Episode 213: Historic Schoolhouses of Long Island w Zach Studenroth

Today we come to praise the one-room schoolhouse of the 19th century (and some of its earlier forebears). Humble in appearance, these buildings might be easy to overlook but their existence hints at a broader social, cultural, and educational history across Long Island.

Zach Studenroth, architectural historian and preservationist, documents this history in Historic Schoolhouses of Long Island from Arcadia Publishing (compiled with his co-author, the late Kurt Kahofer). On today's episode, Zach elaborates on the role of New York State in establishing schools in the 1800s, Walt Whitman's brief foray into teaching, and the surprising afterlife of school buildings as churches, fire houses, and storage sheds.

Further Research

• Historic Schoolhouses of Long Island (Arcadia Publishing)
• Schoolteaching Years (Walt Whitman Archive)
• George Bradford Brainerd (Brooklyn Museum)
• Audio Footnotes
  • Episode 89: Walt Whitman's Birthplace
• Intro Music: https://homegrownstringband.com/
• Outro music: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0