Country School Legacy

      The objective of the Country School Legacy project was to secure and preserve the historical significance of rural schools in eight states: Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.  Funded by a National Endowment of the Humanities grant and sponsored by the Mountain Plains Library Association (MPLA), Andrew Gulliford directed the eighteen month grant during 1980-1981.  Each state provided a team of researchers to collect oral histories, photographs, maps artifacts and other materials.  Their findings culminated in a series of seminars, a traveling exhibit, research manuscripts and archival collections.
      South   Dakota was represented by three researchers: Herb Blakely, Philip L. Brown, and Caroline Hatton.  Mr. Blakely surveyed the southeast; Mr. Brown explored the northeast; and, Mrs. Hatton researched western South Dakota.