Moultrie County Postcards: Arthur: Schools

Wish you were here!
(Postcards from Arthur: Schools )

(Click on the front or back of a card to see a full-size image.)

Title	Front	Back	Transcription/Comments
1906 Public School			Postmark: Arthur Sep 6 1906 4 PM Addressed to: Miss Mary E. Fearis La Fontaine, Indiana R. 4 Message: Sept. 6 -- Hello Mamie I'm headed for home now. Will pull in Saturday afternoon. Had a fine visit but will be glad to be at home. much (?) more, Edith This is an example of a pre-1907 card on which the entire back was reserved for the address. The inscription in the lower right corner of the photo is 'Photo by Wamsley'. There were a number of Wamsleys living in Douglas County at the time (though none in Moultrie), and I have not determined which of these might have been the photographer.
Grade School, about 1907			Unmailed and undated. Inscription: Front (on the sign held by the boy in the front center): Room 2 Arthur Ill. Inscriiption: Master Everrett Ohlsen Arthur Illinois Everett Ohlsen, son of Ras and Caroline Ohlsen, was born in 1898. By modern reckoning, Everett would have been in second grade about 1904 or 1905. However, the divided back on this card shows that it could not have been produced prior to March, 1907, when such cards became legal. Consequently, he may have been several years behind the modern norm, a situation more common in an age where the education of farm boys such as himself was frequently interrupted for seasonal work, or it may have been given to him by a younger friend. Compare this photo with the next: it is possible that the teacher on the right is Mina Huber.
Grade School, about 1909			Unmailed and undated, previously pasted in scrap book Inscription: Mina Huber's room in the Arthur Grade School Mina L. Huber, daughter of Frank and Clara T. Huber, was born in 1893 in Indiana. By 1910, her father had apparently died, and she was living in Douglas County with her mother, as she continued to do through 1920. Her older sister, Mary, was also a teacher, serving at Two Mile School in Moultrie County. I believe, though it's not stated, that Mina Huber is the woman in white, on the right side, behind the woman in a darker (gingham?) dress with a fluffy collar. The clothing styles suggest that this picture was taken several years after Everrett Ohlsen's class, but the door is obviously that of the same building. The black spots on the back are the result of being pasted in a scrap book.
High School 1909			Postmark: Tuscola, Ill. Mar 3 1909 12:30 PM Addressed to: Miss Carrie Bishop Greenwood, Ind. Message: Dear Carrie I got that pretty card all o.k. the Babies are not very well out here. Jess is No better last I saw him. Tell aunt Eliza we lost that big black charlie horse he got his leg broke we hated to see him go pretty bad. Alma This is the same building, without rear extension, later listed as the grade school. It is probably the second-oldest picture of this building, as the rear extension has not yet been built, and the original doors with large glass are still in place).
Grade School, about 1911			Unmailed and undated. The extension at the rear shows that this was taken several years later than the other pictures of this building. The front doors have been replaced, and now contain less glass.
High School 1909			Unmailed and undated. This is not the same building as those those shown earlier. The style of the automobile in the foreground suggest a date in the mid to late 'teens.