North Carolina Minute

The old one-room, one teacher schoolhouse

Back in the late 1800s and up through the early 1900s most of the public schools were little one-room, one-teacher schoolhouses. The children that attended school would range in age from six year of age up to twenty-one.

In 1900 the local communities were responsible for building the schoolhouses and the average cost amounted to around $150. The teacher who may not have more than a seventh grade education received $24 a month as teacher. And, this was for just four months out of the year.

To equip the schoolroom, the seats were generally wooden planks on legs, without backs, the blackboard was a board painted black. The children had no writing paper, so they used slates or small boards painted black. Books were available, however most children neither wanted them nor could not afford them. Usually the teacher supplemented the books for those who could not afford them.

There were many in the school community who wanted an education, however there were some that went to school for the social and recreational activities. Some of the older children went to school only because their sweetheart attended classes. This was one of the things that the teacher had to be very strictly about.

Here are some of the rules that applied to students:

• Don't do any sparking or writing of love letters in school,

• You shall not hug or kiss or play kissing games on the school grounds,

• Neither boys or girls shall wink at one another,

• Don't pretend to see ghost or haunts in an effort to scare the younger children,

• Don't whisper across benches during school hours. If you must speak to someone, snap your fingers for permission.

• You shall not throw snakes, frogs or worms or any other living creature upon another boy or girl,

• You shall not fuss or fight. Remember I am the only person in this school who is paid to fuss and fight and this is costing the county twenty-five dollars per month,

• Do not put any dead pigs, polecats or other dead animals in the schoolhouse loft to create a stink,

• You shall not bring to school any hawk's claw for use in pinching the ears and noses of others, neither shall you stick others with pins or chestnut burrs. Don't attempt getting by sticking pins in the toes of your shoes and hurting others, then show your empty hands in order to prove yourself innocent.

Boy, Oh, Boy, those were the good old days!

Rules for 1915 schoolteachers:

As a follow-up of my previous "minute" where I told the rules for the students in our little one-room schoolhouse. My good friend Kent Misegades, sent me a list of rules for the teacher. Kent says, "My great aunt from the small town of Peru, Kansas, just a few miles south of the Little House, was herself a one-room schoolteacher in the 1920's. These rules are posted in the one-room schoolhouse at the Little House on The Prairie, near Independence, Kansas for the school year 1915."

Rules for 1915 schoolteachers:

• You will not marry during the term of your contract

• You are not to keep company with men.

• You must be home between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. unless attending a school function.

• You may not loiter downtown in any of the ice cream shops.

• You may not travel beyond the city limits unless you have permission of the Chairman of the Board.

• You may not ride in a carriage or automobile with any man unless he is your father or brother.

• You may not smoke cigarettes.

• You may not dress in bright colors.

• You may under no circumstances dye your hair.

• You must wear at least two petticoats.

• Your dress must not be any shorter than two-inches above your ankle.

• To keep the classroom clean, you must sweep the floor at least once a day; scrub the floor at least one a week with hot, soapy water; clean the blackboards at least once a day; and start the fire at 7 a.m. so the room will be warm by 8 a.m.

Colonel Thomas Ferebee and the Atomic Bomb

I'm never amazed as I read history when and where a North Carolina person or place might show up in the history books. One such name I found was the name of Thomas Ferebee who was born in Mocksville, North Carolina on November 9, 1918. Ferebee graduated from Lee-McRae College at Banner Elk, North Carolina. During his high school and college years he was very much involved in sports. He tried out for a position on the Boston Red Sox baseball team, but was not successful.

Being that his dream of playing baseball failed him, he joined the army, but because of a knee injury he was not fit for the infantry, so he entered flight school. Finishing flight school he became a bombardier in the European theater of war, completing over 60 bombing missions.

In 1944 Ferebee was selected to join the 509th Composite Group, which was a special group to deliver the atomic bomb. On August 6, 1944, with Colonel Paul Tibbets in command, the Enola Gay B-29 flew over the city of Hiroshima at which time Thomas Ferebee opened the bomb bay doors and pulled the cable dropping the first atomic bomb over Japan. On the ground the blast killed an estimated 130,000 people, with many more thousands dying from wounds and disease. Following the second atomic bomb drop on August 9, the Japanese announced their term to surrender on August 15, 1944.

After the war, Ferebee remained in the military until 1970 and upon retirement he lived in Florida until his death on March 16, 2000. After his death, his wife of 19 years donated all of his military records and objects to the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh.

Thought for the day: Scratch a dog and you'll find a permanent job.

J.C. Knowles is a traveling speaker, historian and antique expert. For more interesting North Carolina stories, visit www.heathero.com/ssg or apex.mync.com.