1897 o n ly 18 p e r c e n t o f th e r e p l i e s t o an i n q u i r y c o n c e rn in g th e law w ere i n f a v o r o f r e p e a lin g i t *

The c h i e f argum ent advanced

in f a v o r o f r e p e a l w as: " I n d iv id u a l ow nership w ould r e s u l t i n b e t t e r c a re o f b o o k s” *

1 . C o r b e tt, H. R. F o u r te e n th B ie n n ia l R eport o f th e S ta te S u p e rin te n d e n t To The G overnor o f N e b rask a . 2 . J a c k s o n , W. R ., S ta te S u p e rin te n d e n t o f P u b lic I n s t r u c t i o n , 1897-98

30

SUMMARY

D uring th e e a r l y p e rio d o f th e s t a t e f s h i s t o r y th e p e o p le o f N ebraska and Nemaha County w ere an x io u s t o m a in ta in an a d eq u a te sch o o l f o r t h e i r c h i l d r e n . The problem o f m a in ta in in g a sch o o l was c o n s ta n tl y b e fo re th e com m unity.

It

was n o t p o s s ib le f o r th e e a r l y c i t i z e n t o became com placent ab o u t h i s s c h o o l. P o p u la tio n in c r e a s e d v e ry r a p i d l y ; th e e n ro llm e n t o f th e s c h o o l m ig h t be d o u b led alm o st o v er n i g h t .

The sch o o l was th e n e r v e - c e n te r o f th e ccm m unity.

As com m unities became s t a b i l i z e d t h i s u n i v e r s a l z e a l f o r a good s c h o o l w aned. G re at economic changes w ere ta k in g p l a c e ; farm la n d in c r e a s e d i n v a lu e v e ry r a p i d l y and th e r a i l r o a d s and com m unication system s fo llo w e d c l o s e l y in th e f o o t s t e p s o f th e p io n e e r . th e c i t i z e n .

The ’’S p e llin g Bee” no lo n g e r h e ld th e i n t e r e s t of

H is h o riz o n s o f i n t e r e s t w idened g r e a t l y .

C hapter IV i s n o t in te n d e d as an in d ic tm e n t a g a in s t th e p e o p le o f Nemaha C ounty.

G reat te c h n o l o g ic a l changes w ere ta k in g p la c e in e v e r y community and

b e ca u se of th e s e changes th e i n t e r e s t i n th e l o c a l community seemed t o assume a p o s i t i o n o f s e c o n d a ry im p o rtan ce in th e m inds o f many i n f l u e n t i a l p e o p le . The la c k o f p r o f e s s i o n a l le a d e r s h ip i n th e o f f i c e o f c o u n ty s u p e r in te n d e n t o v e r a long p e r io d of tim e had p e rm itte d t h i s co n cep t t o become d e e p ly imbedded i n th e th in k in g o f a g r e a t many community l e a d e r s . S t a t i s t i c a l d a ta d e a lin g w ith t h i s im p o rta n t m a tte r c l e a r l y in d ic a te d t h a t th e r u r a l s c h o o ls o f Nemaha County have n o t been im proved in acco rd an ce w ith th e g e n e r a l im provem ent i n r u r a l l i f e .

Many farm homes have b een m o d ern ized

e x te n s iv e ly b u t g e n e r a lly , th e r u r a l sc h o o l i s n e i t h e r m odern, e f f i c i e n t l y eq u ip p ed o r a t t r a c t i v e l y a p p o in te d . u n p le a s a n t in a p p e a ra n c e .

Many r u r a l s c h o o ls a re d a rk , d rab and

31 CHAPTER V

The Development of th e R ural Schools o f Nemaha C ounty The L e g is la tu r e o f 1875 re p e a le d a m a jo r p o r ti o n of th e o r i g i n a l sch o o l law and e n a c te d i n i t s s te a d much of th e law upon w hich th e common sc h o o l r e s t s today*

This new l e g i s l a t i o n p ro v id e d f o r th e an n u al m e e tin g o f th e e l e c t ­

o rs o f th e l o c a l d i s t r i c t , , e s t a b l i s h e d q u a l i f i c a t i o n s f o r e l e c t o r s , p ro v id e d th e s t r u c t u r e f o r th e o r g a n iz a tio n of a d i s t r i c t , p ro v id e d f o r th e q u a l i f i c a t i o n s and h i r i n g of th e t e a c h e r and th e p u rc h a se o f sc h o o l p r o p e r ty . m in o r c h a n g e s, th e language o f th e 1875 laws and a lm o st i d e n t i c a l .

A side from

th e laws of th e p r e s e n t

is

Complete l& cal autonom y seemed t o have b een th e c h ie f

p u rp o se and i n t e n t af> th e law and when t h i s g o a l

had b een a c h ie v e d , th e

law

was p e r m itte d t o s ta n d alm o st unchanged f o r many y e a r s . W ith in a s h o r t tim e a f t e r th e f i r s t s e t t l e r s a r r i v e d i n Nemaha C ounty, th e " l i t t l e sc h o o l house on th e h i l l " b e g an t o d o t th e c o u n tr y s id e .

Many i n t e r e s t ­

in g h i s t o r i c a l c h r o n ic le s w ere fo u n d w h ic h , when woven t o g e t h e r , s e rv e d t o t e l l th e s t o r y o f how th e e a r l y com m unities had t h e i r b e g in n in g s .

An example

o f how t h i n l y th e th r e a d o f c irc u m sta n c e had woven i t s p a t t e r n a c ro s s th e new la n d i s p r e s e n te d a t t h i s p o in t b e c a u se of i t s g r e a t i n t e r e s t .

In 1862, "''only

a few y e a rs a f t e r th e f i r s t s e t t l e r s had come, a w e a lth y m erch an t and h is w ife from th e E a s t p u rc h a se d a m a jo r p o r t i o n o f th e la n d on w hich th e p r e s e n t c i t y o f Auburn now s ta n d s . fo u n d in g of a c i t y .

