1876 Schoolhouse appears in the award-winning documentary Country School: One Room - One Nation and the Emmy-nominated documentary River to River: Iowa's Forgotten Highway 6.
Little did we know that while filming the 1876 Schoolhouse in Coralville, Iowa for our documentary Country School: One Room – One Nation that we would reach an “intersection” with a future project about the historic transcontinental Highway 6.
Situated on the original Highway 6 alignment, the beautiful two-story, red-brick country school is a “must see” historical museum operated by the Johnson County Historical Society. The school was built on a small acreage donated by the Ezekiel Clark family, accommodating classes for grades 1-8 on the first floor and a gymnasium and auditorium on the second floor—no doubt, the floor where many Christmas programs were presented to the rural community.
Fourth Wall Films' Kelly Rundle shoots interior footage of the 1876 Schoolhouse for Country School: One Room - One Nation. The film was nominated for a Mid-America Emmy.
The structure served as a place for learning until 1951. Through the years, the schoolhouse has been used for various other purposes, including a recreational center for teens and a warehouse, before it was put to use as a museum. The restored two-room schoolhouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and is open by appointment by calling 319.351.5738.
Visit: www.johnsoncountyhistory.org for more information about the 1876 Schoolhouse in Coralville, Iowa (just off of Iowa's Historic Route 6).
For more information about Iowa’s Historic Route 6 and the annual River to River Retro Road Trip visit https://www.facebook.com/usroute6iowa.
Country School producer Tammy Rundle.
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.
Kelly & Tammy Rundle's Country School: One Room - One Nation provides a never-before-seen perspective on one-room schools in the Upper Midwest. This visually stunning film features a unique country school designed by Frank Lloyd Wright along with dozens of more traditional structures of brick, stone, or wood - in all stages of restoration or decay - in picturesque rural areas of Iowa, Kansas, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, and Nebraska. Shot in the midst of all four seasons, Country School features interviews with a who's who of one-room school scholars, including authors Bill Samuelson, Jerry Apps, Dorothy Schwieder, Mark Dewalt, Vera Hurst, Frank Yoder, and Bill Sherman, as well as former country school teachers and students.
From the first schools in new states to the demise of their widespread use in the 1950s and 1960s, Country School: One Room - One Nation takes viewers "back to school" for a dramatic new look at the lasting impact of America's one-room schools.
Country School: One Room – One Nation was funded in part by Humanities Iowa, Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area, the Wisconsin Humanities Council, Kansas Humanities Council, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Kelly and Tammy Rundle, of Fourth Wall Films, are the producers of four regional Emmy® nominated films including Country School: One Room - One Nation, Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City, River to River: Iowa’s Forgotten Highway 6, and Letters Home to Hero Street; and over a dozen award-winning documentaries including the Lost Nation: The Ioway 1, 2 & 3 series, Villisca: Living with a Mystery, The Barn Raisers, Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg. All of their DVD titles are available at FourthWallFilms.com.
Order the Emmy-nominated Country School DVD HERE!
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