North Dakota's historical society spearheads project to document potential historic school buildings

BISMARCK -- Symbols of our rural and educational past, country schools once dotted the North Dakota landscape, but many of these school buildings are in danger of vanishing. The State Historical Society of North Dakota (SHSND) is spearheading a volunteer-based project to document potentially historic school buildings, including photographing, measuring, and noting architectural features of each structure, as well as its relevant history. Volunteers are needed to help record these important symbols.

About 30 people attended a workshop led by SHSND Architectural Historian Lorna Meidinger September 25 to launch the project. The project is being done in conjunction with the State Historical Society’s annual Governor’s Conference on North Dakota History, which is featuring a two-year study of education. The 2009 theme in September was The 3 Rs in North Dakota: Education from 1870 to 1950. The 2010 theme will cover the years 1951 to the present.

Workshop participants visited two schools in Burleigh County. The first site visit demonstrated what to do if the volunteer did not have permission to be on the land, said Meidinger. At the second school the attendees visited, the tour included talking with a former teacher who had also attended that school, and another former student who answered questions and gave a site tour.

Meidinger and SHSND Research Archaeologist Amy Bleier, who are leading the documentation project, will present an update on the school documentation project at the next Governor’s Conference on North Dakota History, set for October 29-30, 2010 at the North Dakota Heritage Center in Bismarck.

Instructions for volunteers interested in helping with the schoolhouse project can be found on the SHSND’s website at www. history.nd.gov/hp/recordingbuildings.html. This website, which will be updated periodically, includes a list of schools already documented, an online example, forms, and the architectural manual with specific instructions on how to fill out the site forms needed for the project. The manual also explains how to describe a legal location, which is needed to fill out the site forms.

“These forms can be filled in online, but we need a hard copy mailed to us to complete the site documentation,” said Bleier.

“The focus of the current survey is the structures themselves, but if volunteers collect more information than needed for the architectural survey, there is a place on the form to note that fact, including names and contact information for future reference,” said Meidinger. She noted that the completed surveys will be used for informational purposes only, and have no effect on property rights.