Poetry Slam at Homestead

Uploaded by BeatriceDailySun on Sep 28, 2011

Students express themselves through poetry competition

The art of SLAM

"From “I am the crumbles at the bottom of the cookie jar,” to “If tomatoes are fruit, does that make ketchup a smoothie?” students from across the state gathered at the Homestead National Monument to show of and improve their creative writing skills..."

Read more: http://www.beatricedailysun.com/news/article_38e6cd74-ea4a-11e0-a708-001cc4c03286.html#ixzz1ZMzlPlde

Learning to write

While sitting at Freeman School one afternoon leafing through the Spencerian Penmanship booklet I started thinking about the amount of time students must have spent perfecting each stroke. I also wondered about the possibilities for disaster with a six-year-old,  a pen and a bottle of ink. I just could not imagine how their little hands could make those seven specific strokes needed to write the Spencerian alphabet.

by Doris Martin, Ranger; Homestead National Monument of America

After doing some research I discovered that penmanship instruction did not begin until the student was in second or third grade. “In America’s heyday of education children of eight years old to adults of eighty learned to write the Spencerian way,” according to the Theory of Spencerian Penmanship booklet.

Before the age of 8 children learned to read but not write. Learning to print was not taught until the 1920s when Manuscript Printing was introduced.  Students were then taught to print first and then moved to cursive writing. For example, Abraham Lincoln would not have been taught to print.  But he would have spent many hours learning how to write in cursive. According to The Theory of Spencerian Penmanship, Platt Rogers Spencer, “the father of American handwriting,” advised his students to practice six to twelve hours a day.  He believed that mastering his script would make someone refined, genteel, and upstanding. Today penmanship lessons are developed so teachers spend about 15 minutes a day on penmanship.

Even the idea that all people needed to know how to write was slow to develop. In the 1700s many were taught to read so they could read the Bible but few were taught to write. “Because reading and writing were understood to serve entirely different ends, instruction in one was divorced from instruction in the other. Reading was taught first, as a universal spiritual necessity; writing was taught second, and then only to some,” according to Tamara Plakins Thornton in Handwriting in America: A Cultural History.

The teaching of handwriting in the nineteenth century was closely associated with character building. “The letters were formed by command with the teacher calling out letter elements and the student simultaneously writing them down on the page; the letters mysteriously appeared out of the assembled elements,” according to A History of Learning to Write.

“Such exercises were seen as character building,” the article continues, “A sample of someone’s script became a recommendation of industry and self-discipline.” Victorians emphasized the “moral nature of the individual” and handwriting was seen as a method for “character formation.”

The final workbook in the Spencerian  series includes page after page of sentences intended to improve a student’s character including “Better to live well than long,” “Hold truth in great esteem,” and “Let your promises be sincere.” Students were expected to copy each sentence 15 times in correct Spencerian form.

Handwriting was also viewed as a physical act. The key word now was muscularity…and the most pressing need was to exert control over the body of the penmanship pupil. “Victorian manuals spelled out methods whereby extreme levels of physical control might be maintained over pupils. Teachers distributed writing materials in numbered, standardized steps (“Position,” “Open books,” “Monitors about face”) marked by predetermined signals. They counted out loud or barked commands (“up,” “down’” “left curve,” “quick”) as pupils performed their handwriting exercises; some manuals recommended the use of a metronome. By such means, commented the Spencerian authors with pride, “entire classes may soon be trained to work in concert, all the pupils beginning to write at the same moment, and executing the same letter, and portion of a letter simultaneously.” Thus will the penmanship class proceed “with all the order, promptness and precision of a military drill,” according to Thornton.

Good penmanship was highly prized. “Indeed, concurred a Boston school principal, ‘to write illegibly or badly is almost to forfeit one’s respectability,” according to Laura Doremus in “Character in Handwriting.”

A slate and slate pencil were used by younger students while older students, especially in rural schools, used steel nibbed pens, an ink sponge and practice paper. And some schools even had a special teacher for penmanship instruction.  “We did have a man for a special writing teacher, Prof. Carrier, who fitted little leather harnesses on each right hand and instructed us in arm movement, to write a beautiful Spencerian hand, but when he left the room, these unruly hands resume their original scribbling habit,” said Alice Laura Stevenson in the Growing Up in Michigan, 1880-1895 online exhibit.

Now as I look at those Spencerian Penmanship booklets I not only think about small children using ink I also think about  the amount of time and effort which older students spent perfecting their handwriting and all the debate today about if it is even needed in today’s computer society.

Sources:

Thorton, Tamara Plakins. Handwriting in America, A Cultural History. 1st. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1996. Print.

Clayton, Ewan. "A History of Learning to Write." 13. Web. 14 Aug 2011. http://www.ejf.org.uk/Resources/ejhandw.pdf

Theory of Spencerian Penmanship. 1st. Fenton: Michigan, 1985. Print.

"School Days." Growing Up in Michigan, 1880-1895. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Aug 2011. http://www.hal.state.mi.us/mhc/growingup/schooldays.html

Learning Homestead Style

Saturday, I picked up my cell phone, pressed 8, then send expecting my little sister to pick up. The 5 year old voice of my niece surprised me at first, but I guess it shouldn’t have because I often get calls from my sister asking me to talk to either my niece or nephew because they won’t give up the other phone and I’m to provide the distraction. I asked Cadence, my niece, what she was doing to which she replied that she was playing a game on mommy’s phone and it rang so she answered it. After a brief conversation about the game and school I got to talk to my sister.

My niece is a digital native, meaning she’s grown up with technology all her life. She can answer the phone, play games and probably take pictures with her mom’s camera phone. My youngest sister is also a digital native so she snaps first day of school pictures with her camera phone, posts them to Facebook and texts them to the family before they even walk through the school doors. Technology is amazing!

Although we don’t use camera phones, Homestead National Monument of America uses technology to spread the homesteading story through its distance learning technology. Homestead uses distance learning or you may know it as video conferencing, to teach free programs to kids from coast to coast, literally. We have connected with schools from California to New York and from Minnesota to Texas and all points in between. We teach the kids about many different aspects of the homesteading story from the American Indian uses to the buffalo to life in a cabin and more.

