September 17 (Tues), 2013, 7:00 p.m. Henry County Conservation's Oakland Mills Nature Center, 2593 Nature Center Drive, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.
CLICK HERE for listings and details.
Watch for more PBS broadcast listings for Country School: One Room - One Nation in 2013!
Click HERE to order Country School on a full-featured DVD.
Delegations from the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma and the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska will return to their ancestral homeland of Iowa to attend the world premiere of Lost Nation: The Ioway 2 & 3 at the University of Iowa Museum of Natural History, 17 N. Clinton St., Macbride Hall Auditorium in Iowa City on Saturday, February 23, 2013 at 6:30 p.m. Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films, producers of the Emmy® nominated documentary Country School: One Room-One Nation and the award-winning Lost Nation: The Ioway 1will join the Ioway and other film participants for Q&A following the screenings.
When the Ioway were forcibly removed from their ancestral homeland of Iowa in 1837 to a reservation on the border of Nebraska and Northeast Kansas, Ioway leader White Cloud (The Younger) believed his people must relocate to survive. But intermarriage, broken treaties and the end of communal living led to a split in 1878 and the establishment of a second Ioway tribe in Oklahoma. Both tribes endured hardship and challenges to their traditions and culture to achieve successful land claims and self-determination in the 1970s. Lost Nation: The Ioway 2 & 3 brings the dramatic Ioway story full circle.
“I believe all the tribes had their trail of tears, said Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma Tribal Elder Joyce Big Soldier-Miller. “They all suffered--all those Indians who made those treks away from their former homelands.”
“It’s always good to look at the past and remember that it does affect the future,” said Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska tribal member Reuben Ironhorse-Kent. “The ancestors did the best they could with what they had.”
Ioway Elders and tribal members join other Native scholars, historians, archaeologists and anthropologists to tell the dramatic and true story of the small tribe that once claimed the territory between the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers from Pipestone, Minnesota to St. Louis. The state of Iowa takes its name from the Ioway Tribe.
In addition to the premiere, the public is welcome to visit the new Ioway exhibit at the Wickiup Hill Outdoor Learning Center in Toddville, Iowa (40 minutes north of Iowa City), a special Ioway display and premiere reception in the Iowa Hall at the Museum of Natural History from 5:30pm until 6:30pm.
The world premiere of Lost Nation: The Ioway 2&3 is hosted by the Museum of Natural History, University of Iowa, 17 N. Clinton, Macbride Hall Auditorium, Iowa City, Iowa and will take place on Saturday, February 23, 2013 at 6:30 p.m. Admission is free. The films contain mature themes and historical images that may be disturbing to young children. A premiere reception will take place from 5:30pm-6:30pm in the Museum's Iowa Hall.
The documentaries will continue screening throughout the U.S. and will be released on a single full-featured DVD in April 2013. An alternative soundtrack in the nearly extinct Ioway language will be offered on the DVD. Broadcasts on Midwestern PBS stations are slated for 2013.
Lost Nation: The Ioway 2&3 was partially funded by grants from Humanities Iowa and Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area, as well as humanities councils in Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and South Dakota, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Looking for the perfect gift for the history buff, a favorite teacher, former country school "kid" or passionate preservationist? The Emmy nominated Country School: One Room - One Nation by award-winning filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films is it!
Country schools took rough-hewn pioneers and multilingual immigrants and transformed them into a literate and patriotic new nation. Whether personally, or through a parent or grandparent, the country school as an American architectural icon, is as imprinted on our perception of the nation’s early history as the log cabin and the general store. Stories told by former teachers and students are often nostalgic, but they are also dramatic, humorous, and heart-wrenching.
The bonus feature-packed DVD includes the 72-minute award-winning documentary, filmmaker commentary, extended scenes and interviews, and much more!
Order Country School for just $20.00 with FREE SHIPPING! Want your DVD signed by the filmmakers? Just request it when you order! You can also request our FREE holiday gift wrap!
Click here to order: Country School: One Room - One Nation and other award-winning documentaries from the Fourth Wall Films catalog, including the Native American saga Lost Nation: The Ioway, and Villisca: Living with a Mystery, the perfect gift for unsolved mystery aficionados!
Forest Grove #5 is in the early stages of restoration. A benefit screening of Country School is being held
to help raise addditional funds to continue preservation work on the one-room school located in
Bettendorf, Iowa.
