Typed Interview with Dan Molberg

Interview with Dan Molberg on student life at Eanes Rock Schoolhouse in the 1940s — the 'big room' / 'little room' classes, daily meals, recess, PTA events, and fundraisers.

Transcribed text

_The following text was extracted via OCR from the digitized scan held by The Portal to Texas History (UNT Libraries). OCR can introduce errors, especially on handwritten material; the canonical record links to the original scan._

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Eanes School sch. report by Dan Nalberg. Interviews = 1&atives who attended Eanes. his mother Winifred Johnson M!lberg attended Eanes (rock from 1942 through 1949 (7 grades). The rooms were called the big room and the little room. 5-7 and 1-4. Each morning all of the students met in the big room for assembly and music class. Outside there was a pump house with two faucets but most students brought their own water in a jar. Behind the school there was a lunch room. Most of the students were on the free lunch program. Most days beans, conrbread, grapefruit juice and chocolate pudding were served. The oldest students to arrive at school first were sent to the woodshed to get wood to build a fire in the large pot-bellied stove that heated the school on cold days. Every afternoon two students chosen by the teachers would sweep the rooms and dust the erasers. During recess(twice aday) the children played: on two see-saws and two swings, and played Red River, baseball, and tag. During holidays all decorations were made for the festivities. Christmas: a large cedar tree was brought to the sch. by one of the fathers, placed upon the stage (?) and decorated with homemade chains, popcorn strings, and homemade tinsel and snow. All of the children drew names. Winifred's mother would usually get fruit candy and nuts in town and the PTA would sack them for each of the students and put them under the tree. Every year the PTA sponsored a big bingo night to raise money for the school. Once a week the school played a baseball game against another country school. There was no school bus in the 1940s but a citizen, Howard Allen, drove his pick-up truck which had a canvas cover on the back where the children sat. Head lice were common and head checks were everyday by the teachers. Those students who had lice were sent home. Mrs. Hampe was the principal and one of the teachers. Once a week Mrs. Pecham came from the county supt. office to read stories to the students and at the end of the year she was the one that gave each child their achievement tests which were adminintered with a stop watch. Mr. I. W. Popham, county sch. supt. also visited the sch. frequently.

Original record: metapth1065527 on the Portal to Texas History.