During CFUW Sherbrooke & District’s 50-year history, publications have played a key role. One of the significant projects was the publication of Days to Remember: One-room Schoolhouses in the Eastern Townships of Quebec in 2007. Club members taped a series of interviews with former teachers in the 1990s and the project was revived in 2006 when it was discovered that there were many more former teachers and students who had attended one-room schoolhouses. The oral history project took on a life of its own when we discovered the many people who had fascinating historical information about their experiences. It was then that the decision was made to publish a book.Some readers may recall that during the first few decades of the 1900s, one-room schoolhouses dotted the rural landscape of the Eastern Townships. Functional in style and constructed of local materials such as wood, fieldstone or brick, schoolhouses were built wherever families of school-aged children lived. Almost all of the teachers in these early schools were young women in their late teens or early twenties. Many had attended McDonald College, but some had come directly from high school into the role of teacher. Nevertheless, they assumed sole responsibility for education of all children from grade one to seven within their schoolhouse. Often other duties such as cleaning the schoolhouse, organizing events, and stoking the wood stove were also part of the position. This was an interesting period in Townships’ social and educational history and Days to Remember; One-room Schoolhouses in the Eastern Townships of Quebec offered a unique window into that time. See full story in the Thursday, March 22nd edition of The Record.
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