These p e o p le im m e d ia te ly began m aking p la n s f o r th e The w ife was v e r y e n t h u s i a s t i c u n t i l she d is c o v e re d , w ith

c o n s id e ra b le e m p h a sis, t h a t h e r c l o s e s t n e ig h b o r o b je c te d f o r c e f u l l y t o t h e new c i t y b e ca u se i t "would i n t e r f e r e w ith h e r c h ic k e n ra n g e " .

The good la d y ,

i t i s r e l a t e d , was c r e s t f a l l e n and unhappy a t su ch f r a i l o b je c t i o n .

1 . D undas, John W. H is to r y of Nemaha C ounty, 1895. Page 8

In many

32

c a s e s th e s e l e c t i o n o f th e sc h o o l s i t e was th e s u b je c t o f o b je c tio n s such as th e one r e l a t e d h e r e .

D e sp ite th e c o n f l i c t , th e y e a r 1863 saw a g r i s t m i l l

e r e c te d on th e Nemaha R iv er n e a r th e p r e s e n t c i t y o f A uburn; soon a b la c k s m ith shop was e s t a b l i s h e d w ith th e p o s t o f f i c e and a lum ber m i l l fo llo w in g i n o r d e r . The new ccsnmunity was lau n ch e d and as i t grew th e th o u g h ts o f i t s c i t i z e n s tu r n e d to w ard th e b u ild in g o f a s c h o o l h o u s e . The concensus seemed t o be t h a t th e i d e a l d i s t r i c t sh o u ld c o n s is t o f fo u r s e c tio n s of la n d .

At t h i s e a r l y d a te , th e f o u r s e c tio n s p ro b a b ly w ere a d e q u a te .

Hoads w ere l i t t l e more th a n t r a i l s and some o f th e s e c t i o n l i n e s h ad n o t y e t b een e s t a b l i s h e d and d e v e lo p e d . b o u n d a rie s have been ch an g ed .

W ith th e p a s s in g o f tim e , a few o f th e d i s t r i c t U s u a lly th e s e changes have been b ro u g h t ab o u t

by th e c o n d itio n o f th e ro a d s and th e ch an g in g o f n a t u r a l b a r r i e r s . The tr e n d i n b u ild in g c o n s tr u c ti o n h as b een e a s y t o s tu d y .

h - L'ro

Many o f th e p r e s e n t

sc h o o l b u ild in g s a re th e o r i g i n a l b u ild in g s e r e c te d when th e d i s t r i c t was o rg a n iz e d .

G e n e ra lly , th e sc h o o l s i t e i s lo c a te d a t a p o in t n e a r th e c r e s t o f

a h i l l as a s a fe g u a rd a g a in s t th e h a z a rd s o f f lo o d and t o p ro v id e a d e q u a te d r a in a g e .

F u r th e r , n e a r l y a l l th e r e s i d e n t s w ere v e ry p ro u d of th e sc h o o l

and w ere d e s ir o u s t h a t a l l t r a v e l e r s sh o u ld be a b le t o i d e n t i f y i t im m e d ia te ly . The sc h o o l seemed t o have been th e tra d e -m a rk o f th e com munity. v a r ie d o n ly s l i g h t l y .

C o n s tru c tio n

Most of th e b u ild in g s a re o f wood c o n s t r u c t i o n .

A few

w ere made o f b r ic k p ro b a b ly b ecau se of th e p re s e n c e o f a l o c a l b ro ck f a c t o r y . Two b u ild in g s a re of n a tiv e s to n e .

D im ensions v a r y from tw e n ty - s ix t o t h i r t y -

two f e e t in w id th and from t h i r t y - s i x t o f o r t y f e e t i n l e n g t h .

Except in th e

c a se of th e more r e c e n t l y c o n s tr u c te d b u i l d i n g s , th e s id e s c o n ta in o n ly two o r p o s s i b l y t h r e e sm all w indow s.

A s u rv e y made i n 1948 r e v e a le d t h a t o n ly 18 p e r

c e n t of th e s e b u ild in g s m et th e minimum re q u ire m e n ts f o r l i g h t .

33

Wien th e n a t u r a l l i g h t was supplem ented by e l e c t r i c l i g h t i n g o f th e new est ty p e *

A p p ro x im ately 75 p e r c e n t o f th e t o t a l e x p e n d itu re a t th e s c h o o l s i t e

h a s b e en upon th e e x t e r i o r o f th e b u ild in g s * b u ild in g s i s u n a t t r a c t i v e , drab and d ir t y *

The in te rio r* of many o f th e A name in s c r ib e d upon th e w a ll o f

one o f th e r u r a l sc h o o l rooms was accom panied by th e d a te : December 16, 1908* C a re fu l e x a m in a tio n o f t h i s d e t a i l r e v e a le d t h a t th e s tu d e n t whose name a p p ea re d on th e w a ll was a s tu d e n t o f t h i s sc h o o l a t th e tim e*

I t h as b een

assum ed, s in c e th e w r iti n g was l e g i b l e and in view in 1948 t h a t t h i s room had n o t b e en re d e c o r a te d f o r f o r t y y e ars* O u tb u ild in g s c o n s i s t , in th e m ain , of a f u e l house o f te n lo c a te d a t th e f a r end o f th e s i t e and tw o t o i l e t s *

Af$ l a t e as 1900, th e an n u al r e p o r t o f

th e d i r e c t o r t o th e c o u n ty s u p e r in te n d e n t c o n ta in e d sp ace d ev o ted t o r e p o r t in g th e g e n e r a l c o n d itio n of th e o u tb u ild in g s . ed th e comment, "no p r i v i e s " , problem f o r many y e a r s .