It’s amazing to talk to kids across Nebraska and the United States. They have such energy and I am always surprised at how much they know and their answers to my questions. But the key to technology (other than having it work), is to tell them how long it would take them to get to Homestead the old fashioned way, on a school bus. This helps them realize how great technology is. Sometimes a school bus ride to Homestead is only a couple hours away, but other times it could take a couple of days. For those schools located far away we may never have had a chance to introduce our park to them. I wonder how many parents have casually asked their child what they did in school today to have them answer, “I went to Nebraska!” I would love to see their faces. I should start asking the kids to take pictures for me.

by Tina Miller
Education Coordinator
Homestead National Monument of America

William Holmes McGuffey and His Readers

Two of the best-known school books in the history of American education were the 18th century New England Primer and the 19th century McGuffey Readers. Of the two, McGuffey’s was the most popular and widely used. It is estimated that at least 120 million copies of McGuffey’s Readers were sold between 1836 and 1960, placing its sales in a category with the Bible and Webster’s Dictionary. Since 1961 they have continued to sell at a rate of some 30,000 copies a year. No other textbook bearing a single person’s name has come close to that mark.

By Nancy Marie Hoppe

The author of the Readers, William Holmes McGuffey, was born September 23, 1800, near Claysville, Pennsylvania, and moved to Youngstown, Ohio with his parents in 1802. McGuffey’s family had immigrated to America from Scotland in 1774, and brought with them strong opinions on religion and a belief in education. Educating the young mind and preaching the gospel were McGuffey’s passions. He had a remarkable ability to memorize, and could commit to mind entire books of the Bible.

McGuffey became a “roving” teacher at the age of 14, beginning with 48 students in a one-room school in Calcutta, Ohio. Between teaching jobs, William McGuffey received an excellent classical education at the Old Stone Academy in Darlington, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Washington College in 1826. That same year he was appointed to a position as Professor of Languages at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. In 1827, McGuffey married Harriet Spinning, and the couple eventually had five children. Very little is known about the early lives of these children, although one daughter’s diary reveals that perfect obedience and submission were expected. William McGuffey spent his life striving to instill his strong convictions in the next generation. He believed religion and education to be interrelated and essential to a healthy society.

While McGuffey was teaching at Oxford, he established a reputation as a lecturer on moral and biblical subjects. In 1835, the small Cincinnati publishing firm of Truman and Smith asked McGuffey to create a series of four graded Readers for primary level students. McGuffey was recommended for the job by Harriet Beecher Stowe, a longtime friend. He completed the first two Readers within a year of signing his contract, receiving a fee of $1,000. While McGuffey compiled the first four Readers (1836-1837 edition), the fifth and sixth were created by his brother Alexander during the 1840s. The series consisted of stories, poems, essays and speeches. The advanced Readers contained excerpts from the works of great writers such as John Milton, Daniel Webster and Lord Byron.

The McGuffey Readers reflect their author’s personal philosophies, as well as his rough and tumble early years as a frontier schoolteacher. The finished works represented far more than a group of textbooks; they helped frame the country’s morals and tastes, and shaped the American character. The lessons in the Readers encouraged standards of morality and society throughout the United States for more than a century. They dealt with the natural curiosity of children; emphasized work and an independent spirit; encouraged an allegiance to country, and an understanding of the importance of religious values. The Readers were filled with stories of strength, character, goodness and truth. The books presented a variety of contrasting viewpoints on many issues and topics, and drew moral conclusions about lying, stealing, cheating, poverty, teasing, alcohol, overeating, skipping school and foul language. The books taught children to seek an education and continue to learn throughout their lives.

Even though there were originally four Readers, most schools of the 19th century used only the first two. The first Reader taught reading by using the phonics method, the identification of letters and their arrangement into words, and aided with slate work. The second Reader came into play once the student could read, and helped them to understand the meaning of sentences while providing vivid stories which children could remember. The third Reader taught the definitions of words, and was written at a level equivalent to the modern 5th or 6th grade. The fourth Reader was written for the highest levels of ability on the grammar school level, which students completed with this book.

McGuffey’s Readers were among the first textbooks in America that were designed to become progressively more challenging with each volume. They used word repetition in the text as a learning tool, which built strong reading skills through challenging reading. Sounding-out, enunciation and accents were emphasized. Colonial-era texts had offered dull lists of 20 to 100 new words per page for memorization. In contrast, McGuffey used new vocabulary words in the context of real literature, gradually introducing new words and carefully repeating the old.

McGuffey believed that teachers should study the lessons as well as their students, and suggested they read aloud to their classes. He also listed questions after each story, for he believed in order for a teacher to give instruction they must ask questions. McGuffey desired to improve students’ spelling, sharpen their vocabulary and redevelop the lost art of public speaking. In the 19th century, elocution was a part of every public occasion, and McGuffey was responsible for creating a generation of gifted orators and readers.

Although famous as the author of the Readers, McGuffey wrote very few other works. He was athletic, loved children, had a sparkling sense of humor, and enjoyed a good joke. McGuffey left Miami University for positions of successively greater responsibility at Cincinnati College, Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, and Woodward College in Cincinnati (where he served as president). He ended his career as a Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Virginia. Through the hard times of the Civil War and following, McGuffey was known for his philanthropy and generosity among the poor and African-Americans. William McGuffey died in 1873, a success as an educator, lecturer and author.

McGuffey was remembered as a theological and conservative teacher. He understood the goals of public schooling in terms of moral and spiritual education, and attempted to give schools a curriculum that would instill Presbyterian Calvinist beliefs and manners in their students. These goals were suitable for early 19th century America, but not for the nations’ later need for unified pluralism. The content of the readers changed drastically between McGuffey’s 1836-1837 editions and the 1879 edition. The revised Readers were compiled to meet the needs of national unity and the dream of an American “melting pot” for the world's oppressed masses. The Calvinist values of salvation, righteousness and piety, so prominent in the early Readers, were entirely missing in the later versions. The content of the books was secularized and replaced by middle-class civil religion, morality and values. McGuffey’s name was continued on these revised editions, yet he neither contributed to them nor approved their content.

Other types of schoolbooks eventually replaced McGuffey’s. The desire for distinct grade levels, a changing society which sought less moral and spiritual content in their schoolbooks, and publishers who realized that there was greater profit in consumable workbooks, helped to bring about their decline. McGuffey’s lively texts never entirely disappeared, however, and are once again enticing children to learn and become avid readers. Schools use them frequently today to strengthen reading skills and cultivate a sense of history in young students.

