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High School Seniors Awarded Clayton
Walker Evans Educational Scholarship
The Grosse Pointe Historical Society awarded three high
school seniors the Clayton Walker Evans Educational
Scholarship. The students are selected each year by consulting
the History Departments of their high schools. Pictured are
GPHS board members Patti Schollenberger (back row, left)
and Danielle DeFauw with recipients Maria Salciccioli (front
row, left), Grosse Pointe North; Paul Leahy, University
Liggett School; and Jennifer Paone, Grosse Pointe South High
School. The scholarship was founded in 1993 in memory of
Evans who had been a president of the Society.
One-room Schoolhouse to Open September 9
Beginning this September,
modern children will be
able to turn back the clock
and experience the class-
room as local predecessors
did. The second floor of the
Provencal-Weir House is
being transformed into a
one-room schoolhouse,
circa 1900, complete with
benches, individual chalk-
boards, and McGuffy
Readers. They will even be
able to dress-up in old-fash-
ioned costumes to complete
the experience.
“The one-room schoolhouse
will bring history to life for
children and give them an
experience, not just a lec-
ture. We hope it will get kids excited about history,” said
curator Suzy Berschback. “We want people to touch, taste,
smell and feel a part of history. Taking people back in time,
especially children, gives them a new sense of appreciation
for the luxuries of life we enjoy everyday. There is nothing
like laying down on a horse hair mattress to help you
appreciate your own bed, or explaining the outhouse to
help you appreciate indoor plumbing, or cooking dinner
from scratch to help you appreciate the microwave, or
doing your homework on a chalk slate to help you appreci-
ate the computer.”
The one-room schoolhouse will also feature a display of
photographs from old schoolrooms including the 1890
Cook School and the early Kerby and Trombley schools
and artifacts like 1900 classroom rules and day plans. The
Society is looking for donations of Grosse Pointe School
memorabilia to enhance the exhibit.
A curriculum is being developed for the second through
fifth grades that will replicate what lessons were taught at
the turn of the century and show how they are different—
and the same—from lessons taught today. Teachers are
welcome to follow this curriculum, but are not limited to it.
The project has been funded mainly by a $2,500 grant from
the Grosse Pointe Questers. Many members of the group
are former teachers and they were very excited about the
idea. “We are pleased to support the one-room schoolhouse
and interested in making learning about history fun for
local children,” said Carol Stephenson, president of the
chapter.
Can You Help?
We need the following items: Ladle/scooper for serving
water at lunchtime; 2-4 old-fashioned coatracks; c. 1900
toys for showcases (marbles, jacks, for ages 7-11 to com-
pare to today); an old-fashioned compass; an old wood
stool; a dunce cap; a hickory stick; a c. 1880 teacher’s
desk.
For more information about visiting with a class or to
donate items, please call (313) 884-7010 or visit the Grosse
Pointe Historical Society website at
www.gphistorical.org.
Gary Colett paints a bench
for the Grosse Pointe
Historical Society’s
One-Room Schoolhouse.
The second floor of the Grosse Pointe Historical Society’s
Provencal-Weir House.