Many of th e s e e a r l y r e p o r ts c o n ta in ­

The m a tte r o f r e p a i r and m ain ten an ce has b e en a

A l e t t e r found in th e f i l e s of th e o f f i c e o f c o u n ty

s u p e r in te n d e n t sum m arizes th e problem q u ite w e ll* To S chool O f f i c e r s : School w i l l b e g in in a few w eek s. Now i s th e tim e t o l o . k a f t e r th e r e p a i r i n g and p a p e rin g of th e sc h o o l room, and g e t t i n g s u p p lie s * Many s c h o o l h o u ses n eed p a i n t i n g , th e w a lls o f some need p a p e rin g and some rooms need new s e a t s » The o u tb u ild in g s sh o u ld b y lo o k e d a f t e r . I t i s a g a in s t th e law f o r b o y s1 and g i r l s ' o u tb u ild in g s t o be t o g e t h e r , u n d e r th e same ro o f* They sh o u ld be i n o p p o s ite c o rn e rs o f th e s c h o o l g ro u n d . The o u tb u ild in g s in some d i s t r i c t s a re so d e fa c e d w ith p r o f a n i t y and obscene p i c t u r e s t h a t th e y m ust be t o r n down and re p la c e d b y new o n e s . O th ers n eed new v a u l t s . P le a s e a tte n d t o th e s e b u ild in g s e s p e c i a l l y . Your c h ild r e n l e a r n more e v i l in o u tb u ild in g s a t sc h o o l th a n in an y o th e r p l a c e . The g r e a t e s t work of th e sc h o o l i s t o make th e c h ild r e n good c i t i z e n s w ith c le a n m o rals and p u re th o u g h ts D i r e c to r s , t e a c h e r s and s u p e r in te n d e n ts sh o u ld alw ays b e a r t h i s in m ind. S u p p ly th e s c h o o l w ith wash b a s i n , s o a p , to w e ls , comb and lo c k in g g l a s s . A w a te r ta n k sn o u ld ber in e v e ry s c h o o l e s p e c i a l l y th o s e w hich

34

have no w e l l . Much s ic k n e s s comes from th e sc h o o l w a te r b u ck et* The Nemaha C ounty T eachers i n s t i t u t e w i l l be h e ld A ugust 1 4 -1 8 . On F r id a y a f te r n o o n , A ugust 1 8 th , S ta te S u p e rin te n d e n t J.M .M cBrien w i l l a d d re ss th e i n s t i t u t e . O th er p ro a iin ie n t sc h o o l men w i l l be p r e s e n t a t th e tim e and a re i n v i t e d t o a tte n d a l l s e s s io n s of th e in s titu te . V ery T ru ly , Signed County S u p e rin te n d e n t, August 2 , 1904 A p p ro x im ately 60 p e r c e n t of th e s c h o o ls have a w a te r s u p p ly a t th e s i t e . Many of th e w e lls t e s t e d f a i l e d t o p a ss th e b a c t e r i o l o g i c a l t e s t s .

At one

sc h o o l s i t e th e w e ll was i n s u l a t e d , in 1948, a g a in s t f r e e z i n g by a fram ew ork b u i l t around th e pump and s e c u r e ly packed w ith b a rn y a rd m an u re. In a few in s ta n c e s th e sch o o l s i t e has been la n d sc a p e d i n such a m anner

as

t o make th e campus v e ry a t t r a c t i v e b u t g e n e r a lly , no a t t e n t i o n h as been g iv e n to th is

im p o rta n t d e t a i l .

One d i s t r i c t i n s i s t e d upon a llo w in g th e s c h o o l

ground t o grow up t o t a l l n a tiv e g ra s s b e c a u s e , i t was s t a t e d , th e h a y i s s o ld .

The s e l l i n g p r i c e o f th e h a y h as been $ 1 .5 0 .

N e a rly a l l of th e t i t l e s a re w a rra n ty deeds s t a t i n g t h a t f o r "one d o l l a r 1 in hand p a id " th e t i t l e t o one a c r e , more o r l e s s was t r a n s f e r r e d t o th e sc h o o l d i s t r i c t .

O ften th e lan g u ag e o f th e deed s t a t e d t h a t , sh o u ld th e

d i s t r i c t be d is s o lv e d o r f a i l t o m a in ta in i t s e l f as a d i s t i n c t e n t i t y , th e t i t l e t o th e s i t e sh o u ld r e v e r t t o th e la n d from w hich i t had o r i g i n a l l y b een s e t a s id e .

One d i s t r i c t h o ld s a t i t l e

i n f e e s im p le .

The re c o rd s in th e o f f i c e of c o u n ty s u p e r in te n d e n t o f Nemaha C ounty c o n ta in v e ry l i t t l e

d a ta c o n c e rn in g th e t r a i n i n g and e x p e rie n c e o f th e r u r a l t e a c h e r .

T e ach ers employed in th e C lass I d i s t r i c t s f o r th e y e a rsl9 4 0 -1 9 5 0 had e arn ed an a v erag e o f 3 6 .7 h o u rs o f c o lle g e c r e d i t and had ta u g h t an av erag e of 3^4

1 . D ata ta k e n from th e deed r e c o rd in th e o f f i c e o f th e County C le rk .

35

y e ars.

In 1947, 39 p e r c e n t o f th e te a c h e r s of th e r u r a l s c h o o ls w ere te m p o ra r1 i l y c e r t i f i e d , 47 p e r c e n t h e ld a t h i r d g rad e e le m e n ta ry c e r t i f i c a t e and t h e re m a in in g l4 p e r c e n t h e ld a c e r t i f i c a t e o f h ig h e r ra n k ,

A ra th e r s trik in g

d e t a i l of th e s tu d y of c e r t i f i c a t i o n was b ro u g h t t o l i g h t .

