History was always one of my favourite subjects from school and like many people, it was nice to envision taking a step back in time and what things must have been like back then.
From time to time, we hear about a story where history comes to life in some way or another. That was a case for these contractors who were recently doing some renovation on an old high school. During the process, they found something that they never would’ve expected.
When contractors began working on Emerson high school, they knew that education can be improved by the project but they didn’t expect the impact on local history.
They were going to upgrade the whiteboards in the classrooms with smart boards. Before they did so, they had to remove the outdated chalkboards and they made a startling discovery.
Underneath the current chalkboards was another set of chalkboards that had been untouched for nearly 100 years. These century-old writings and drawings look like they were just made yesterday. This one is a November calendar, including a turkey to mark Thanksgiving.
A multiplication table shows up as a slice of curriculum and a method that was taught back in 1917. The principle of the school admits that he has never seen the multiplication wheel.
The school officials were shocked by, not what was written but by how it is written.
The subject matter in the classrooms is similar. There was aligned curriculum in 1917.
The board style and subject matter may be somewhat unfamiliar but many of the older generations will certainly understand. The principal showed his 85-year-old mother the board and she just stood there and cried.
The boards are even older than his mother by 13 years! There were two dates on the chalkboards, both from 1917.
Some drawings and writings were from the students and others were drawn by the teacher.
The work is an amazing look into an older time.
Perhaps what was most eerie is that the colours were vibrant enough that it looked like it was drawn on the same day. It’s difficult to imagine it was drawn nearly 100 years ago.
Emerson high school has gone through many renovations but they never uncovered anything like this
In the past, they only found wires and broken pipes.
The school district and city are working together to preserve the boards, which are a wonderful part of history.
Via: Shareably
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