Rural Accents
© June 5, 1996, Janet Eckmann
Mildred and Bill Schroeder share strong memories of the Morrillville school and the old dance hall.
It was in the 1920"s when Mildred and her siblings walked the one and a half miles across the fields to attend the Morrillville school. "I graduated from the eighth grade there in 1931," she said. "We used to have the best programs and ball games at the end of year. Our Christmas programs were right there in the school with the raised platform that the teacher's desk sat on used for a stage. Santa always appeared and afterwards we had a pie social. I don't remember that we sold them or auctioned them off for any special fund-raiser; I just remember eating lots of different kinds of pie."
Mildred recalled, "The small entry was made for coats, boots, and our lunch pails. But in the winter the teacher would let us bring our lunch into the room to keep it from freezing. We took turns walking the half-mile to the first farm south of the school to bring water which was poured into a crock with a spigot. Of course, there was no indoor plumbing, we had the little white buildings out back. In latter years they installed electrical lights and dug a storm cellar with a cement top; it's still there."
The schoolhouse even had a telephone for awhile," she said, "till they ran short of money and took it out." She recalled the spelldowns and cipherdowns students engaged in, using the long recitation bench at the front of the room. She said, "Having all eight grades in one room wasn't that bad. The older students taught the younger students reinforcing their own learning at the same time. It was a good program, now they call it 'open concept'!"
She said, "The chalkboards were black back then, and everyone enjoyed cleaning the erasers for the teacher."
Mildred said the teachers were usually female, single, and boarded with a family in the district. In 1947 Bill Schroeder was on the school board and the teacher roomed with them, walking the one and three quarter miles distance twice a day.
The youngest of the Schroeders' three sons Leon was a fourth grader when the school closed in 1961.
Bill Schroeder, along with several others in the community decided to restore the old Morrillville Cemetery in early 1970's. Bill said, "The cemetery had been neglected for years and we felt it was time to show it the respect that it deserved. We reset many of the stones, cleaned up the branches, trimmed the trees and fixed the fence around it."
Bill said he was glad to see the old schoolhouse being rejuvenated like the old cemetery had been and looks forward to its opening sometime this summer.
Sue Rohrer who drove by the schoolhouse resting at it's new locations said she also was pleased and hopeful that more people could enjoy the school and learn from it. "I'd like to see the classes that are studying Nebraska history visit the school for a whole day, dress in period costumes, pack their lunch, haul water, play ball, and experience a day in a one room country schoolhouse," she said.
Personally, I have no doubt that the retired teachers group willing to take charge of the activities will make it a pleasant place for older folks to renew their grade school days, and provide a piece of living history for our younger generation.
Maybe this will be Bloomfield's start of a museum.
