Center for Archival Collections News

A classroom proudly shows off its new textbooks.

Bowling Green State University was founded in response to a public demand for more professionally-trained teachers. A century of change in society and in the workplace had made a “basic” education one which went beyond the simple rudiments of “Readin’, Writin’, and ‘Rithmetic.” By the beginning of the twentieth century, school attendance was compulsory through the eighth grade.

The classroom pictured at left shows over forty children under the direction of a single teacher. Thick textbooks are prominently displayed. Teachers no longer needed to rely on books haphazardly provided by the child’s family. A good education was the community’s investment in its own future. The profession of teaching had become highly respected by this time, if not always well-paid. Read the article on our website.

Gallery Feature: Teaching 1870-1930 provides a glimpse of the schools provided during the early years of the twentieth century as well as mementos of school life for students and teachers throughout this transitional time period.

Lt. Amos E. Wood served in Company I of the 21st OVI.

This year marks the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War.  Battles and troop movements have always been a subject of fascination.  Now, researchers looking for more personal information on specific soldiers can find suggestions for the types of records that will reveal details about the men who sacrificed to preserve the Union.

The current issue of the Archival Chronicle describes these records, from military rosters to pension and census information, and provides several examples of soldiers biographies compiled from this research.

The Gallery’s focus is on union veterans’ post-war social lives, particularly their fraternal organization, the Grand Army of the Republic, its auxiliary the Woman’s Relief Corps and the host of unit reunions held for decades following the conflict.