D uring th e p e r io d

u n d e r c o n s id e r a tio n th e te m p o r a r ily c e r t i f i e d te a c h e r s had e a rn e d n e a r l y f o u r tim e s th e c o lle g e c r e d i t and had s l i g h t l y more th a n f i v e tim e s th e e x p e rie n c e as th e r e g u l a r l y c e r t i f i e d t e a c h e r s . The la c k o f an a d eq u a te p h y s ic a l p l a n t and equipm ent seemed t o have had a s i g n i f i c a n t e f f e c t upon th e le n g th o f th e sch o o l te rm of th e e a r l y s c h o o l. T able X i s p la c e d i n th e s tu d y i n o r d e r t o d e m o n strate th e t r e n d d u rin g th e f i r s t f i f t y y e a rs o f ou r e x is te n c e as a s t a t e . T able X The L ength o f th e S chool T ern i n Days i n S ix M id -w e ste rn S ta te s From 1870 t o 1913

N ebraska K ansas M is s o u ri Iowa Wycming C olorado

1870

1880

72 116 90 130

82 120 104 148 119 132

92

1890 140 135 129 156 120 144

1900 135 126 144 160 110 149

1910 174 163 155 172 140 156

1913 169 172 161 173 135 175

•^he s l i g h t d e c re a s e i n th e number o f days ta u g h t i n th e y e a r 1900 seemed to have been due t o th e f a c t t h a t many o f th e r u r a l s c h o o ls i n th e w e s te rn p o r ti o n o f th e s t a t e o f N ebraska w ere b e in g o rg a n iz e d d u rin g t h i s tim e an d , i n th e p ro c e s s of o r g a n iz a tio n , many sc h o o ls w ere u n a b le t o m a in ta in a f u l l le n g th te rm .

T his e x p la n a tio n assumed a h ig h e r d eg ree of v a l i d i t y when th e tr e n d in

o th e r f r o n t i e r s t a t e s was exam ined. A tte n d an c e in th e e a r l y sc h o o ls was spasm odic and i r r e g u l a r .

S tu d e n ts

a tte n d e d sc h o o l ”i n s e a s o n ” w hich h as b een i n t e r p r e t e d t o mean a b r i e f p e r io d

1 . The T h ird Grade E lem e n ta ry C e r t i f i c a t e is th e lo w e st g rad e of c e r t i f i c a t e is s u e d u n d e r N ebraska law .

36 d u rin g th e w in te r m onths.

The p ro b lem o f d i s c i p l i n e was o f te n s e r io u s and

v e x in g ; i t was som etim es d a n g e ro u s.

An a c c o u n t i s fo u n d o f a s tu d e n t i n one

o f th e e a r l y s c h o o ls who* becoming p ro v o k ed , q u i e t l y drew a p i s t o l from h i s 1 p o c k e t and s h o t th e te a c h e r i n th e t h i g h . The a c c u ra c y o f t h i s r e p o r t c an n o t be v a l i d a t e d e x c e p t t h a t one o f a s i m i l a r n a t u r e was re c o rd e d i n th e re c o r d s o f t h e c o u n ty c o u r t .

Inasm uch a s t h e p l a i n t i f f was n o t p r e s e n t to p r e s s th e

c h a rg e t h e c a s e was c lo s e d .

E a rly n ew sp ap ers c o n ta in many v iv i d a c c o u n ts o f

th e v a r io u s d i s c i p l i n a r y d i f f i c u l t i e s e n c o u n te re d i n th e e a r l y s c h o o l.

Q u ite

o f t e n , a s e r io u s p roblem o f t h i s n a tu r e r e s u l t e d i n t h e c lo s in g o f th e sc h o o l f o r a p e r io d o f s e v e r a l m onths. Many o f th e e a r l y te a c h e r s w ere men.

I n o r d e r to s e c u re th e s e r v ic e s o f

a m ale te a c h e r who p o s s e s s e d th e p h y s i c a l equipm ent and a s l i g h t know ledge o f th e T hree R1s , i t was n e c e s s a ry to p ay a s a l a r y somewhat h ig h e r th a n th e r a t e p a id to common l a b o r .

For many y e a r s d u rin g th e p io n e e r e r a th e s a l a r y o f th e

r u r a l te a c h e r was a d e q u a te when m easured i n term s o f g e n e r a l econom ic c o n d itio n s p r e v a i l i n g a t th e tim e .

When th e sc h o o l had become s u f f i c i e n t l y s t a b i l i z e d

to e n a b le a fe m a le te a c h e r to co n d u ct a s c h o o l f o r a few m onths th e s a l a r y was re d u c e d .

Many s c h o o l o f f i c e r s f e l t t h a t s in c e t h e w ork was done in d o o rs i t

s h o u ld be done f o r l e s s .

F u r th e r , s in c e t h e work was o f a s e d e n ta r y n a tu r e

i t was f e l t t h a t o n ly a minimum o f p h y s i c a l e n e rg y was r e q u i r e d to co n d u ct a day o f s c h o o l.

I n f a i r n e s s to th e p e o p le who p io n e e r e d Nemaha County i t

s h o u ld be s t a t e d t h a t th e p ro b le m s th e c i t i z e n c a l l e d f o r a p r a c t i c a l s o l u t i o n . T here seem ed to be no o th e r y a r d s t i c k by w hich to m easure th e w o rth o f th e te a c h e r b u t to compare th e jo b w ith common l a b o r .

The g e n e r a l p h ilo s o p h y

o u tl i n e d i n t h i s p a ra g ra p h h as been c a r r i e d down th ro u g h th e y e a r s a s e v id en c e d

1 . The a c c o u n t o f t h i s i n c i d e n t ta k e n from th e d ia r y o f a p e rs o n who was a s c h o la r i n t h i s s c h o o l a t th e tim e o f th e i n c i d e n t .

37

by the fa c t that in the year 1 93k> the average salary paid to the rural teacher o f Nemaha County was l e s s than the rate paid under WPA.

■]

I t has been a fundamental aim o f t h is study to a t t e s t to maintain a sense of complete fa irn ess in the in terp retation of the data.