Fourth Wall Films, together with Forest Grove School Preservation, will present a special benefit screening of the Emmy® nominated documentary Country School: One Room – One Nation on Saturday, September 29, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. at Pleasant Valley High School, 604 Belmont Road, Bettendorf, Iowa. The film will screen for the first time in high-definition (HD) followed by a Q & A with award-winning filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle. All proceeds will support the rehabilitation of Forest Grove #5, Bettendorf, Iowa’s iconic one-room schoolhouse.
From immigration issues in early schools to the controversial demise of their widespread use in the 1950s and 1960s, Country School: One Room – One Nation combines visually stunning images of a myriad of restored and decaying buildings—including one designed by Frank Lloyd Wright—with surprising, humorous, and heartwarming stories from former teachers and students. More than just nostalgia, Country School also delves into the dark side of the one-room school experience and dispels the myths behind the revered institution that helped bind a young nation together. The filmmakers visited over 70 one-room schools in Iowa, Kansas, and Wisconsin.
Forest Grove #5 also appears in the film. The schoolhouse opened its doors in 1873 and was closed in 1957. Spearheaded by Sharon Andresen and the family of former Forest Grove student Delbert Blunk, efforts to save the 139-year-old schoolhouse have been underway since early 2012. The Rundles are documenting the group’s restoration efforts and progress.
“I remember seeing a photo of Forest Grove as we conducted preliminary research for Country School,” said producer Kelly Rundle. “Even in its dilapidated state it has a stark beauty.”
“We filmed Forest Grove during a snowstorm in 2009 and I remember thinking it would soon be gone—never dreaming that it could be rescued,” said producer Tammy Rundle. “We were so happy to learn about the determined group of people with vision working to save this important local landmark.“
Preservationists have decided to interpret the school’s 1940s era classroom in the restoration. They plan to open the building to 3rd and 4th grade students for re-enactments that would meet Iowa History curriculum requirements. Seasonal events will also be hosted at the site and community groups will be encouraged to use the space for small functions.
The Forest Grove #5 Benefit Screening Event will take place in the Pleasant Valley High School Theater, 604 Belmont Road, Bettendorf, IA on Saturday, September 29 at 6:45 p.m. Doors will open at 6:15 p.m. The presentation includes the special HD screening of Country School: One Room – One Nation, a discussion with the Rundles, and the latest updates on behind-the-scenes work being done to save Forest Grove #5. Photographs and artifacts from the school will also be on display. Tickets can be purchased at the door for $10. All proceeds will support the stabilization and restoration of the Forest Grove School.
For more information about Forest Grove School Preservation, history, and how to volunteer or make a contribution, visit www.forestgroveschool.com or email forestgroveschool@hotmail.com.
Taylor #4 in Marshalltown, Iowa, circa 1912.
IPTV-PBS broadcasts continue of the Emmy-nominated documentary Country School: One Room - One Nation by Tammy and Kelly Rundle.
Country School can be seen on IPTV on Sunday, September 2, 2012 at 1:00 p.m.; on Wednesday September 26, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. on IPTV-World; and on Saturday, September 29, 2012 at 9:00 p.m. on IPTV-World.
Country School was shot in Iowa, Kansas, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Missouri and Illinois and received grant awards from Humanities Iowa, Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area, the Kansas Humanities and the Wisconsin Humanities. The Rundles visited over 70 one-room schools and interviewed former students, teachers, historians and scholars.
In addition to Country School, Kelly and Tammy Rundle are the creators of the award-winning documentaries Villisca: Living with a Mystery, and Lost Nation: The Ioway. They are currently in post-production on Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg (with Emmy-nominated filmmaker Garry McGee), Lost Nation: The Ioway 2&3 (in release November 2012). They are in production on River to River: Iowa's Forgotten Highway 6 and Sons & Daughters of Thunder (a docudrama based on a play by Earlene Hawley and Curtis Heeter).
Schwieder to be Inducted into Iowa Women's Hall of Fame
Former member of the State Historical Society of Iowa Board of Trustees, and active Iowa history advocate and author Dr. Dorothy Schwieder has been selected for induction into the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame.