McGuffey Readers played an important role in American history. Most prominent post-Civil War and turn-of-the-Century American figures credited their initial success in learning to the Readers, which provided a guide to what was occurring in the public school movement and in American culture during the 19th century. The mind and spirit of William Holmes McGuffey were most fully expressed through his readers and the moral and cultural influence they exerted upon children. The success of McGuffey’s vision is evidenced by the fact that the reprinted versions of his Readers are still in print, and may be purchased in bookstores across the country, including at Homestead National Monument of America.

Homestead's Artist-in-Residence: Homestead Prairie Gleanings



By Judy Thompson

2010 Artist-in Residence

Homestead National Monument of America

Cottonwood Cows:  While at the Homestead, I encountered triple digit temperatures.  The hot, humid prairie offered little relief from these extreme conditions except for the few sparse cottonwoods scattered throughout the landscape.  Many times on the prairie, trees became personalities which were known throughout the area for their distinct ability to give shade to both man and beast.


I am a visual artist who is fascinated with the beauty and history of the Great Plains.  Through my watercolor landscapes, I attempt to capture not merely a likeness of my subject, but also a “sense of place.”  The Artist-in-Residence Program provided me with the unique opportunity to explore the history of the homesteaders while being immersed in the native tallgrass prairie.   My goal was to create a series of watercolor paintings depicting the prairies during the time of the first homesteaders.  My time at the monument included researching existing photos and records, as well as taking my own photos, and creating onsite sketches of the park environment.  These references were used to create compelling compositions of the homestead era.

Distant Harvest:  In my research, I came across many accounts of how the homestead life affected children.  For some children, moving to the prairie was an exciting adventure. However, many children soon realized that prairie life meant isolation.  Future dreams of careers as teachers, doctors, etc., were kept in check by their ability to receive education, and by the expectation for them to stay and work the family farm.   "Distant Harvest" speaks to the many sacrifices made by homesteader children.



Of the many interpretive themes of the Homestead National Monument, I am particularly interested in the change of ecosystem from the native tallgrass prairie to cultivated farmland.  I am also inspired by the individuals and families who seized the opportunity to settle the West through the Homestead Act.  My hope is to put these themes together into a series of watercolor paintings which will tell a visual story of this revolutionary event in our nation’s history.

Prairie Impressions:  Speaks to the colors and mystique of the prairie landscape.  Subtle colors and textures give a peaceful mood to the flowering, flowing grasses.

In October of 2010, I am scheduled to give a solo exhibition in Brookings, South Dakota.  I want to entitle my show “Prairie Gleanings” and will include pieces of work from my time on the prairie at the Homestead National Monument.

Trail's End: The perils of homesteading were great. Many who tried were stopped by disease, lack of food, natural disaster and poor planning. Hopes, dreams and lives were often shattered. The prairie landscape was inviting yet hostile to those who tried to tame it. However, through time, it is the natural prairie which survives.

Uninterrupted time to observe, draw, and paint a subject is an artist’s dream.  The Artist-in-Residence Program provided me with the exciting opportunity to experience the prairie in a very personal way and challenged me to capture the beauty of the prairie through watercolor. During my time in residency, I created an art journal (sketch book) of plants, animals, landscapes, and skyscapes discovered at the park. I included in this journal my impressions, ideas, and notes.  This journal will provide me with artistic inspiration for years to come. 

Editor’s note: Judy was in residence August 1 through 15, 2010.

Artist website: http://judythompson.mosaicglobe.com/

Homestead Spelling Bee

“Cat,” the first word of the spelling bee, was enunciated clearly and slowly by the pronouncer. And Homestead National Monument’s first old fashioned spelling bee began.

The entry way to the Freeman School.

The words spelling bee are thought to originate from the age-old-custom of people gathering to help each other out, to socialize, or both. Examples of bees include: barn-raising bees, corn-husking bees, spelling bees, and quilting bees.

The Oxford English Dictionary traces the etymology of the word bee to 1769 in the Boston Gazette: “Last Thursday about twenty young Ladies met at the house of Mr. L. on purpose for a Spinning Match; (or what is called in the Country a Bee)”; other examples include: in 1809 “Now were instituted quilting bees and husking bees and other rural assemblages” ; in 1830 “I made a bee; that is, I collected as many of the most expert and able-bodied of the settlers to assist at the raising”; and in 1876 “He may be invincible at a spelling bee.”

Scripps National Spelling Bee website challenges the notion of bee as in bee-hive-type-social gathering to suggest scholars today think the word bee may have origins in the Middle English word “bene.” Bene is a prefix for well or an adverb for to perform. No matter the etymology, Scripps thinks the first use of the American term spelling bee was probably around 1875 or earlier.

Homesteaders prized education and encouraged their children in the 3Rs: reading, writing, and arithmetic. One of the ways pioneer children learned these lessons was through recitation. A typical school day would include both reciting and spelling. After studying the assigned reading the student would join the teacher at the recitation bench and recite the memorized reading. Later students would line up for the spelling match.

The pronouncer reads the rules to the spellers.

Competitors in Homestead’s first spelling bee did not follow the rule of the next contender spelling a word missed by the person before them, known as “turned down.” But did have an eventual winner of the bee, which in one-room-school house terms was known as the “head mark” - or the student that “turned down” each person before them became the best speller or “head mark.”

Words for the Homestead contest were selected from the McGuffey’ Spelling Book first published 1879 with Worcester’s Pocket Dictionary, published in 1872 by Brewer and Tileston, as the back-up list if all words from McGuffey’s were exhausted. Worceter’s dictionaries were known to concentrate on the British spellings and pronunciations of words as opposed to Webster’s approach of Americanizing spelling and pronunciation.

Participants listen intently to the spelling of a word by Lauryn Rieken. For another view click on the link.

One charming story of Webster’s youth describes how he held spelling bees at his home in the evenings after school. Noah assumed the role of pronouncer and insisted on American spellings such as h-a-r-b-o-r instead of English spellings such as h-a-r-b-o-u-r. Spellers had 10 seconds, counted down by the other spellers, to spell their word aloud. Once the bee was won, the future lexicographer and author of the American speller, Noah would teach the other children how to remember the spellings of words by drawing pictures on the pine walls of the family kitchen (Bailey, 2001).

While no pictures were drawn on the walls of the Freeman school during Homestead’s first bee there were plenty of digital pics being snapped by proud parents and the photographer from the Beatrice Daily Sun co-sponsor of the event. Coverage of the event can be read at: Spellers Flock to Homestead.

