bookends
harkers one room schoolhouses visions of an iowa icon
in harkers barns documentary photographer michael harker captured the glory and the decay of one of rural americas most elemental icons . now in harkers one room schoolhouses he brings another rural american icon back to life . his stark and stunning photographs of these small neat buildings once the social and educational center of rural life now either abandoned or restored to an artificial quaintness encapsulate the dramatic transformations that have overtaken the iowa countryside . br michael harkers goal is to record iowas historically significant architecture before it disappears forever . from coon center school no. 5 in albert city to pleasant valley school in kalona north river school in winterset to douglas center school in sioux rapids and iowas first school to grant woods first school he has achieved this goal on a grand scale in harkers one room schoolhouses . br educational historian paul theobald tells the story of the rise and fall of iowas one room schools whose numbers fell from close to 15000 in 1918 to only 1100 in 1960 all of which had ceased to function as schools by 1980 . moving from the state wide story to the personal he introduces us to george coleman son of a local farmer and school board director who kept a sparse diary between december 1869 and june 1870 . young georges words reveal the intimate way in which one room schools interacted with the local community including the local economic scene . theobald ends by suggesting that these one room relics of the past may again prove useful . br