The induction ceremony will be Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012, at 10:30 a.m. at the State Historical Museum of Iowa, 600 E. Locust, Des Moines. A light reception will follow the ceremony and is hosted by Friends of the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women. Both events are free and open to the public. Governor Terry Branstad and Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds will celebrate the achievements of the 2012 Iowa Women's Hall of Fame honorees which also include Dr. Judith A. Conlin, Terry Hernandez and Mary Parks Stier.
Dr. Schwieder is a Senior Historian and University Professor Emerita of History at Iowa State University, where she was a member of the Iowa State University history faculty from 1966 to 2000. During that time, she taught the History of Iowa course almost every semester, in addition to in-service Iowa history courses to area public school teachers and hundreds of presentations on Iowa history to groups around the state. Schwieder has had a profound effect on the teaching of Iowa history for the past 30 years. Her textbook, Iowa: The Middle Land, has become the standard in high schools, colleges and universities since being published. She also contributed to a standard youth textbook on Iowa history, Iowa Past and Present.
She served on the board for the State Historical Society of Iowa for 18 years and on the Humanities Iowa Speakers Bureau for 15. She has written or co-authored many books on Iowa history, the most recent being A Peculiar People: Iowa's Old Order Amish (2009) with her husband, Elmer Schwieder, and Tom Morain, former SHSI Administrator. In 2008, she was awarded SHSI's Petersen-Harlan Award for significant long-term contributions to Iowa history.
"Dorothy is not only a gifted historian, but also an ambassador for Iowa history around the state, a mentor to a whole generation of historians on Iowa history fields," Morain said. "She is indeed a state treasure."
Iowa Public Television (IPTV-PBS) will broadcast the award-winning documentary Country School: One Room - One Nation by Tammy and Kelly Rundle on Friday, August 24, 2012 at 9:00 p.m. The film recently received a regional Emmy-nomination in the Historical Documentary category and has won numerous film festival awards and recognition.
Country schools took rough-hewn pioneers and multilingual immigrants and transformed them into a literate and patriotic new nation. Whether personally, or through a parent or grandparent, the country school as an American architectural icon, is as imprinted on our perception of the nation’s early history as the log cabin and the general store. Stories told by former teachers and students are often nostalgic, but they are also dramatic, humorous, and heart-wrenching.
Country School was shot in Iowa, Kansas, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Missouri and Illinois and received grant awards from Humanities Iowa, Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area, the Kansas Humanities and the Wisconsin Humanities.
Gilbert Ingraham sits for an interview for Country School: One Room - One Nation in 2010.
July 31, 2012 was a bittersweet day for filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle. On that Tuesday they received the announcement that their documentary Country School: One Room - One Nation was nominated for a regional Emmy Award. They also learned that they lost one of their Country School 'stars'. Former one-room school student Gilbert Ingraham of Laurel, Iowa, passed away in the home he was born in. He was 100.
The Rundles first met Gilbert in May 2010 at Taylor #4 in Marshalltown, Iowa where he sat for an interview for their documentary on the history and legacy of America's one-room schools. 98-year-old Gilbert put on his signature bib-overhauls, drove himself to the school, and took his place in a classroom filled with students, grades 1-8, dressed in period costume. Schoolmarm Julie Jontz Lang organized the reenactment for the film.
"Gilbert was a breath of fresh air," said Tammy. "He loved rural life and farming, and really enjoyed his country school experience. His reflections as a former student helped us paint a picture of what it was like to take part in that important history."
A special tribute screening of Country School was presented in 2011 at Marshalltown's Orpheum Theater to honor Gilbert. He took part in the Q&A following the sold-out event and stole the show with his charm and wit.
Tammy Rundle poses with Gilbert Ingraham during a special reception at Taylor #4 prior to a tribute
screening of Country School at the Orpheum Theater honoring him.
"Gilbert will truly be missed by the many people who knew and loved him, and by those of us whose lives he has touched," said Tammy. "It is wonderful that we get to see him often--whenever the film broadcasts on television or shows on the big screen."
Gilbert was born on January 20th, 1912 and was the son of Fred and Nellie (Starnes) Ingraham. He graduated from the Laurel High School in 1929. He married Wanda Schnathorst on November 25th, 1932. Wanda died in 1996. He was a faithful member of the Laurel United Methodist Church, the Methodist Cemetery board and the Laurel School Board as secretary. He treasured his family and enjoyed his career of farming. Left to cherish his memory is his daughter Donna (James) Wernberg of Rockford, IL; five grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, six great-great-grandchildren and many nieces, nephews, adopted "family" and friends. Funeral services were held on Saturday, August 4th, at the Laurel United Methodist Church.
