About the Event
The Wisconsin History Makers Tour will bring history directly to local communities in every region of the state. In collaboration with community partners, the tour offers an exciting opportunity for our historians, curators and authors to visit your community and share the stories of our great state.
What was it like to attend a one-room school, to be in the same classroom as your older brother or younger sister, or to have your teacher live with your family for part of the school year? Join Susan Apps-Bodilly, author of One Room Schools: Stories from the Days of 1 Room, 1 Teacher, 8 Grades, as she chronicles life in Wisconsin's early country schools, detailing the experiences of the students, the role of the teacher, and examples of the curriculum, including the importance of Wisconsin School of the Air radio programs. She describes the duties children had at school besides their schoolwork, from cleaning the erasers and sweeping cobwebs out of the outhouse to carrying in wood for the stove. She also tells what led to the closing of the one-room schools, which were more than just centers of learning: they also served as the gathering place for the community.
Following the presentation, there will be an opportunity to view exhibits related to Susan's talk from the Eagle River Historical Society's museum.
The History Makers Tour is presented by Culver's and is made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Grant Number: MA-253159-OMS-23.
Susan Apps-Bodilly, author of Seeds in Soil: Planting a Garden and Finding Your Roots and One Room Schools: Stories from the Days of 1 Room, 1 Teacher, 8 Grades and co-author of Old Farm Country Cookbook: Recipes, Menus, and Memories, worked as an elementary and middle school teacher for more than twenty years and recently retired from teaching second-grade students. She has a master's degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is happy to do hands-on activities with familes and kids to demonstrate projects and recipes from any of her books.