L it t le evidence was

found to show that e ff o r t had been made to develop a reasonable understanding between the teacher and the layman r e la tiv e to the question o f salary.

A

study of th e f i l e s of lo c a l newspapers showed that the f i r s t front-page a r tic le dealing d ir e c tly with the problem appeared in the year

193k»

P rofessional

leaders and a few la y leaders had lon g recognized the grave in e q u a litie s which e x isted but, unfortunately, the general public had never been given a decent opportunity to read the w ritin gs o f p rofession al lead ers. The Nemaha County 2 Teachers A ssociation has e x isted for many years; the county in s titu te i s a matter o f le g a l requirement y et neither o f these two p rofession al agencies have approached the problem.

An examination of the printed programs o f the

meetings o f these organizations f a ile d to show a sin g le instance where teacher w elfare had been a consideration of the group. S a la ries declined sharply during the decade 1 930 to 1 9h0. depression prostrated agriculture during these years.

The

economic

Many o f the farms did

not y ie ld s u f fic ie n t cash income to pay current operational expense without consideration for other fix ed expenditures.

The grim spectre of fa m ilies

lo sin g th eir homes caused rural people to be extremely cautious concerning the expenditure o f public funds fo r any purpose. A lack o f vigorous and informed leadership on the part of the school admin­ is tr a to r was c le a r ly demonstrated by the fa c t that in 1920 the per cent of taxable wealth in Nemaha County which was being devoted to education was almost

1. Work Progress Administration 2. The Nemaha County Teachers A ssociation was organized in 1887.

38 1

e x a c tly th e same a s f o r th e s t a t e o f N eb rask a

a s a w hole y e t , by th e y e a r

191+9* th e s t a t e was expending 1 .8 p e r c e n t o f i t s w e a lth f o r e d u c a tio n a t a l l l e v e l s and Nemaha County was exp en d in g .7 8 6 p e r c e n t o f i t s w e a lth i n s u p p o rt • o f t h e p u b lic s c h o o ls . The many d i f f e r e n t a c c o u n ts w hich have been w r i t t e n t o e x p la in th e manner i n vjhich com m unities th ro u g h o u t th e c o u n try b ro u g h t a b o u t t h e i r own re c o v e ry from th e d e p r e s s io n a t t r i b u t e much o f th e s u c c e s s to l o c a l le a d e r s h ip and c o o p e r a tio n among p r o f e s s i o n a l and la y p e o p le .

In n e a r l y e v e ry c a s e , th e o f f i c e o f c o u n ty

s u p e r in te n d e n t by th e f o r c e o f a sound p u b lic r e l a t i o n s pro g ram and v ig o ro u s le a d e r s h i p , p la y e d a le a d in g r o l e i n t h i s re c o v e ry and r e h a b i l i t a t i o n .

Because

o f th e s h a rp c o m p e titio n among te a c h e r s f o r p o s i t i o n s d u rin g t h i s p e r io d o f economic s t r e s s , th e b o a rd s w ere a b le to engage th e t e a c h e r a t a v e ry low s a la ry .

As a c o n se q u e n ce , th e t e a c h e r s ' s a l a r y h a s been f o r c e d to a b s o rb much

o f th e l a g a c c o u n te d f o r d u rin g th e p e r i o d betw een 1920 and 191+9* Ih e n th e l o c a l community has c l e a r l y u n d e rs to o d th e p ro b lem s o f th e r u r a l te a c h e r i t h a s shown a w illin g n e s s to m eet t h e c h a lle n g e o f ch an g in g econom ic c o n d itio n s .

O nly a few p e o p le have r e s i s t e d p r o g r e s s .

In 191+7* th e a v e ra g e

s a l a r y o f th e r u r a l t e a c h e r o f Nemaha County was among th e lo w e s t i n th e e n t i r e s ta te .

However, when p a r e n ts r e a l i z e d th e s ig n i f i c a n c e o f th e im p a c t o f th e

te a c h e r s h o rta g e upon t h e i r s c h o o ls , th e y w ere w i l l i n g to p ay a s a l a r y w hich w ould a t t r a c t a c a p a b le te a c h e r . The v a lu e o f an a d e q u a te s c h o o l l i b r a r y i s a lm o s t u n i v e r s a l l y re c o g n iz e d by a l l p e rs o n s i n t e r e s t e d i n th e e d u c a tio n a l w e lf a r e o f y o u th .

D ata c o n c e rn in g

th e s c h o o l l i b r a r i e s i n Nemaha County d u r in g t h e e a r l y p e r io d h a s been d i f f i c u l t to o b ta in .

R ecords w ere p o o r ly p r e p a r e d and k e p t.

The p ro b lem o f p r o v id in g

fo o d , c lo t h i n g and s h e l t e r f o r th e f a m ily o c c u p ie d a p ro m in en t p la c e i n th e

1 . I n 1920, 1 .7 p e r c e n t o f ta x a b le w e a lth was d e v o te d to e d u c a tio n i n N eb rask a; At t h i s tim e , Nemaha County was d e v o tin g 1 .5 p e r c e n t o f i t s w e a lth to e d u c a tio n .

39

d a i l y a c t i v i t i e s o f th e f a m ily .

T r a n s p o r ta tio n f a c i l i t i e s w ere lim it e d and as

a c o n se q u e n ce , th e p lo w s h a re , h a rd w a re , seed s and th e l i k e o ccu p ie d a p la c e of h ig h p r i o r i t y on th e r i v e r s te a m b o a t.

There se e m e d 'to be no p la c e and l i t t l e

d i s p o s i t i o n f o r b o o k s. S chools w ere o rg a n iz e d v e r y r a p i d l y d u rin g th e e a r l y y e a rs and th e ta s k o f su p p ly in g each p u p il w ith te x tb o o k s was e x tre m e ly d i f f i c d . l t i f n o t im p o s s ib le . Very few o f th e sc h o o ls w ere g ra d e d and th e g e n e r a l te n d e n c y seemdd t o have b een t o u se w h a tev e r books c o u ld be o b ta in e d .

