1909 Graduation Commemorative Souvenir "Knowledge is the Reward of Perseverance" depicting an American Flag
date: label: date made
content: 1909
notes: label: Description
content: This 1909 graduation commemorative souvenir booklet depicts a patriotic illustration on its front cover. An American flag waves beneath a gold seal that reads “LEST WE FORGET.” A gold oil lamp is portrayed below the seal and represents education as providing light. A black and white thumbnail photograph of Christena Hart, (1888-1987), the teacher of this class is depicted in the upper left-hand corner. The card is a trifold card. On the first fold, verso to the cover, there is a stamp in the upper righthand corner that reads “WITH BEST WISHES FROM YOUR TEACHER 1909.” This booklet was produced by the Seibert Printing Company for the Paralta School in Linn, Iowa.
label: Description
content: The center fold lists the school name, district, teacher, and pupils. The last fold contains a poem accompanied by printed illustrations celebrating the hard work of both teacher and her students throughout the year. The card lists the school’s president, treasurer, secretary, and sub-director, reflecting the dominance of men in administrative roles. The number of women in educational leadership positions would increase throughout the next decade before decreasing in subsequent years.
label: Description
content: The teacher, Mary Christena Hart, was the daughter of Malinda Minehart and Oscar Hart and lived with her parents while she taught. She married Jesse Clarence Rosdale in 1909 and may have stopped teaching then but was probably not working in 1913 when pregnant with her son, as it was often taboo for women to work while raising a family. She was widowed and married 2 other times, living to the age of 99.
label: Description
content: The list of pupils suggests that this classroom contained students of varying ages. Multiple students shared surnames, suggesting that families in this district enrolled children in groups regardless of age. Multi-age schooling was contested by some as too community driven and diverse; detractors complained that one and two room rural schools contributed to the decline of white, Protestant culture. Many progressive reformers spoke in favor of rural schools though so they remained popular as the nation’s student population continued to increase, but eventually fell out of fashion as these schools began to age and it became more economical to transport students and centralize school services in district schools.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: used
content: United States: Iowa, Linn
topic: label: depicted
content: Teacher
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Education
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Dr. Richard Lodish American School Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2017.0095.364
label: accession number
content: 2017.0095
label: catalog number
content: 2017.0095.364
objectType: label: Object Name
content: souvenir booklet
label: Object Type
content: souvenirs
label: Object Type
content: commemoratives
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: ink (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: printed (overall production method/technique)
label: Measurements
content: overall-closed: 5 3/4 in x 3 1/4 in; 14.605 cm x 8.255 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall-open: 9 3/4 in x 5 3/4 in; 24.765 cm x 14.605 cm