Guest post by Eddie Higgins
DE SMET LEADER, 24 December 1882
Special Report: School Exhibition
The town of De Smet was treated to a wonderful display of educational achievement last night as the pupils of our school, led by their teacher, Mr V. Owen, gave an impressive exhibition of their studies to date. Such was the importance of the occasion that the county superintendent, Mr G.A. Williams, was seen head and shoulder above other members of the crowd.
Interest in the exhibition was so great, despite the inclement weather which threatened to take the curl from the bangs of the good ladies of the town, that at the last moment the venue was switched from the school house to the Church. Scholars were seated in the front seats.
Mrs G. Bradley, our well-known songbird, interviewed on her way to the Exhibition, commented to our special reporter that she was expecting “a real treat tonight” but denied reports that she would be performing herself afterwards, in expectation of which many townsfolk had brought additional handkerchiefs. Our reporter also attempted to speak to Miss Laura E. Ingalls (15), as she reshaped her hoops in the church entry. It had long been rumoured that Miss Ingalls had the principal part in the Exhibition, but in response to questioning about whether she was worried she might fail, the young lady gave only the cryptic reply that Christopher Columbus was a native of Genoa in Italy.
Not a sound could be heard but for a mysterious unidentified squeaking as the senior class filed up to begin their demonstration classes in geography and grammar. Here, we are sadly obliged to report that Miss Nellie Oleson and Mr Arthur Johnson made mistakes. Questioned afterward, Miss Oleson flounced her full jabot of lace and defended herself staunchly, blaming the lack of blackboard facilities in the church. She suggested with some spirit that our reporter should just try parsing every word in a long, complex-compound sentence full of adverbial phrases without omitting a word nor so much as a comma, himself. Mr Johnson commented only that he wished he had worn different shoes.
The senior class then displayed their skills in mental arithmetic. Of particular interest was the news that three hundred and forty-seven thousand, two hundred and sixty-four divided by sixteen equals twenty-one thousand, seven hundred and four.
There then followed a selection of spoken pieces from the younger pupils, including Miss Carrie Ingalls, wearing a beautiful dress of bright plaid woolen, which we understand was made especially for the occasion, with innovative inward-facing buttons. Her hair looking particularly smooth and sleek, she recited without falter, nor missing a single word, Mr G.W. Doane’s inspiring poem ‘Chisel in hand stood a sculptor boy’ to the warm appreciation of the audience.
Her elder sister, dressed in delightful blue cashmere with a pearl neck-pin, then gave an outstanding recital of the history of our great nation from its discovery through to the presidency of Mr. J. Q. Adams. Though clearly a little nervous at the outset, she spoke with steady voice to give a truly impressive display. The audience was briefly stunned into silence before launching into such sustained and rapturous applause as this reporter has not witnessed since the night of the legendary Minstrel Show last winter. Mr Owen eventually stopped the applause in order that Miss Ida B. Wright might complete the history recital to the present day. Miss Wright also did very well, and there was further loud applause.
The excitement in the Church was palpable at the Exhibition’s end. Mr G. Fuller, the well-known hardware storekeeper, was heard to call out, “I say, I knew there was talent enough for a School Exhibition, what?”
Mr Owen, who has won respect for his firm approach to discipline which has been sadly lacking in certain previous teachers, admitted that he had been nervous about the outcome. “I am pleased with all my pupils. I put my faith in Laura, although she did obtain only a grade of 99 for history last summer,” he stated.
Asked how excited she was by the performance of her daughters, Mrs C. Ingalls spoke quietly. “I am every bit as proud today as I was when my husband spelled down the entire town, and when not a bite of my pumpkin pie nor a spoonful of my baked beans was left at the New England Supper, but a grown-up must never let feelings be shown by voice or manner.”
Her husband, bearded Mr C. P. Ingalls, first settler, was more effusive in his remarks, saying,“ Laura’s not very big but by Jinks! She’s as clever as a little French horse! I was as sure she would lick anything she put her mind to as I am sure of a wonderful crop next year.”
Miss Ingalls herself, who left with a friend, was unavailable for comment but appeared relieved.