Table XI r e p r e s e n ts a co m p lete in v e n t­

o ry of th e s u p p ly of books in a c e r t a i n r u r a l s c h o o l in th e y e a r 1876. Table XI Textbooks o f a R ural School i n Nemaha County in 1876

S u b je c t S p e llin g R eaders

W ritin g A rith m e tic G eography T o ta l

A uthor

Number

W ebster S anders N a tio n a l M cGuffey N a tio n a l Sanders W illa rd Pays on Dunton S c rib n e rs Ray* s M itc h e ll

12 n o t g iv e n 1 4 12 1 1 1 1 6 6 3 48

The census e n u m eratio n w hich accom panied t h i s r e p o r t in d ic a te d t h a t f i f t y - e i g h t y o u th o f s c h o o l age r e s id e d i n th e d i s t r i c t and t h a t f o r ty - tw o o f them w ere r e g u l a r l y e n r o lle d i n th e s c h o o l.

The d i r e c t o r s t a t e d t h a t m ost o f th e rem a in in g

s tu d e n ts a tte n d e d ’’in s e a s o n ” . The v a rio u s l e g i s l a t u r e s o f N ebraska have been slow t o re c o g n iz e th e im por­ ta n c e of th e sc h o o l l i b r a r y in th e norm al f u n c tio n o f a s c h o o l. L ocal c o n tr o l o f th e sc h o o l h as k e p t t h i s im p o rta n t d e t a i l in th e hands o f b o a rd members who a re n o t t r a i n e d in th e i n t e r n a l a d m in i s tr a tio n o f th e s c h o o l.

The co n ce p t o f

40

co m plete l o c a l autonomy has had th e e f f e c t o f r e t a r d i n g p ro g r e s s in t h a t i t h a s te n d e d t o deny r u r a l y o u th th e p r i v i l e g e o f ad eq u ate w orking t o o l s and i t h as c o n tr ib u te d t o th e te n d e n c y t o make v i t a l and n e c e s s a r y l e g i s l a t i o n d i f f i c u l t t o o b ta in .

The g e n e r a l f a i l u r e t o m eet th e n eed s o f r u r a l y o u th may be a t t r i b u t e d

in p a r t t o in a d e q u a te la w .

An o ld law w hich rem ained on th e s t a t u t e books f o r

many y e a rs s t a t e d t h a t a d i s t r i c t m ig h t, a t i t s d i s c r e t i o n , s e t a s id e a n n u a lly from th e g e n e r a l fu n d of th e d i s t r i c t th e sum o f te n c e n ts p e r p u p il f o r a l i b r a r y fu n d .

Such l e g i s l a t i o n m e re ly e n a b le d th e l o c a l b o a rd t o p u rc h a se th e s e

books i f i t so d e s i r e d .

In 1920, th e s t a t e s u p e r in te n d e n t o f p u b lic i n s t r u c t i o n

made th e fo llo w in g recom m endation: ”A more e f f e c t i v e l i b r a r y law i s needed i n N e b rask a , one t h a t w i l l p ro d u ce r e s u l t s . As i t i s , th e p u rc h a se o f books i s d i s c r e t i o n a r y w ith th e b o a r d . D uring t h e l a s t few y e a rs v e r y few books have b e en bou g h t by th e fu n d p ro v id e d by law . The law sh o u ld be changed so a s t o make th e p u rc h a se o f l i b r a r y books o b lig a to r y upon th e b o a rd , e x c e p t d i s t r i c t s where a p u b lic l i b r a r y i s m a in ta in e d a t p u b lic e x p e n s e .” A s u rv e y c o n d u cted i n 1920 b y th e s t a t e s u p e r in te n d e n t re v e a le d t h a t 63 p e r c e n t o f th e s c h o o ls in N ebraska had a l i b r a r y .

In Nemaha C ounty, a c c o rd in g

t o th e 1920 b i e n n i a l r e p o r t , 40 p e r c e n t of th e sc h o o ls h ad a l i b r a r y .

Approx­

im a te ly a l l th e money used t o p u rc h a se l i b r a r y books h ad been e a rn e d by th e s c h o o ls .

In t h i s same y e a r o n ly one t h i r d o f th e r u r a l sc h o o ls o f Nemaha C ounty

owned r e f e r e n c e l i b r a r i e s . 1900.

Twelve o f th e s e s e t s had been p u b lis h e d

p rio r to

In many in s ta n c e s t h i s s e t o f s o - c a l l e d l i b r a r y books was fo u n d i n an

o b scu re p la c e i n th e sc h o o l room; th e books w ere found t o be i n e x c e l l e n t p h y s ic a l c o n d itio n w hich f a c t la d t o th e c o n c lu s io n t h a t th e books w ere n o t b e in g u s e d ,

in 1948, many of th e s e same re f e r e n c e books c o n s t i t u t e d th e o n ly

m a t e r i a l o f i t s k in d a v a il a b le t o th e s t u d e n t . The s u rv e y r e f e r r e d t o i n th e p re c e d in g p a ra g ra p h i n d ic a te d t h a t th e e s tim a te d

1 . C r a b tr e e , J.W . T w enty-S ixth B ie n n ia l R ep o rt o f th e S ta te S u p e rin te n d e n t To The Governor of th e S ta te o f N eb rask a, 1921 Page 49

41

v a lu e o f th e r u r a l sc h o o l l i b r a r y , e x c lu s iv e of te x tb o o k s , was f i f t y d o l l a r s , A c a r e f u l e x a m in a tio n o f t h i s d e t a i l re v e a le d t h a t th e c o s t o f t h i s ty p e o f r e f e r e n c e book was c o n s id e r a b ly l e s s th a n f i f t y d o l l a r s .