Congratulations Spellers!

We would like to congratulate the winners of the 1st Annual Labor Day Weekend Old-Fashioned Spelling Bee! They are as follows:

• Under 7 years old: Kolbe Villa
• 7-11 years old: November Schuster
• 12-15 years old: Isaiah Friesen
• 16 and older: Barb Rieken
  

References
Bailey, C. (2001, March). The spelling bee. Child Life, 80, 2, 4.

Bee. (1989). Oxford English Dictionary.

Bene. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bene

Noah Webster History. (n.d). Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society. Retrieved from http://www.noahwebsterhouse.org/discover/noah-webster-history.htm

Origin of the term spelling bee. (n.d.) Scripps National Spelling Bee. Retrieved from http://www.spellingbee.com/origin-term-spelling-bee

Sample lesson plans (1900s). (2010). Blackwell Museum. Retrieved from Northern Illinois University College of Education http://www.cedu.niu.edu/blackwell/oneroom/index.shtml

Worcester, Joseph Emerson. (2010). The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, published by Houghton Mifflin Company. Answers.com Reference Answers. Retrieved from http://www.answers.com/topic/joseph-emerson-worcester

Homestead’s Warrior Butterflies

The fancy shawl dance is an athletic, spirited interpretation of what some describe as the dance of a butterfly. This dance was created in the 1950s by native women wishing to match the energetic footwork of the men’s grass and fancy dances. Pearson, a dance choreographer and grass dancer, likens the smooth, rhythmic movements of the dance to a “colorful cyclone.” The color is from the individually decorated shawl that spans the dancer’s shoulders from finger tip to finger tip. The graceful bobs, spins and twirls allow the shawl to flutter and wave like butterfly wings.

Another teaching of the origins of the shawl dance holds that the women dancers represent warriors just as the men of the grass dance do. The honor of warrior originates from the women runners that ran between the native villages warning of upcoming dangers.

Children begin to learn the art of dance at an early age. Small children often join their elders in the dance circle watching carefully and emulating the steps and moves they see their older relatives and mentors executing. Besides learning the dance steps participation teaches children the values of their elders as well as how to honor the customs of their past.

In the video below a dancer, a member of The Many Moccasins Dance Troupe shows the joyous flight of a butterfly after birth. The bright symbols across her back suggest light and brightness while when her shawl whirls and opens it offers quick glimpses of nights bright stars. The Many Moccasins Dance Troupe danced and educated an audience of about 600 at Homestead National Monument on July 17, 2010. The picture to the left shows dancers ending their program with a heart salute shared with the audience.

References

Dance styles. (2002, January 31). News from Indian Country, p. 19B.
Pearson, T. (2005, October). In the spirit. Dance Magazine, 79, 10. doi: 00116009.
The Many Moccasins Dance Troupe: http://themanymoccasins.com/aboutus.htm

Walk a Mile to School: A One Room School

When I think of being a teacher, I don’t expect to get up at four o’clock in the morning, walk a mile to school, and then get the wood burning stove ready. I don’t think any of us would be envious of that job. After doing my research on one room school houses I realized how the teachers of that time played a huge role in how students are taught today. Today I have the pleasure of sharing with you my interests in one room schools houses and the teachers of that time. I would like to inform you of the requirements of being a teacher, their general lifestyles and their roles.

By Alycia Fritzen

Southeast Community College

Before the 1900’s there were hardly any requirements for being a teacher. I know that sounds crazy to us considering all the education and experience a teacher needs today. According to Bobbie Kalman, the author of a One Room School (1994), a teacher needed to be able to read, write and be ready to handle rough and ready students. So therefore most teachers were men and they were called school masters. If a teacher was female, she was not allowed to marry and if she did, she was not allowed to teach.

By the late 1800’s parents did want teachers to have more training. Schools opened up on the East coast and offered a two year training program for their education. Some teachers took normal training at local high schools (Graves, 2002).

Now that I’ve told you about the requirements of a teacher I will tell you about the way a teacher lived. David Steinecker, the author of A Frontier Teacher (1994), says that a teacher’s salary was low so teachers had to “board around,” meaning they lived with their students families. This boarding technique left teacher without a place to call home. In addition, teachers had no privacy and they were always under the watchful eye of the families they were living with. This also meant a teacher’s job was never done because they had to tutor the children at night as well.
Like I said the average teaching salary was very low. Since money was scarce a teacher was paid in goods rather than money. This was a challenge as well. Most teachers tried to exchange their goods at a local store for money, but that didn’t always work (Steinecker, 1994).

So, now that I’ve shared with you a teacher’s way of life I will tell you some of the roles a teacher was faced with. Obviously a teacher taught reading and writing but they were also expected to teach everything from manners to hygiene. My generation would be offended today if a teacher told us to pull our pants up or take a shower.
According to Kerry Graves, the author of Going to school during Pioneer Times (2002), first thing in the morning the students showed their manners to the teacher by bowing or curtseying to the teacher. Boys and girls were punished for not having good manners.

For an example: arriving late and falling asleep in class, or answering questions incorrectly could leave you wearing a dunce hat. I thought it was interesting that one of the punishments was to write the same sentence over and over, and I can actually remember doing that in elementary school (Graves, 2002).

Just like today some students were able

to use their parent's "car" to travel to school. 

Of course teaching the Three R’s was the main role of the teacher. School books were expensive so many students brought books from home or were taught from the Bible (Graves, 2002). Memorization played a huge role in the one room school houses, especially of the multiplication tables. My next door neighbor Dale said last week he remembered memorizing his tables to the Yankee Doodle song (D. Minster, 2010).

Anyways, I find all this stuff interesting because I want to be a teacher myself. So after telling you the requirements the living styles and the roles of the one room school house teacher, I hope you found it interesting too. The teachers of that time played a huge role in the settlement of our country. The legacy of these teachers and schools will not be forgotten. However, getting up at four in the morning and walking a mile to school, well…… forget that.

References:

D. Minster (personal communication, May 2, 2010)

Graves, K. (2002). Going to school in pioneer times. Mankato, MN: Capstone Press.

Kalman, B. (1994). A one room school. NY: Crab Tree Publishing Company.

Steinecker, D. (1994). A frontier teacher. Vero Beach, FL: The Rourke Book Company.

