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60 Iowa schools are individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places;
many more are listed as contributing features to historic districts. Their National
Register-significance lies primarily in their association with public education
in Iowa and their architectural style. But in the hearts of many Iowans, the true
significance of Iowa’s historic schools lies in the shared history, community
identity, and architectural legacy they represent. The Iowa Historic Preservation
Office is working to increase public awareness of Iowa’s historic schools
and the need to preserve them.
Statewide
Surveys of Iowa’s Public Schools
During the mid-1990s, a one-room country schools survey was conducted using an
HRDP (Historic Resource Development Program) grant. The survey found that of the
approximately 12,000 one-room country schools in existence in 1901, just over
2,900 remained standing in 1998. At that time, approximately 350 stood vacant,
over 100 had been converted into museums, and roughly 1,500 had been converted
into houses or outbuildings. The survey resulted in the compilation of a book
(Iowa’s Country Schools: Landmarks of Learning, edited by William
L. Sherman) and the nomination of several one-room schools to the National Register
of Historic Places.
The most recent statewide
survey of Iowa’s public schools included photography of over 800 pre-1940
public school buildings in use across the state, full National Register-evaluation
of 50 buildings, and 28 properties forwarded for listing on the National Register
of Historic Places. Of those, 15 were listed on the National Register in 2002
and 13 are pending listing in 2005, along with the historic context “Public
Schools for Iowa: Growth and Change, 1848 – 1955.” Three booklets
on the significance of Iowa’s public schools were also produced as part
of the survey: Country Schools for Iowa, Town Schools for Iowa, and City
Schools for Iowa. These booklets are available online at www.iowahistory.org/preservation/inventory_collections/index.html.
A
Shared History
The shared history represented by Iowa’s extant historic schools is palpable.
William H. Drier, Professor Emeritus of Education at the University of Northern
Iowa, speculates that as much as 75% of Iowa’s population in the late 1800s
and early 1900s was educated in a one-room schoolhouse. In the 20th century, these
rural schools fell into disuse as Iowa’s Consolidation Movement grew and
several rural school districts were consolidated into one with a centrally-located
school. Whether vacant or being reused today, these schools are instantly recognizable
artifacts of earlier times.
In the 1930s and 1940s, an untold number of Iowa’s schools were renovated,
added onto, or constructed using Public Works Administration (PWA) funding or
Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor. Today, these buildings present a tangible
link to the history of the New Deal programs put in place during the Great Depression.
Other examples of buildings representing a shared educational history in Iowa
include “normal” schools, “modern” schools and “platoon”
schools. These schools each represent key educational movements or theories of
the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The history and design embodied in remaining
examples of the buildings built during these movements provide insight into how
they affected the way Iowans were taught.
Community
Identity
In addition to a shared history, historic schools have given many Iowans a shared
“identity” through both the architecture of the buildings themselves
and the sense of community fostered inside their walls. One-room schoolhouses
were the heart of rural neighborhoods, serving as gathering places for social
events and governmental functions, as well as centers for education. Larger schools
were often the most prominent buildings in their communities. Designed in the
highest styles by local, regional, or national architects, schools epitomized
the importance society placed on educating children and became an important symbol
of the community as a whole.
Ultimately, though, the community identity represented in Iowa’s historic
schools comes from the long-lasting relationships that formed inside the buildings.
For many Iowans, memories of childhood friends and special events come rushing
back with a mere glimpse of the places where they spent so many of their formative
years.
Architectural
Legacy
Architecturally, Iowa’s historic schools illustrate what were the latest
in educational trends and technological advances of the time. Most one-room schoolhouses
had standard sizes and designs. Although we think of many as simple, gable-roofed
rectangular forms, schools in more prosperous districts were often embellished
with additional architectural details, such as cupolas and round-arched doorways
and windows.
Larger schools were designed to fit needs that went beyond the basic education
offered in country schools. They responded to new demands for workforce training
in commercial/industrial trades and to the development of specialty schools, such
as “opportunity schools,” where students with special needs required
unique architectural solutions. They also incorporated the latest construction
technologies of the times, such as the use of glue-laminated beams to span large
open spaces in the 1940s and 50s. While these trends affected the layout and design
of the buildings, schools were often built in the prominent styles of their day,
representing the ever-changing architectural tastes of the last century and a
half.
Conclusion
Iowa’s historic schools represent our shared history, community identity,
and architectural legacy. But the story isn’t complete. Much more needs
to be done to truly understand the significance of these important buildings.
Associated features, such as playgrounds, outbuildings (privies, sheds, stables),
and teachers’ housing, need to be identified and researched. Private schools
and institutions have yet to be investigated. Archeological investigations on
our earliest school sites still need to be done. The lives of significant educators
and school architects should be researched, as well. All of this will help us
understand the true legacy of our historic schools.
On these pages we provide
information on how to preserve Iowa’s historic schools and the significance
that lies within them. If you’d like to know more or have information to
share, please contact:
Barbara
A. Mitchell
600 East Locust
Des Moines, Iowa 50319-0290
Barbara.Mitchell@iowa.gov
515.281.4013
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