No allo w an c e h ad been

made f o r o b s e e le sc e n c e by th e p e rs o n making th e 1920 e s t i m a t e .

Evidence

c l e a r l y in d ic a te d t h a t t h i s e s tim a te was v e ry a r b i t r a r y and n o t b a se d upon r e s e a r c h . I t was much to o h ig h .

The v a lu e o f th e l i b r a r y o f th e norm al r u r a l

sc h o o l i n Nemaha County i n 1949 was e le v e n d o l l a r s p e r l i b r a r y .

T his a n a ly s is

was b a se d upon r e t a i l c o s ts l e s s d e p r e c ia tio n assum ing t h a t th e l i b r a r y w ould be v a lu e l e s s i n t e n y e a r s .

I n c i d e n t a l l y , many o f th e same r e f e r e n c e s e t s r e p o r te d

in th e 1920 s u rv e y were r e p o r te d in th e 1949 s u rv e y . There seemed t o have b e en a te n d e n c y on th e p a r t o f many r u r a l p e o p le t o t r e a t th e problem a re a s o f th e r u r a l sc h o o l w ith a minimum o f c o n s id e r a t io n . T his t r e n d may be t r a c e d i n t o th e r u r a l s c h o o l d i s t r i c t s th ro u g h o u t th e e n t i r e m id d le w e s t.

An e d i t o r i a l p u b lis h e d in th e Iowa Homestead o f J u n e , 1905,

c a r r i e d a s i g n i f i c a n t m e ssa g e. uThe fa rm e r i s no e x c e p tio n t o th e r u le w hich makes t h e w e lf a r e o f one’ s c h ild r e n one of th e prim e aims o f human e x i s t e n c e . B le ss e d w ith an environm ent w hich a l l e x p e rie n c e p ro v e s t o be b e s t f o r th e t r a i n i n g o f y o u th , he can h a r d ly f a i l t o r e a l i z e how v a s t i s th e lo s s in v o lv e d i n a f a i l u r e t o g iv e h i s sons and d a u g h te rs th e b e s t p o s s i b le s c h o o l. I t i s c o n v in c in g p ro o f o f t h i s c o n sc io u s n e s s t h a t th e fa n n e rs o f t h i s c o u n try have e v e ry w here e s t a b l i s h e d sch o o l as an e a r l y day a f t e r th e opening o f t h e i r hem es. But i n th e s tre n u o u s and arduous la b o r in c id e n t t o a p io n e e r l i f e and a p e r io d o f r a p id d ev elo p m en t, th e r u r a l sc h o o l has ream in ed more n e a r l y on th e l e v e l w ith a g e n e r a tio n ago th a n any o th e r i n s t i t u t i o n a s s o c ia te d w ith farm l i f e . E very o th e r phase o f a g r i c u l t u r a l c o n d itio n s have shown im provem ent o f th e m ost pronounced e x t e n t . I n f e r i o r b u i l d i n g , b a d ly c a re d f o r g ro u n d s, te a c h e r s p o o r ly p a id and p o o r ly t r a i n e d f o r t h e i r d u t i e s , a la r g e p e r c e n t o f th e sc h o o ls p o o r ly a tte n d e d , many o th e rs o v e r-c ro w d e d , y e t u n g r a d e d . , i s t h e p l a i n u n v a rn ­ is h e d s ta te m e n t of f a c t s as th e y e x i s t i n sev en e ig h th s o f th e r u r a l sc h o o ls of th e M id d le w e st, ” , The r e c o rd s u se d in t h i s s tu d y c o n ta in e d M t t l e d a ta c o n c e rn in g th e t r a i n ­ in g o f th e r u r a l t e a c h e r .

The p r o s p e c tiv e te a c h e r came t o th e new ccanmunity

armed w ith a sim p le s ta te m e n t t h a t he o r she had ta u g h t f o r a b r i e f p e r io d in

a c e r t a i n c o u n ty o r s t a t e d u rin g t h e p re c e d in g y e a r .

I f f u r t h e r e v id en c e

o f q u a l i f i c a t i o n s was r e q u ir e d , such p e rs o n would d e m o n stra te h is academ ic accom plishm ent a t a c ip h e r in g m atch o r a s p e l l i n g b e e . I t was i n t e r e s t i n g t o d is c o v e r t h a t a c a r e f u l e x a m in a tio n o f th e re c o rd s and r e p o r ts ov er a p e r io d of many y e a rs r e v e a le d t h a t o n ly two te a c h e r s had ta u g h t i n Nemaha C ounty w ith o u t b e in g l e g a l l y q u a l i f i e d i n te rm s o f th e r e q u i r e ­ m ents d e fin e d by la w .

h3

SUMMARY

The s c h o o l was among th e f i r s t s o c i a l i n s t i t u t i o n s to be e s t a b l i s h e d i n th e com m unity.

In view o f t h e f a c t t h a t n e a r l y a l l o f Nemaha C o u n ty 's f i r s t

c i t i z e n s w ere r e s i d e n t s of t h e r u r a l a r e a s , th e r u r a l s c h o o l v e ry soon assumed a p o s i t i o n o f g r e a t s o c i a l s i g n i f i c a n c e i n th e com m unity. P e rh a p s no s e p ie n t o f s o c ie ty h a s shown so l i t t l e

c o n s t r u c t i v e developm ent

and im provem ent d u rin g t h e p a s t f i f t y y e a r s a s th e r u r a l s c h o o l.

Farm homes

have been im proved and m o d e rn iz e d ; farm in g p r a c t i c e s , te c h n iq u e s and equipm ent have been im proved g r e a t l y y e t th e r u r a l s c h o o l h as re m a in ed much a s i t was a h a l f c e n tu r y a g o . As a symbol o f p r o g r e s s th e a n te n n a o f a t e l e v i s i o n s e t e x te n d s m a j e s t i c a l l y from many a r u r a l h o u se to p y e t th e s c h o o l house w hich s e r v e s th e c h ild r e n o f th e d i s t r i c t i s d r a f t y , p o o r ly l i g h t e d and som etim es d ra b i n a p p e a ra n c e . a r e m odern.