Pioneer Women: How the West was Really Won

Close your eyes for a minute and imagine yourself in the mid 1800’s in Nebraska.  You have stepped off the train in Omaha for the very first time and you are about to embark on what can only be considered a great Western adventure.  The land is mostly undeveloped, there are limited supplies, some of the houses look an awful lot like a mud hut and unfortunately the next train doesn’t come back through for at least a week.  For pioneer women, it was time to straighten your skirts and give it your all. Ok open your eyes; it is time to get down to business.  

Christi Moock Willoughby

Southeast Community College

If you think it’s tough to be a woman in 2010 when we have all the same freedom’s offered to men imagine how hard it was 150 or so years ago on the frontier west. About 10 years ago I spent part of the summer on field trips with my mother tracking down our family roots in Nebraska.  From my shirt-tail cousin who started more than ten Lutheran Churches between Dannebrog and Kearney to my great-grandmother who spent a few years in a sod house we traced our genealogy and mobility through this exciting time in American history.

Today I want to share with you the diverse lives of women on the prairie.

At the end of this essay you will have learned about the impact of women on the prairie and their effect on the home, their contributions to the workplace, and their place as landholders, farmers and ranchers long before women’s liberation.

In the 1996 book Pioneer Women Linda Peavey and Ursula Smith report that, in the Great Migration of 1843 there was a boom of citizens moving to the west for free land.  The legislature had approved the Preemption Act of 1842 which encouraged people to develop the land in the hopes of one day making it their own. I find it hard to imagine people in 2010 being brave enough to move several hundred miles for the possibility of free land from the government in the future, but the pioneers must have had a little more trust than the average citizen today.

Some of these groups were referred to as “movers” (Peavey & Smith, 1996) they packed up and migrated further west several times and were forced to start fresh at each destination. Moving in our civilized world is traumatic enough but moving in 1843 without the ease of a car, prior to the completion of the transcontinental railway, and going to an undeveloped destination took guts. The majority of these moves were by covered wagon with food, safety and illness the primary concerns for families (Peavey & Smith, 1996).

In Nebraska, citizens living close to the Missouri River or other waterways had access to trees to build log cabins, while those in the plains and sand hills of central and western Nebraska were required to live in sod houses Pictures from Frederick Luebbke’s 2005 book Nebraska, An Illustrated History, show the multiple kinds of structures common in Nebraska during this period. 

The sod houses, or soddy’s, as they were often referred to, were dirty and dark.  They were made by stacking hand-cut pieces of sod to build up walls These homes were hot in the summer and, drafty in the winter.  Even the best sod houses were dirty with leaky roofs (Luebbke, 2005).

But what if you sympathized more with Annie Oakley than with Laura Ingles Wilder? 

Not every woman who moved west was attached to a family.  There were single women seeking adventure, or a change of pace, who were eagerly migrating west as well.  Sadly, there were also women who lost their husbands early after arriving in the Midwest.

There is a joke I’ve heard in small towns about women who go to college to get their “missus” and while I suspect that some of the women traveled west for a mate, others were interested in a life built of their own strength, ambition and endurance. Wishart reports in the 2004 Encyclopedia of the Prairie that, under the Homestead Act, only women who were single, widowed, divorced or deserted could sign for their own land.

Many of the women who came west were influenced only by the excitement of the boom. Once a “single” woman had acquired her land she was free to marry or re-marry whichever the case may be.  Her land could then be combined with her husband’s to create a larger property, rented out to a farmer for profit or sold (Wishart, 2004).

The women who were widowed after moving west with their families often faced the difficult decision of what would be best for the future. These women took on the day-to-day responsibilities of farm and ranch life and were surprisingly successful. A quote from Katie Adams, a Pioneer widow, reads, “I was just like a hired man.  I was right there, I even followed the plow”  (Peavey & Smith, 1996). To my memory this seems a lot different than the trials of the characters in Little House on the Prairie.

So what if you’re not a desperate housewife and manual labor doesn’t sound like your gig either?  Don’t worry, there were places on the prairie for women who aspired to greater things.

The last group of pioneer women includes those who had completed all of primary school or some college back east before migrating to the Midwest.  These women worked outside the home and were valuable to their community for a variety of reasons. 150 years ago, in the undeveloped west there was value to being an educated woman, sometimes, the women were more educated than the men.

Pioneer women worked commonly as teachers. In 1863 most teachers in the Midwest were women and the average pay was around $40 a month.  Often times, the pupils were only a few years behind the teachers in age and knowledge. Dee Brown, in the 1994 date book The American West, reports that specialty schools were not uncommon and included female academies where women would perfect sewing and manners.

Other jobs for women included writing for the newspaper. Newspapers were developed for the public recording of property transactions.  According to Brown’s 1994 The American West, news print and paper were in short supply and the women didn’t want to waste any empty space so they filled the empty areas with poems and human interest stories.  Brown (1994) also notes that many of the pioneer’s desired additional reading materials and that the pieces produced by women writers were frequently sought after as entertainment. 

Women then weren’t so different from women now, some focused on family life, others cut their own path in a man’s world, and still other’s preferred a life working indoors.

Thank you for taking the time to learn about the diversity of women on the prairie. Maybe your ancestors stayed home and battled snakes that came into their sod house from the walls, maybe they moved until they found a place that felt like home, or until they couldn’t move any more.  Maybe you have already traced your family history and you know that your great-grandmother ran the ranch after she lost her husband.  Or maybe, you’ve been lucky enough to find the writings of a relative and have been able to learn about the quiet strength and dedication of pioneer women.  The one’s who carved their own path, and made our part of the world what it is today. 

I like to think that all women have a little bit of that Pioneer Spirit left and that now, while we’re in college, and making the decision about which paths we will follow, which one’s we’ll ignore and which times we’ll have to cut the path ourselves, that we’ll remember the pioneer women before us, who survived against all odds, in a land that they helped to develop.  When they arrived they were met with barren land, and homes made from the earth, many of us have had a much easier start, but our pioneering spirit can still cause amazing developments and successes.   

References:

Brown, D. (1994). The American west.  New York, NY:  Touchstone.

Luebbke, F. (2005). Nebraska: An illustrated history. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.

Peavey, L. & Smith, U. (1996). Pioneer women: the lives of the women on the frontier. Rowayton, CT:  Saraband, Inc.

