Imagine yourself in 1933 living on the prairie 20 miles west of Alliance, Nebraska, with no car, no way to get to school except to walk from the people you were rooming with to the school. This was the first year of teaching for Evelyn Meyer at District 23 in Box Butte County. You had to be there early enough to get the fire going so the building would be warm when the students arrived and getting ready for a day of teaching two kindergarten, two 3rd grade, one 4th grade, one 5th grade, three 6th grade, one 7th grade and two 8th grade students. Wooden tables served as desks and most pupils brought their own chairs. Fuel for the potbelly stove was cow chips and coal. The monthly wage was $70. There was no indoor plumbing, running water, electric lights. Heat was a potbelly stove.
Evelyn taught at District 23 for two years and then moved to District 45 where there was one kindergarten, one 2nd grade, one 4th grade, one 5th grade and one 6th grade. In Special Report to County Superintendent, Evelyn reported there was no well, no pictures on the wall, there were blackboards, no globe, an organ, a flag, playground apparatus, no clock, the walls were plastered in the past year, no trees on the school ground. It appears Evelyn was paid $70 per month for her teaching duties.
Evelyn quit teaching when she married Albert Eickhorst in June 1936. You will remember that back then you could not be married and teach.
Albert and Evelyn moved to a farm between Lexington and Cozad and lived there until 1992. They had two children, Eileen and Robert. Robert attended Kearney State as it was known then and graduated from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Eileen attended two years at Kearney State.
Submitted by Evelyn’s daughter,
Eileen Eickhorst Carpenter
Evelyn taught at District 23 for two years and then moved to District 45 where there was one kindergarten, one 2nd grade, one 4th grade, one 5th grade and one 6th grade. In Special Report to County Superintendent, Evelyn reported there was no well, no pictures on the wall, there were blackboards, no globe, an organ, a flag, playground apparatus, no clock, the walls were plastered in the past year, no trees on the school ground. It appears Evelyn was paid $70 per month for her teaching duties.
Evelyn quit teaching when she married Albert Eickhorst in June 1936. You will remember that back then you could not be married and teach.
Albert and Evelyn moved to a farm between Lexington and Cozad and lived there until 1992. They had two children, Eileen and Robert. Robert attended Kearney State as it was known then and graduated from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Eileen attended two years at Kearney State.
Submitted by Evelyn’s daughter,
Eileen Eickhorst Carpenter