Schoolwomen of the prairies and plains

Soon after the open spaces of Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa were settled in the mid 1800s by immigrants from the eastern United States and Europe, county schools were established in the region. By the 1890s these states boasted the highest rates of literacy in the United States. This study examines the women teachers who were responsible for educating the prairie children. This lively book draws on diaries, journals, letters, oral histories, and numerous period photographs to illuminate the schoolwomen's lives. In large part they were natives of the region, often teenaged girls away from home for the first time. They taught under difficult circumstances and struggled to meet their students' needs. They also used all the means at their disposal - summer institutes, normal schools, and even reading programs by mail - to upgrade their own educational credentials. Part One of the book examines the establishment of schools, teacher education, and working and living conditions. Part Two offers the narratives of five women's lives, from short-term teachers to career professionals. Their accounts provide an important addition to the professional heritage of women teachers.