Wishart, D. (2004) Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. Lincoln, NE:  Center for Great Plains Studies.

One Room Education

“It’s cold outside,” Lois Smith complains to her mother as she gets ready for school, but her mother pays her little attention. So Lois takes her brother’s hand and heads out the door. They are on their way to St. Paul parochial school located on the east side of York county right here in Nebraska. They trudge through over a mile of fresh snow that, in places, is as high as the fence posts that criss-cross each section of land. Finally, they arrive just in time to here the schoolmaster ring the hand bell. This story comes straight from my Grandmother who actually experienced one room school education in the 1930’s.

A one room school house that the author's grandfather attended.

His grandmother said that she recalled the school name as Zion Lutheran.

by Trent Gloystein, Southeast Community College

This scene, set in rural Nebraska, is probably much like something one of your own relatives has experienced. The information on one room schools I am about to share with you has come from interviews with people who have studied in one room schools, historians, and from further research on the topic My purpose is to inform you about the era of one room schools. While discussing one room school houses we will look at their history, the general setup, and the curriculum.

One room schools were common place in America through the 19th and half of the 20th century. In the Land Ordinance of 1785, Congress stated that each township in the western territories would set aside a section of land of a public school (Pioneer Village, 2009). According to Evelyn Toynton’s (1995) book Growing up in America, 1830-1860, “The first free schools were established in Philadelphia in 1787.” Small one roomed schools were ideal for the widespread American population. During my interview with the curator of the Hastings museum, Teresa Kreutzer-Hodson (2009) stated that most Americans in the west had agricultural based livelihoods and small rural schools close to home were ideal.

We should realize that the history of schooling has shaped education of today as both churches and government recognized the need for education. Thomas Jefferson once said, “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be” (Pioneer Village, 2009). My grandmother told me that schools were either public schools or parochial, ran by a Christian based organization (L. Smith, 2009). Now that we have covered where the one room school house came from, let’s look at the typical set up of a one room school.

Most one room schools were setup primarily the same, with economical accommodations that reflected the state of the surrounding economy, yet retain some of the same things we would find in a classroom today. The basic facilities were pretty much the same for most schools.

In John Martin Campbell’s (1996) book, The Prairie School House, (p. 14) he noted professional carpenters were rarely used. Most schools were made from whatever material the townspeople had readily available. According to my grandmother, Lois Smith, who attended a one room school, most schools had desks or benches for kids to do their work in.

One room schools did not typically have running water. They used outside privies, outhouses, and had a water basin to wash their hands and drink from (T. Kreutzer-Hodson, 2009). Each school had a blackboard at the front of the class that sat behind the teacher in the back of the school house (Stuhr Museum, 2009). Wood or oil burning stoves were the only source of heat for the schools (Stuhr Museum, 2009).

The teacher’s position also worked differently than today. Most schoolmasters would board in student’s homes (Pioneer Village, 2009). My grandmother vividly recalls having the teacher stay with her family. She also stated that it was looked at as a privilege.

Schoolmasters were paid either through taxes or by the church, if it was a parochial school. Teachers were usually unmarried males or females usually not much older than the students (T. Kreutzer-Hodson, 2009). Most teachers would stay a year or two at the most (Stuhr Museum, 2009). Next, we will look at what was taught in a one room school and how it was taught.

One room schools had a basic curriculum. Although they had different ways of teaching, the information taught was not completely unlike the basic curriculum of schools today. The teachers of the one room schools taught the subjects that were most important at the time. They taught basic skills such as reading, writing, arithmetic (math), geography, and history (Pioneer Village, 2009). My grandmother added that on special occasions they would get to learn bits of knitting and other things that may be useful in a home setting.

One room schools had different ways of studying information than schools of today. One room schools made use of memorization and flash cards (Lois Smith, 2009). According to (2009) Teresa Kreutzer-Hodson, Curator of Hastings Museum in Nebraska, because the classes ranged from grades k-8, all in the same room, the teacher handed out books called hornbooks and taught a grade its lesson separately while the others worked on their assignments. After the older grades had completed their work they would help the younger classes with their studies. Now that we have seen how school was taught and what the children studied, let's look at how the school year was set up.

The school year was set up drastically different from schools of today. School was not always the family’s first priority. Many children, especially males, took time off school for the harvesting and planting of the family’s crops. This means that many school children only went to school for a few months out of the year (T. Kreutz-Hodson, 2009).

The school system observed holidays just like the schools of today. Most schools celebrated Christian holiday such as Christmas and Easter (Stuhr Museum, 2009). My grandmother recalled that the only non-Christian holiday her school in rural Nebraska observed was Thanksgiving. But school children were rarely allowed to miss school due to weather.

Teresa Kreutzer-Hodson (2009) recalls a story she heard about a snow storm during the one room school era. The children had gone to school one day and during school hours the weather had taken a bad turn. Snow fell across the acres of harvested fields and covered the ground with a thick blanket of fresh snow. The snow was getting to deep to walk in and in those days a parent would show up to collect all the kids and drive them home, a very seldom occasion. On this particular day the parent didn’t have enough room for all the children to fit inside. They couldn’t leave the other students behind so, naturally, the older kids piled on the running boards. Amidst the slipping and sliding, one girl fell off. Like kids do, she overreacted and everyone was convinced she had broken her neck. There was too much snow for the county doctor to see her that day so they took her home and laid her in bed. Days later, the doctor came and she was fine.

In conclusion, we have seen the history of one room schools and how our fore fathers knew the importance of education in America, the similarities and differences between the setup of present day schools and one room schools, and the parallels and differences in the curriculum and how it was taught. Though the concept of a one room schoolhouse seems outdated, they were the norm throughout most of America’s brief history. Some estimate that there are still close to 400 one room schools still left in the U.S. today (Stuhr Museum, 2009).

Next time you wake up to a snowy morning, walk out to your car, start the engine, and turn on the heat before school, remember our ancestors and what they would have had to endure on a day like that just to get to school. It is imperative that we remember our ancestors and their one room schools have shaped the educational system as we know it, honor them accordingly, and be thankful for what we have. I’m sure that someday when we have grandchildren they will be amazed at what school was like for our generation.

References:

Campbell, J. (1996). The prairie schoolhouse. Albuquerque, New Mexico: University of New Mexico Public Relations.

L. Smith (personal communication, October 23, 2009)

Pioneer Village. (2009). Schools of the pioneer era [Brochure]. Minden, NE: Author.