"Gilbert would have been pleased about the Emmy nomination for Country School," said Tammy.
"He was a very special part of the project and it is a distinction we share with everyone who helped us make the film," said Kelly.
Country School will broadcast on Iowa Public Television (IPTV-PBS) on Friday, August 24, 2012 at 9:00 p.m. The 2012 Mid-America Emmy® Awards will be held Saturday, September 22, 2012, at 6:30 p.m. at the historic Midland Theatre in Kansas City.
Country School: One Room – One Nation, an award-winning film by Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Moline, Illinois, is one of three films nominated for a Regional (Mid-America) Emmy® in the Historical Documentary category. This is the first time the Rundles have entered a film in the Emmy® competition following a March 2012 qualifying broadcast on WQPT-PBS.
“We are deeply honored by this nomination,” said Tammy. “And, we gratefully share this wonderful distinction with everyone who helped us make the film,” added Kelly.
Country schools took rough-hewn pioneers and multilingual immigrants and transformed them into a literate and patriotic new nation. Country School: One Room - One Nation provides a never-before-seen perspective on one-room schools in the Upper Midwest. From the first schools in new states to the demise of their widespread use in the 1950s and 1960s, the visually stunning film takes viewers "back to school" for a dramatic new look at the lasting impact of America's one-room schools.
Country School premiered in 2010 at the State Historical Building in Des Moines and has since screened more than 60 times in cities throughout the United States. The critically-acclaimed film was released nationally on DVD in 2011. Iowa Public Television (IPTV) will feature broadcasts in late August and September, and broadcasts on other PBS stations will continue through the balance of 2012.
The 2012 Mid-America Emmy® Awards will be held Saturday, September 22, 2012, at 6:30 p.m. at the historic Midland Theatre in Kansas City.
Country School was partially funded by grants from Humanities Iowa, Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area, the Wisconsin Humanities Council, and the Kansas Humanities Council.
Fourth Wall Films is a film and video production and distribution company formerly based in Los Angeles, California and now located in Moline, Illinois. Visit www.FourthWallFilms.com for more information.
The Mid-America chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) includes television markets primarily in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Arkansas, Illinois and surrounding DMAs.
NATAS is dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of television and the promotion of creative leadership for artistic, educational and technical achievements within the television industry. It recognizes excellence in television with the coveted Emmy® Award. For more information visit www.emmymid-america.org.
Reed School, Neillsville, Wisconsin.
Reed School in Neillsville, Wisconsin is in the process of creating an interactive museum exhibit that will include video clips with former students and teachers of the restored school.
A special filming session will take place on Sunday afternoon, July 8, 2012 and Monday morning, July 9, 2012 at the school. Those interested in being interviewed for the video should contact Reed School Director Dale Williams at 608 253-3523.
Reed School, built in 1915, served as a one-room country school through 1951. It provided a first- through eighth-grade education with only one teacher. Reed School offers visitors a unique interpretation of country school life by focusing on the first half of the 20th century, specifically 1939. For more information, visit http://reedschool.wisconsinhistory.org/.
Stach Schoolhouse at the Kansas State Historical Society in Topeka.
The Country School Association of America's 12th Annual Conference kicks off on Monday, June 18, 2012 in Ankeny, Iowa and will end on Wednesday, June 20 with tours of local one-room schoolhouses.
The conference draws scholars, historians and former one-room school teachers and students from all over the country and features workshops, presentations and discussions on the history of one-room schools and preservation efforts.
Faith Baptist College, 1900 NW 4th St., Ankeny, Iowa will host the conference this year. The conference will feature a special showing Tammy and Kelly Rundle's documentary Country School: One Room - One Nation at 7:00 p.m. Monday, June 18 in Gray Hall 101. Country School was awarded the CSAA Research & Artistry Award in 2011. This year's winner, "Belden School", a short documentary by Patricia HarteNaus and Kelly Naus will also screen.
Click here for the conference Agenda: http://www.countryschoolassociation.org/2012%20CSAA%20Program.pdf. Registration is required to attend the conference. The film screenings are open to the public.
