School back in session
Posted on Wednesday, April 30, 2008
The renovated schoolhouse was dedicated Sunday afternoon, with dignitaries and a crowd of nearly 100 in attendance. The dedication began much like a school day from years gone by, with prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. David Rountree, of Langley, Okla., added to the opening ceremonies with tunes on his bagpipe.
The schoolhouse was built in Springtown, Ark., in 1924, to replace an older school building destroyed by fire. The building has one room and a stage and it used benches instead of desks, said Teresa Allcorn, Talbot Library and Museum board member.
Springtown continued to use the building for a community building after its use as a school, until shortly before it was sold, said Allcorn. They had a Christmas play in the building every year.
Springtown sold the building at auction in April of 2006. The Talbot Museum purchased the building and moved it to its present location on July 6, 2006, but many of the furnishings, including the old benches on which students sat, were bought by others.
The Oklahoma museum purchased and restored the building to serve as a model to teach younger generations about education in the late 1800 s and early 1900 s. The structure will be preserved for the future and used for museum school displays, community functions and educational programs. It will be used to demonstrate the importance of this type of building to the community as a meeting place and a learning center. Cherokee language classes will also be taught in the schoolhouse.
Allcorn said, ì A lot of the Springtown people were sad to see it go. î But she promised the museum would ìtake good care ofî the building.
And take care of it, they did. The building was set on a new block foundation and completely refinished and restored under the direction of Bob Baker, who has also restored another school building. The wood floor was refinished, a new ceiling was installed and the whole building was painted ó inside and out. Cement steps and a walkway connect the historic schoolhouse to the main building of the Talbot Library and Museum. It took much work and hours and hours of volunteer labor from the community to get it done.
Jay Hannah, a native of Moseley Prairie in Delaware County, Okla., executive vice president of Financial Services at BancFirst in Oklahoma City, active in Cherokee Nation Enterprises, Friends of the State Museum, Beck-Hildebrand Mill Association and serving on the Northeastern State University Foundation, was the master of ceremonies at the dedication. He spoke of the central role of education in the Cherokee Nation and of the large number of one-room schoolhouses ó 124 of them ó which dotted the Cherokee Nation in the early years of the 20 th Century.
ì Many of these old school buildings have been lost, î Hannah said, ìbut today one has reopened in Colcord, Oklahoma, and school is back in session. î He said.
Funding to restore the old school was received from the Oklahoma Centennial Commission through a grant for which Donna Clark, the library and museum director, applied.
Jeanie McCain Edney, deputy director of the Oklahoma Centennial Commission, spoke at the dedication and said the money was earned by the Talbot Library and Museum board for the restoration project.
ì You earned the grant. This was the perfect centennial project ó it was at the top of the list, î Edney said, explaining that the restoration of a schoolhouse during Oklahomaís centennial year was the type of project the Commission wanted to see because of the central role of education in Oklahomaís history.
ì It takes a community to complete a centennial project, î Edney said, ìand you have really done that in a big, big way. î
Chadwick ì Corntasselî Smith, principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, was also present and commended those who participated in the restoration project.
Bobbie Ogdon, who attended the old Springtown School in the 1920 s, was in attendance and acknowledged at the ceremonies.
Ogdon wrote of her recollections of the Springtown schoolhouse in the Gentry Centennial Book, published in 1994: ì In the fall of 1924, Springtown had a new schoolhouse. I was in the second grade. Della Sugg was the teacher. All eight grades attended. There were two long benches where pupils sat when they had their lessons.
ì On Monday morning we would start by giving the pledge to the flag, sing one or two songs, the teacher would read scripture and we had a prayer.
ì We had recess mid-morning and mid-afternoon when we could play games like Black Man, Dare Base, Hide and Seek, Annie Over, Fox and Geese and Drop the Handkerchief.
ì There were no bus rides; everyone walked. The teacher would ring a hand bell and pupils would line up in two lines and march into the school.
ì Lunch was carried in a heavy cardboard box or in a syrup pail. Every child had his own tin drinking cup. In nice weather, lunch was eaten outdoors, and it was common for parts of lunches to be traded.
ì At Christmas, the teacher would have a program, with every child having a part. Santa was there with presents and treats.
ì The last day of school, we would have a dinner. Some of the parents came and others sent food. In the afternoon, the parents visited and the children played. î
Ogdon attended her first-grade year at the old school building in Springtown which burned down, she said. The rest of the school year was completed at the old Baptist Church in town. By the time the next term was to begin, the new school building was done. Ogdon attended school in Springtown for eight grades ó they didnít have kindergarten back then ó and seven of those eight years were in the school building which was moved to Colcord.
After the school closed, about 1947, the building was left by heirs of the Wasson family to Springtown to be used as a community building, said Ogdon. The city council later bought the land from the heirs and decided to sell the building.
The building was pulled west on Arkansas Highway 12, passing through Gentry. The roof had to be removed to make it possible to get the building under power lines along the way.
The schoolhouse was officially designated as Talbotís Historic School Restoration Project by the Oklahoma Centennial Commemoration Commission and funded in part through a grant made possible by the Oklahoma Legislature in 2007.
The Talbot Library and Museum is located at 500 S. Colcord Ave., Colcord, Okla. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p. m., Wednesday through Saturday. The library and museum can be reached by telephone at 918-326-4532, by e-mail at talbotlibrary @ earthlink. net, or by visiting its Web site at www. talbotlibrary. com.
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