Stuhr Museum. (2009). And cattle ate the school. [Brochure]. Grand Island, NE: Author.

Toynton, E.(1995). Growing up in America, 1830-1860. Brookfield, Connecticut: The Millbrook Press.

T. Kreutzer-Hodson (personal communication, October 26, 2009)

In their own words: Homestead Books from the Homestead Period

The list of books below describes homesteading as written by settlers in their own words.

Books written by settlers during the Homesteading Period

Letters of a Woman Homesteader
By Elinore Pruitt Stewart

Foreword copyright 1988 by Houghton Mifflin Company

In 1909, Elinore Pruitt Stewart and her young daughter set out for a ranch in Burnt Fork, Wyoming, where an acre can be had for $1.25 and a bit of determination. Stewart’s letters create a colorful account of her new life on the prairie, the eccentric characters who inhabit it, and the community they built together. It was first published in 1914 and inspired the movie Heartland.

Covered Wagon Women, Vol. 11
Diaries & Letters From the
Western Trails, 1879-1903
Edited and compiled by Kenneth L. Holmes

First Bison Books printing: 2000

In this concluding volume of the Covered Wagon Women series, we see the final animal-powered overland migrations that were even then yielding to railroad travel and, in a few short years, to the automobile. The diaries and letters resonate with the vigor and spirit that made possible the settling and community-building of the American West.

Staking Her Claim
Women Homesteading the West
By Marcia Meredith Hensley

Copyright 2008 Marcia Meredith Hensley

Instead of talking about women’s rights, these frontier women grabbed the opportunity to become landowners by homesteading in the still wild west of the early 1900s. They tell their stories in their own words, through letters and articles of the time-of adventure, independence, foolhardiness, failure, success, and freedom.

Bachelor Bess
The Homesteading Letters of Elizabeth Corey, 1909-1919
Edited by Philip L. Gerber

Copyright 1990 by University of Iowa Press

In July 1909 twenty-one-year-old Elizabeth Corey left her Iowa farm to stake her claim to a South Dakota homestead. Over the next ten years, as she continued her school teaching career and carved out a home for herself in this inhospitable territory, she sent a steady stream of letters to her family back in Iowa. Irrepressible, independent-minded, and evidently fearless, the self-styled Bachelor Bess gives us a firsthand, almost daily account of her homesteading adventures in these 180 letters.

Women’s Diaries of the Westward Journey

Edited by Lillian Schlissel

Foreword copyright 2004 by Mary Clearman Blew

Through the diaries, letters, and reminiscences of women who participated in this migration, Women’s Diaries of the Westward Journey gives us primary source material on the lives of these women, who kept campfires burning with buffalo chips and dried weeds, gave birth to and cared for children along primitive and dangerous roads, drove teams of oxen, picked berries, milked cows, and cooked meals in the middle of a wilderness that was a far cry from the homes they had left back east. Still (and often under the disapproving eyes of their husbands) they found time to write brave letters home or to jot a few weary lines at night into the diaries that continue to enthrall us.

(Each book summary is from the back of the book jacket)

One-Room Schoolhouses in Nebraska

Everyone get out your slate board and your reader, it’s time to start class!

by Elissa Schotte

Southeast Community College

Many of you have heard the old stories about the strict teachers in little one-room schoolhouses and the 10 mile walks up hill both ways in the snow. Well, I have researched some of those old schoolhouses, including some in my own community. I also spoke to a few people who attended and taught at those old country schools.

Today I will inform you about one-roomed schoolhouses and how different they are from today. I will share when some schools started, what went on inside those schoolhouses, who attended those schools, and a little about the schoolhouses around my community.

Over one hundred years ago country schools were being started, all with similar things going on inside. Many of your relatives probably attended a one-room schoolhouse. According to Evelyn Toynton in Growing up in America, 1830-1860 written in 1995, “the first free schools for children in American were established in Philadelphia as early as 1787 (p. 59).

According to The Hanover Centennial written in 1969 by Emil Mueller, James Hynek, and Mike Breen, “In 1869, the first school building was built at the north edge of the original town of Hanover, a one-story stone building…the school population soon outgrew the little stone schoolhouse, and, in 1879, another school building was constructed and occupied the following year.”

The school was a matter of pride for my little town. G.H. Hollenberg, founder of Hanover, was quoted saying, “Our educational advantages are almost as good as can be found anywhere in the state. A fine stone schoolhouse graces one of the beautiful eminences of the town, situated on one of the more prominent natural rises which characterize the town” (Mueller, Hynek, Breen, 1969).

There were many schools that surrounded Hanover and now I’ll move on to who attended those schools. Children ages 5 to 16 or older attended the little one-room schoolhouses that dotted the countryside. You and I also attended school at this age, but in a much different way. I spoke with a couple women who attended and taught some of those schools. In an interview with Gert Holle on May 5th, 2009, I found out Gert taught at a one-room school named Bismark from 1942-1949. She taught reading, writing, arithmetic, social studies, and geography.

In a second interview with Esther Rippe on May 5th, 2009, she informed me that she started her schooling in 1926. Her and her siblings walked the four miles to school. She remembers leaving at 7:15 to get to school by 9:00. A child-like smile came to her face as she described games played at school such as “pumpkin pullaway” [sic] and “stealing sticks.”

Articles written by people who attended schools like Gert’s and Esther’s shared similar accounts. Maynard Good Stoddard in her article titled Reading, ‘riting, ‘rithmetic, and remembrance found in The Saturday Evening Post in 2001, describes just one of the fun aspects of a one-room school house, “Not only did our school have but one room, our baseball team possessed but one ball. It was therefore not unusual, after a hitter had dispatched its cover, to see an outfielder follow the flight of the fly ball by the string as it unwound.”

Rudolph Chelminski in The Last Schoolhouse found in the Smithsonian in 2000, describes a teacher, “Miss Post was expected not only to instruct her charges in the three R’s but to lead them into the ways of thrift and frugality.

Now that we’ve discussed some people who attended one-room schools and what went on inside, let’s move on to some information I found about my local schoolhouses. After a little digging into the history of the schools around my area. I was able to find a few interesting pieces of information. Many of you could probably go find some similar artifacts near your hometown.