The De Smet Leader heartily commends the performance of all the pupils, and lends its firm support to the campaign for funds for to build a larger school building, a graded school even, based on the display we have seen tonight. We will be watching the career of Miss Ingalls, in particular, with interest, and predict that this is a young lady who will make her mark on the world in the future.
De Smet Snippets
We hear a certain horse-loving gentleman has been making a snazzier vehicle for his next daring trip in the snow. And a little bird tells us that his first passenger may well be a little gal who knows her Presidents. We can’t help feeling another young lady, who must remain nameless, but let’s just say she’s a friend of the family, will be fit to be tied!
Situations Vacant
Mr L. Brewster, in town for the School Exhibition, has confirmed that a two-month school will open in Brewster settlement next month. A teacher is urgently sought, $20 a month plus board. Ability and self-motivation more important than age and experience. Willingness to sleep on sofa essential.
For Sale
Nearly new shoes, worn once only, one squeaks slightly. Expressions of interest to Mr A. Johnson.
Lost and Found
Lost: Small black-and-tan dog, much loved pet, last seen approaching blue-and-white cat on Main Street.
Found: Brand new, unused set of name cards found near the Schoolhouse. Whose are they?
Weather for the week ahead
Temperature: dropping from Cold to Tarnation Cold imminently. Chance of entirely unexpected blizzard: Always.
Comments27
I love this so much.
Wonderful job, Eddie!
Love this, love you, Eddie. Cracking up over the score of merely 99. What a slacker.
Excellent job Eddie! You, my dear, are a perfect newspaper reporter.
Great job! Am I the only one who’s curious about Minnie, Mary, and Ida’s marks? We know that Laura got a 99, but what did the other girls receive? Also, I love Mrs. C Ingalls remark to the reporter.
This was fantastick!! Thanks Eddie!!
Thank you, everyone 🙂 LauriOH, I had never thought about the other girls’ grades here, but I have always wondered what on earth everyone else got for their Ambition compositions! (I know I’m jumping to the wrong book there.)
Re-reading this chapter to do the summary made me realise I’d always taken Laura’s history summary at complete face-value (I should explain, I’m British, I absolutely did NOT study any American history AT ALL at school. We didn’t even study BRITISH political history of the 18th century because that would mean talking about That War We Lost, so my knowledge of the early Presidents is pretty much just based on this chapter, plus a smattering of knowledge of the constitution, from contrasting it to ours). So I got wondering about two questions: how far is what Laura says here in keeping with modern perceptions of the period? And why do you think she went into such detail on the content of her recital?
Delightful!
Gee, Eddie, can you do the rest of the book too? This was fabulous!
Eddie – Laura’s US history seems to be a good and accurate overview, though really not very detailed. Almost like a recitation of name, rank, and serial number of important historical figures.
As to why she went into such detail of the content of her recital: I think it has to do with how much preparation she put into it. Even after 50 years, she still remembered because she practiced, practiced, practiced so that should would not be embarassed in front of the entire room. It’s probably similar to the way I remember the phone number I had when I was 5 because we had to recite our full names, addresses, and phone numbers in kindergarten. Some things you never forget.
Thanks, SarcasiCarrie, that’s interesting to know. I wondered if it might be because she’d spent such time learning it too, but it still struck me it’s a bit odd: I learned all the dates of the Kings and Queens for the Silver Jubilee in 1977 and at a pinch I could still probably recite them. But in the unlikely event I was writing a book about what I did for the jubilee, I would just say ‘learnt the dates’, I wouldn’t INCLUDE the dates to prove it 😉 But perhaps the only way she could think of to get across how much she learned was to spend several pages describing it.
You probably didn’t spend time starring at a wall pondering the dates either. A few chapters back Laura was starring at a wall thinking about the War of 1812. I think for her it was more like starring in a play than just reciting some lessons from school.
Lol, LauriOH, I did in a way, because they were ON the wall of the classroom. But I’ve certainly never stared at a wall thinking about the war of 1812! But Laura staring at the wall makes me wonder if she was a visual learner, and was actually picturing her knowledge in her head.
