One Room Schoolhouses
“Charlotte Caldwell’s one-room schoolhouse project is one of the most exciting initiatives I have encountered lately. I know Charlotte, I know her photography and I know about these schoolhouses that she plans to photograph. I can’t imagine anyone better suited to do justice to these very special structures that tell so much of Montana’s story. It will be a great joy and no doubt a moving experience to see her final product. I can’t wait.”
Richard Moe, President Emeritus
National Trust for Historic Preservation
Montana’s One-Room Schoolhouses
Photographs and Stories
Montana’s One-Room Schoolhouses—Photographs and Stories commemorates and celebrates the unique cultural, historical and architectural treasures that symbolize an important era in education and the American West. The stories of these schoolhouses and those teachers and students who occupied them reflect the tenacity of the pioneer spirit.
As a large format photographic and narrative history, the pictures capture the beautiful, spartan, and culturally significant buildings as they exist today. The schoolhouse images are complemented on the facing page with a photograph of a teacher, student or champion of their restoration, providing first hand recollections about school activities, books, academic challenges, games, and more. Some archived photos may be included.
From the late 1800’s until the mid-1960’s, a large number of one-room schoolhouses functioned effectively in rural Montana. A rare few continue to operate as originally intended. A few others have maintained the integrity of the original building, but have been enlarged to accommodate more rooms, teachers, and students, or have been adapted for other uses. Unfortunately, most rural schoolhouses have been abandoned and are threatened with loss due to neglect or vandalism, or are intentionally destroyed as they have become a liability.
By capturing the architectural beauty of these buildings, the spaces they inhabit, as well as the faces of the people who shared their stories, I hope to encourage a reverence, a respect, and interest in preserving the remaining one-room schoolhouses across the state.