At one of the sites where a one-room schoolhouse once stood, I found three daily rosters. They were the attendance sheets that the teacher used to keep track of who was in class. The daily roster from 1895 included each student’s name, age, and her or his daily attendance. The other two rosters were from 1929 and from 1936. I could see the fluctuation in number of students that attended. This was probably due to larger schools opening and modern transportation.

After finding out some of the locals that attended school, I decided to venture out and find where some of these schoolhouses had been. As I drove the country roads around my little town, I encountered several sites where schoolhouses had once been and even a few that were still standing. You might be surprised at what you find, if you go out and look.

Prairie Hill School was open from 1889-1946. The Sunnyside School was open from 1875-1959 and now only this rock is left. Finally, this school, which is one of the few still around, has sadly been damaged by fire recently. Only its skeleton remains.

Today I have informed you about one-room schoolhouses and shown you how different they were from schools today. I discussed when the first schoolhouses came about, some people who attended and what went on inside those schools, and what’s left of those schools today.

Now get your slate boards back out! We’re having a quiz over what you learned today!

References

Chelminski, R. (2000). The last schoolhouse. Smithsonian, 31, 5, 22-6. Retrieved April 1, 2009 from WilsonWeb database.

Mueller, E., Hynek, J. & Breen, M. (1969). Hanover Centennial.

Stoddard, M. G. (2001). Reading, ‘riting, ‘rithmetic, and remembrance. The Saturday Evening Post, 273, 1, 50-1, 84, 94. Retrieved April 1, 2009 from WilsonWeb database.

Toynton, E. (1995). Growing up in America, 1830-1860. Brookfield, Conn. Millbrook Press. Retrieved April 1, 2009 from NetLibrary database.

Golden Inspiration: Pocahontas, Sacagawea, and Esther

“Nothing in the story of American history has been more puzzled with stereotypes and falsehoods than the lives of American Indians and the very essential role that they played in our nations past.”

-Moulton (2001) in Everyday Life among the American Indians

by Shaina Peters

Southeast Community College

There are three Native American women that come to mind easily for changing the world in many different aspects. The world would not be the same if it wasn’t for their contributions. I've always thought of Pocahontas and Sacagawea as positive role models, and now it’s time for others to see what they had brought to our nation so many years ago. I'd like to recognize Pocahontas, Sacagawea, and her great granddaughter for their influence on our nation.

First, I will show why Pocahontas should be admired for the important role that she had in what became the first English settlement. Then, I will honor Sacagawea’s adventures across America. Finally, I will praise Esther Horne for her contributions to the American culture.

Because Pocahontas shared her friendship with the English settlers it helped ensure the success of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement of America. According to Pocahontas (2000) in the year of 1607, a few English settlers made their way on to Native American territory and were they were taken into captivity. Pocahontas’ father sentenced Smith, who was the captain of the exploration, to death for trespassing in his territory. With Indians hovering over him readying to take his life, Pocahontas forced her way through her own people, placing her life before Smith’s.

Pocahontas’s father respected her wishes and spared Smith’s life. In result, as a part of the mock execution and salvation ritual, Smith and Pocahontas were now friends, and her father had taken him in as his own. Positive relations between the Indians and the settlers continued through the years. While some say Pocahontas’ willingness to give her life to save another is a legend there is no doubt that her friendship with the early settlers benefited the existence of Jamestown (Pocahontas, 2000).

The remembrance of Sacagawea and her adventure may be imprecise but the facts we do know are remarkable. Sacagawea traveled through America, her son attached to her back, leading Lewis and Clark on their adventures. She was hired to help Lewis and Clark travel their expedition because she could speak several Indian languages, and as a Shoshone, she could contact her own people for trade (Sacagawea, 1999).

Sacagawea helped Lewis and Clark acquire the crucial necessities that were needed for the success of their mission. She provided the knowledge that was needed to survive through the rugged country of North America. She taught the explorers how to find edible roots and plants that were beneficial to their health. Most importantly, Sacagawea and her baby functioned as a “white flag” of peace for the Lewis and Clark expedition (Sacagawea, 1999).

As the Lewis and Clark party entered what could be hostile territory and because women and infants never accompanied a war party, the Indian response was interest rather than violence. Instead of hostilities all would make conversation first, and Sacagawea would serve as a translator (Sacagawea, 1999).

At the age of 14, Sacagawea led Lewis and Clark on a once in a life time adventure, and now is known as the golden inspiration and is honored on the dollar coin (Sacagawea, 1999). Finally, I will show what the great granddaughter of Sacagawea brought to the world of education.

Esther Horne was known for her commitment to the education of American Indians. She was an inspiration as an educator and as an advocate for the Indian people. Horne received many honors in her time including a Master Teacher for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. With the experience of being both a student and a teacher she helped inspire the dreams of many young Indian children. If it wasn’t for these accomplishments, she would not have been able to portray the complexity of the Indian experience at the Indian boarding schools (Esther Burnett Horne, 2006).

Esther’s life enlightens us of the ongoing struggle of the Native teachers and students. She helped retain her and her student’s cultural identities although government systems were trying to prevent the teaching of Indian heritage. She helps us understand the complex meaning of boarding school education and its impact on Indian students’ lives (Esther Burnett Horne, 2006). Esther Horne’s should receive honor for what she had brought to the teaching of and about the American Indian people.

I hope my words have helped you to consider how we should recognize and acknowledge Pocahontas, Sacagawea, and her great granddaughter, Esther Horne, for their contributions as they have had an impact on shaping our nation to be what it is today. We saw why Pocahontas should be admired for the important role that she had played in what became the United States of America. Then, we honored Sacagawea’s adventure across America. And finally, we gave praise to Esther Horne for the contributions she made on behalf of American Indians to the American culture.

These histories of these three Native American women may be “puzzled with [some] stereotypes and falsehoods” but there is no doubt that the “very essential role[s] that they played in our nations past” deserves our admiration.


References:

Esther Burnett Horne. (2006). Read North Dakota. Retrieved February 24,
2009 from http://www.readnd.org/Esther_Burnett_Horne.aspx

Moulton, C. (2001). Everyday life among the American Indians. Cincinnati, OH: Writers Digest Books.

Pocahontas. (2000, 1997). The Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities.
Retrieved February 22, 2009 from http://www.preservationvirginia.org/history/pocahont.html?process=0

Sacagawea: The early years. (1999). Defense Link. Retrieved February 22, 2009 from http://www.defenselink.mil/specials/nativeamerican01/life.html