Extra Special Slate in Frame
date: label: date made
content: ca 1900
notes: label: Description
content: From colonial times, American children learned mathematics by writing and solving problems on slates. This one was made by the National School Slate Company of Slatington, Pennsylvania, a firm established in 1884 that operated until 1970. It was given to the Smithsonian in 1975. Slates generally fell out of favor in American schools in the early twentieth century, which accounts for the rough date assigned to the object.
label: Description
content: The central piece of slate has a wooden frame which, in turn, has a cloth edging held in place by black stiches. A mark on the frame reads: NATIL [sic] SCHOOL SLATE COMPY (/) EXTRA SPECIAL (/) SLATINGTON PENNA US.
label: Description
content: References:
label: Description
content: C. Roberts, J. Stoudt, T. Krick and W. Dietrich, <I>History of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, and a Genealogical and Biographical record of Its Families</I>, vol. 1, Allentown, PA.: Lehigh Valley Publishing co.,1914, p. 687.
label: Description
content: Slatington 125 Celebration. History Committee, <I>Slatington and Surrounding Communities: A Volume of History, 1864-1989</I>, 1989.
label: Description
content: Accession File.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Slatington
topic: label: Subject
content: Education
label: Subject
content: Mathematics
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Edith R. Meggers
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MA.335280
label: catalog number
content: 335280
label: accession number
content: 314637
objectType: label: Object Name
content: slate
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: slate (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: fabric (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 1 cm x 28.1 cm x 20.5 cm; 13/32 in x 11 1/16 in x 8 1/16 in