Fort Lincoln School: A portal into the past

Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Retired teacher Margaret Titus, who began her career as an educator at the age of 19 years, tells a group of Winfield Scott Elementary students about her experience teaching in a country schoolhouse. The Kansas Day program took place at the old Fort Lincoln School at 18th and Horton streets. The school was originally located near Fulton. Tribune photo/Rayma Silvers

When a group of local elementary school students arrived for class on Friday, they had no idea what kind of accommodations their school is equipped with.

In observance of Kansas Day, some of the students from Winfield Scott Elementary were taken to the historic Fort Lincoln School House at 18th and Horton streets to learn about education history. Retired schoolteacher Margaret Titus met the students at the door, much like the teacher would have done had these children actually have been attending a one-room schoolhouse. Titus explained to the students that at the age of 19, she began teaching school in a building similar to the one they were visiting.

Besides the size of the building, one of the first things that the children noticed was the difference in temperature between the one-room schoolhouse and their school. With the weather being fairly chilly and windy outside, the students, even after settling themselves in their seats, remained bundled up in coats and hats.

Titus said when she taught classes in a one-room schoolhouse, the wood stove was used to heat the building. She said that sometimes the students' fathers would cut wood for use at the school. However, she explained to the children, the wood stove was not hot enough to keep the entire room warm. She told the students that she would rotate her class' seating periodically throughout the day in order for all children to be able to be close to the stove for an equal amount of time. This helped to keep the students warmer. In the winter months, the students gathered around the stove to eat their lunches, she said. This also helped to keep them warm.

The children discovered that during the time that Titus taught in a one-room school, the day was usually begun with the Lord's Prayer and some Bible verses. Newspapers were also used for teaching purposes, she said. Showing the children a 48-star U.S. flag, which was tucked into one corner of the room, Titus explained that she and her students never began a day without saying the flag salute.

Lunches were also a little bit different for those students who attended Titus' school. She said that since families in those days were very poor, most children would use an empty lard can for a lunch pail. The usual lunch for her students was a sandwich and an apple, orange or pear. In addition, Titus' schoolhouse had no water fountains for the children to drink from as schools do today. Instead, her students all shared a water bucket with one common ladle.

Although today, many students ride the bus to school or are brought to school in a vehicle, those who attended the one-room schoolhouse were forced to walk to and from school every day, no matter what type of weather. However, Titus explained that usually no one had to walk further than three miles one way.

Although many of the subjects that Titus taught her students were the same as those being taught today, one thing that was different was how the teacher obtained supplies with which to teach those subjects. Titus explained that since everyone was poor, the school had to have a fundraiser that would enable the teacher to buy all of her chalk, erasers and anything else she would need for teaching.

Before dismissing the students, Titus told them that even though families didn't have as much back in the days of the one-room schoolhouse, they were still able to have a good time.

"Back then," she said, "People did not have all the nice things we have today, but we still had lots of fun. You can have fun without material things," she added.

In addition to the Kansas Day activity that Winfield Scott Elementary took part in, Fort Scott Middle School also observed Kansas Day.

Fort Scott Middle School sixth grade teacher Stephanie George's students made Kansas Day posters and played a "Jeopardy"-style game based on Kansas answers.

FSMS teacher Karen Nichols' sixth grade social studies students created an acrostic of a famous Kansan. An acrostic is a composition in which certain letters in each line form a word or words. They also read "S is for Sunflower," a book ofyfacts about Kansas.

At Eugene Ware Elementary School on Monday, fifth grade teacher Gayla Croan's students had a visit from Ralph Carlson and James "Red" Stradley of the performing duo, "Fuss and Feathers," who told stories of early Kansas and sang songs that were popular during the era when Kansas became a state.