None

Many o f th e s c h o o ls a re in a d e q u a te ly s u p p lie d w ith te x tb o o k s , th e

c o n d itio n o f th e su p p lem en ta ry l i b r a r y i s w orse and t h e r e i s l i t t l e

to m o tiv a te

and s tim u la te e i t h e r t h e p u p i l o r t h e t e a c h e r . S a l a r i e s have n e v e r been a t a p r o f e s s i o n a l l e v e l .

I n 1950* th e a v e ra g e

s a l a r y o f t h e r u r a l te a c h e r was n e a r ly two h u ndred d o l l a r s below th e s ta te w id e a v e ra g e .

Each y e a r , th e t a s k o f s t a f f i n g th e r u r a l s c h o o ls o f th e c o u n ty w ith

co m p eten t te a c h e r s becomes i n c r e a s i n g l y d i f f i c u l t .

44

CHAPTER VI The C e r t i f i c a t i o n o f T e a ch e rs The p r a c t i c e s and m ethods o f c e r t i f i c a t i o n te a c h e r s have b een r e l a t i v e l y u n ifo rm th ro u g h o u t th e m id w e stern s t a t e s . new s t a t e

As p o p u la tio n moved w estw ard and a

was form ed t h i s s t a t e u s u a l l y borrow ed many o f th e c e r t i f i c a t i o n

laws from i t s n e ig h b o r s .

Q u ite o f t e n , t h i s p r a c t i c e had le d t o th e p e r p e t u a t ­

io n o f th e u n s u c c e s s fu l as w e ll as th e s u c c e s s f u l l e g i s l a t i o n r e l a t i n g t o s c h o o ls .

The im p o rtan ce and n e c e s s i t y o f im p ro v in g t h e system o f c e r t i f i c a t i o n

o f te a c h e r s was re c o g n iz e d a t an e a r l y d a te by e d u c a tio n a l le a d e r s th ro u g h o u t th e n a t i o n .

The E d u c a tio n R eport s t a t e s :

nA sy stem o f e x a m in a tio n and c e r t i f i c a t i o n o f th o s e who w ish t o engage i n th e o c c u p a tio n o f te a c h in g h a s lo n g b een c o n s id e re d an e s s e n t i a l p a r t o f th e p u b lic sc h o o l m a c h in e ry o f a s t a t e . M A co m parison o f N ebraska c e r t i f i c a t i o n law w ith th o s e o f Iowa and M iss o u ri in d ic a te d a d e f i n i t e lik e n e s s w hich le d t o th e c o n c lu s io n t h a t much o f N ebraska sc h o o l law had been a d a p te d from th e law s o f th e s e s t a t e s . s ig n ific a n t.

T h is tr e n d was

I t f a i l e d t o c o n s id e r th e problem o f c e r t i f i c a t i o n from th e

s ta n d p o in t of c o n d itio n s p e c u l i a r t o N ebraska and f u r t h e r , th e m echanics o f laws d e sig n e d f o r s t a t e s w hich had b een o rg a n iz e d many y e a rs b e fo re w ere n o t alw ays p r a c t i c a l o r w orkable i n th e new community. little

a t t e n t i o n was g iv e n t o th e p ro b le m .

t r e s p o n s i b i l i t y t o lo c a l a u t h o r i t i e s .

In th e e a r l y y e a r s , v e r y

The l e g i s l a t u r e d e le g a te d th e

I t was n o t u n t i l th e ab u ses o f th e p r i v i l e g e

o f c e r t i f i c a t i o n by l o c a l a u t h o r i t i e s became so a p p a re n t as t o be in e s c a p a b le d id th e l e g i s l a t u r e make a move to w ard im provem ent.

Normal s c h o o ls , b o th

p u b lic and p r i v a t e , were empowered t o is s u e c e r t i f i c a t e s .

C o n sid e ra b le c r i t i c i s m

was v o ic e d c o n c e rn in g th e p r a c t i c e f o r th e re a s o n t h a t t h e c o u n ty o r c i t y

1 . R eport of th e Com m issioner of E d u c a tio n , E d u c a tio n R e p o rt, 1893-94 2 . L o cal a u t h o r i t i e s as u s e d h e re r e f e r s t o c o u n ty and c i t y s u p e r in te n d e n ts .

t)

s u p e r in te n d e n t o f te n fo u n d i t p o s s i b l e to p a y h i s p o l i t i c a l d e b ts o r e x e r c is e f a v o r iti s m i n th e m a tte r o f c e r t i f i c a t i o n ,

f u r t h e r , te a c h e r s -who had lo n g

s in c e r e t i r e d c o u ld be c e r t i f i e d upon th e d i s c r e t i o n o f t h e c o u n ty s u p e r in te n d e n t. V ery l i t t l e a t t e n t i o n was g iv e n to p r o f e s s i o n a l and p e r s o n a l q u a l i f i c a t i o n s . Thus th e d o o r was opened to th e m ig r a to r y te a c h e r who d o m in ated th e r u r a l s c h o o l i n Nemaha County f o r many y e a r s .

F or a p p ro x im a te ly f o r t y y e a r s t h i s 1 ty p e o f te a c h e r o c c u p ie d n e a r ly one h a l f th e s c h o o ls o f Nemaha C ounty. The m ig r a to r y te a c h e r was com parable t o th e "tram p 11 b la c k s m ith o r le a t h e r - w o r k e r . He came to th e community and by d e m o n s tra tin g h i s s u p e r io r know ledge o f academ ics a t a c ip h e r in g m atch o r by means o f a s e t o f t r i c k s o f le g e rd e m a in ? £r>xs

^t^r^ CLs&f- & Z u .

C£J~£SLjl~- / P $ jc