Activities and information in this section are pertinent to the society's popular traveling program Going
to School, a lesson focusing on what it was like to be a student in the mid 1800s.
Documents are in PDF format unless otherwise specified. They require Adobe® Acrobat® or the
free utility Adobe® Reader®.
Lee Schoolhouse, circa 1900
"Aging"
Paper
This fun activity lists directions for giving paper
an aged look. Since it involves using matches, the activity should be closely supervised by an adult.
Copybooks: Classroom Activity
Instructions are provided for making a copybook, which school children in the 1700s and 1800s used to practice
penmanship as well as to learn correct behavior by committing proverbs and other maxims to memory.
First New Hampshire Teacher:
John Legat
This document details the colonial law requiring towns to hire teachers and provides information about the first
recorded town contract to hire a teacher.
Going to School:
Classroom Activities
Intended as follow-up to the society's outreach program Going to School, a few of the listed activities refer
to documents sent by mail to a school.
Going to School in New Hampshire (slides)
[READ
ME: Information about viewing slide shows.]
Using materials from the New Hampshire Historical Society's collections, this slide show asks students to compare
schools of the past with their own. The presentation may be used in preparation for the society's outreach program
Going to School, or it may be used in conjunction with a study of primary sources. [1.8 MB]
Growing Up in New
Hampshire: Reading List
This list of suggested reading includes separate sections for teachers and for students.
Going to School
Worksheet: Then and Now
Students are asked to learn and then chart their answers to eight key questions that will demonstrate differences
between schooling of the 1800s and schooling today.
Historical Rules for Teachers
The two quaint sets of rules for teacher behavior in this document are of uncertain origin. They apparently date
from 1872 and 1915.
Quill Pens: Classroom Activity
This document provides instructions for making a quill pen and suggests a procedure for having students practice
writing with one.
Schoolhouses to Visit
This is a list of six New Hampshire schools or school museums that students and teachers may wish to visit. The
schools and museums are not associated with the New Hampshire Historical Society. Any inquiries about visiting
the facilities should be made directly to them. Where possible, contact information has been given.
Timeline of New Hampshire Education
This document chronicles the history of education in New Hampshire from the first provincial laws in 1642 through
attempts in 1999 to define "adequate education" and find the means to fund such an education equitably
throughout the state. R. Stuart Wallace of the N.H. Technical Institute and Douglas Hall, co-director of the N.H.
Center for Public Policy Studies, compiled the chronology.
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