I think it (Laura ‘staring at the wall’) had more to do with simply the way schools worked at that time. Learning was 99% rote memorization of facts from the textbook. So the students would have spent a lot of time reading sections from the textbook, (sections that were mostly dry lists of names and dates and battles) then thinking about/memorizing them while looking away. So later, when the teacher called them up to recite, they could spout back the necessary facts that had been burnt into their neurons.
That would also be why Laura was able to relatively easily spout back the entire history for the exhibition. She’d probably recited the same stuff, albeit in smaller bits, for her teachers many times over the years. (Remember her telling Ida that she prefers the earlier part because she had ‘reviewed it more.’)
Great Job–What a fun read!
What a hoot! Thanks for sharing:)
Gosh darn I loved this!
(Ooops! Don’t tell Ma I swore.)
I am seeing this post only now; only today did I come across the “read-alongs” and wondered if I’d ever be up to the task (no I’m not!). This post had me laughing so hard I could not stop until the tears ran down my cheeks! I am bookmarking it for the days when everything goes wrong at work & I need a good laugh! Thanks again (and Eddie I would chalk your witticisms up to your British education, so superior to anything one gets in North America! Canada anyway, where I am from…)
LOL! This was wonderful! I just discovered this too, Michelle. I’m looking foward to more Eddie posts:-)
This was wonderful, Eddie. I laughed.
As to why Laura included so much detail… I think there were three reasons.
1. She obviously had worked very hard to memorize all this, and I think was still proud of her performance. Laura never continued in school and I imagine she may have had a bit of defensiveness about this.
2. In terms of the story, Laura’s performance was indeed so impressive that she landed a teaching job at 15. I think it was necessary to show why it was so impressive. Covering the performance in a sentence or even a paragraph would not have had the same impact.
3. To make a political statement. “She told of the new vision of freedom and equality in the New World, she told of the old oppressions of Europe and of the war against tyranny and despotism…” The Little House books all echo this shining patriotism and belief in bootstrap independence. I don’t think Laura was writing to score points in any sense, I think she was writing about her own values, which were shared by most in the 19th century. I’m quite sure her history book, and thus her performance, did not include mention of any mistakes on the part of the Founding Fathers or the new nation. It was all optimism and a belief in American superiority. (Sorry, Eddie, you old despot!)
This national optimism — or naive arrogance — was damaged after WWI, in the increasingly difficult twenties and thirties, and by the dark days of the Depression I imagine it might have been heartening to recall a simpler and more inspiring vision.
I am reading LTOTP again and noticed in this chapter that Mr Owen was putting up pictures of the presidents to help her remember the order. I am surprised that Laura was not required to know them as strict as the teacher seemed…….any thoughts ?
Well, I always thought that the putting up the pictures of the presidents was due to the students probably being nervous and all (more room for errors), and to try to help them a little bit with hints. It would have looked bad on the teacher if they did poorly, so he just added an extra nudge. Also, to keep the same pictures as the schoolhouse would have helped. The pictures would be “entertaining” for the audience to look at, too.
Julie,
I thought I posted the same thing last night, but my response disappeared. 🙂
I thought it had more to do with Mr. Owens being nervous than anything else.
This was brilliantly funny, thank you!
As to “Laura staring at the wall”:
I bought “Pioneer Girl” for my Christmas 😉 and found an interesting info there:
Laura used mnemonics to memorize the history: She placed different content in different corners of her bedroom.
It sounded like she had invented this herself.
I’d find it interesting to know if such techniques as loci/ memory palace were common at that time and place.
It would certainly have been helpful as the students had to memorize so many things by rote.
Anyway, the info went that when she was reciting she was actually not looking at Pa but thinking about the corners of her bedroom.
Fantastic summary of this chapter! I remember first reading this at an age close to Laura’s, and when she described the conversation with Almanzo about the cutter, feeling a smothering sensation, I was totally there with her! I’d felt similarly when talking to those of the opposite sex, and to read of Laura feeling that was an eye-opener! I knew she was a real person who lived, but this really hit home, along with the rage she felt in ‘Sent Home From School;’ these types of descriptions made her a living, breathing person who had feelings like mine.
Best part of this was asking who the name cards belong to.
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