All in one room A history of country schools in Johnson County, Iowa

Franklin L. Yoder

Book - 2018

"For over 100 years, one-room schools with names such as Blackstrap, Bald Hill, and Pokertown provided an education for thousands of children living on farms and in the countryside of Johnson County, Iowa. Students' memories of the years they spent in a country school remain vivid even as their numbers decline. Numbering over 160 schools during the peak years, these simple and unadorned buildings dotted the landscape. Staffed by teachers, who during the early years had minimal training, and administered by local farmers, these schools embodied their rural setting. In addition to providing an educational setting, local residents came together at their local schools for Christmas programs, Farm Bureau meetings, end of the school yea...r picnics, and much more. As time passed and rural populations declined, consolidation efforts after World War II closed rural schools. In some communities, these efforts generated bitter battles as rural residents pushed back and fought to keep their rural schools. When the end came in 1966, it closed a door on an important part of rural life in Johnson County."--Back cover more