Tammy chats with Robert Nemeyer, Ph.D. prior to his on-camera interview.
June 12, 2009
We arrived for our first interview with a one-room school historian at exactly 1:00 pm in Waterloo, Iowa. Robert Nemeyer is employed by the Grout Museum and recently completed work on WWII oral histories and an extensive accompanying exhibit. Bob has taught Iowa history at both the University of Iowa and Iowa State University. He is also a survivor of the 2008 Parkersburg tornado.
He is currently working on a video history of the Bennington No. 4 one-room school near Waterloo. He gave us an excellent interview for our country school documentary film.
Little Red School House Guide Rita Congdon shows us a ballot box used when the one-room school was also a polling place.
By 3:30 pm we were at the Little Red School House in Cedar Falls, Iowa chatting with guide Rita Congdon. She told a great story about a paddle with holes in it. : )
Rain began to fall as we worked inside and the exterior shots were gathered from a nearby picnic shelter. The rest of the exteriors were shot by standing in the rain and sheltering the camera with an umbrella. We have pledged to shoot this film in all kinds of weather during all four seasons, so this steady rain is presumably just the beginning of our meteorological experiences.
Here I am framing up a shot of the Little Red Schoolhouse in the rain.
Evening found us at the Marshall Center School on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa. We were there to shoot the school at night, and to do an on-camera interview with Site Director Sue Grosboll. Sue's insights into the history of one-room schools come from her experience as a scholar and from growing up on a farm.
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