100-Year-Old Chalkboard Lessons Uncovered in Oklahoma School
OKLAHOMA CITY—A construction crew at Emerson High School in Oklahoma City made a startling discovery on June 2. After they took old chalkboards down from the school walls, they found another set of blackboards beneath them, which were covered with lessons written almost a century ago.
Protected and undisturbed, the writing on the boards provides a rare glimpse into what students at the school were learning in November and December of 1917.
“It’s like touching history, like being a part of what was going on during the day,” math teacher Sherry Read told npr.
Thanksgiving symbols, such as turkeys and pilgrims, are drawn on some of the boards. There are civics lessons, music charts, math lessons, a vocabulary list and a set of rules “for keeping clean.” Multiple drawings of the Star of David line the top of one board. An especially intricate drawing depicts a young girl feeding a turkey on another.
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Read believes the preservation of the lessons was no accident. “You would have cleaned off your board so you could be ready the next day to come back and teach,” she says. “So I think they left them on there on purpose to send a message to us, to say, ‘This is what was going on in our time.’”
This theory is supported by a note left on one of the antique boards, which says, “We this day give this room slate blackboards.” The note is signed “R.J. Scott, custodian.”
Trumpet staff visiting the high school were unable to view the chalkboards as officials have sealed off the classrooms in order to protect the discovery. The school now views those rooms as an archaeological site and is exploring ways to preserve the writings for future generations to study.
The most noteworthy aspect of the discovery is that it provides a glimpse into a time when educators were unashamed to give God a prominent place in public school curricula. “I give my head, my heart and my life to my God,” one board says.
This telling statement contrasts sharply with the spirit of education in modern public schools. To understand what that spirit is, and to learn what the ingredients of true education are, read our free booklet Education With Vision.
