a collection of clues to america's educational past - space air conditioner

If you walk past Daniel Radcliffe's robes of Harry Potter, take the elevator to the fourth floor, above the ruby slippers of the Wizard of Oz, there is also a four-member person who comes from Cincinnati, Ohio and you will find yourself in a long corridor that is a bit like a hospital walkway.
The fourth floor of the Smithsonian National Museum of American history is a variety of offices and storage rooms. Debbie Schaeffer
Jacobs took me through a heavy brown door.
She is the curator of the museum's educational collection, one of the days when people like her.
In this room, under the air conditioner, she is opening the package --
Be very careful
A newly published book about the history of education in the United States.
These artifacts are 800-
Richard lodysh, a physical gift to the museum, is a former understudy principal at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D. C. C.
The new collection spans more than two centuries.
The oldest item is something called a "book of horns": a wooden paddle not greater than the hands of adults, used by children in the 18 th century for the first time reading. The 250-year-
The old object had a thin layer of parchment, printed with the alphabet, covered with translucent animal horns.
These used to be common in schools: other corner books in the collection include religious texts in addition to letters.
For some items, the time seems to be still, and the toys are left in a place where kindergarten teachers may have put them hundreds of years ago.
Take a Box of building blocks made by Milton Bradley.
The company's founders and New England merchants of the same name are keen to bring kindergartens to the United States.
After attending lectures by 19th-century American educator, early Kindergarten Advocate Elizabeth pebodi, Milton Bradley stood out from the board game that made his company famous, A new line has begun to focus on educational materials.
"Bradley is convinced that making educational toys is good for society," Schaefer said . "
To the chagrin of his business partners.
Milton Bradley sells everything it takes to run a classroom
Paper cutters, desks, blackboards and their iconic educational toys.
Lodish donations include many of these projects.
In multiple boxes in Smithsonian's collection
The size of the block, there are some yellow stamps-
Not part of Bradley's set.
"It's common to find these two projects in the classroom," Schaefer said . "Jacobs.
"They got mixed in somehow.
Interestingly, at some point a child cleans after class and neither student nor teacher thinks of it: I will not take them out again.
"A century later, when these items arrived at the museum and Scheffer --
Jacobs opened the boxes and she found them, just as they were left behind --
A world away from the original classroom.
Waiting for the history of the items in the collection to be carefully looked after and sorted;
Some are on the 4 th floor of the museum, while others are in the warehouse.
The American Museum of History does not have a dedicated gallery or exhibition on education, but these artifacts are often used to strengthen other exhibitions.
A set of bells in the collection will be used for patriotic exhibitions in the United States.
The book Dick and Jane will be on display as part of the exhibition to show how the popular series of introductory reading books reflect American culture.
But many of these works will never find their moments in the spotlight on the exhibition floor.
They will be stored with millions of other items owned by the Smithsonian Museum.
But even if they are not shown, the curator says, they provide a historical understanding of the American experience.
"Before schools play a role in a larger society, social change often plays a role in schools," she said . ".
As an example, Schaefer-
Jacobs cited issues such as bilingual education, teaching English as a second language (ESL)
There is a conflict in the school about classroom prayer and church separation from the state.
"Not only do we have old school materials," Schaefer-Jacobs says.
"You also have some materials in which we can learn some knowledge about school equipment.
"Take the alphabet.
Lodish donations include some alphabet boards-
Made of wood and metal, made of plastic in the late 20 th century.
These educational toys have movable letters that allow children to assemble and spell words.
Schaefer said: "It's interesting to see how tools change over time
Jacobs points to a rectangular wooden alphabet dating back to 1840.
The others in the collection are round and colored.
There are illustrations of boys cycling and girls chasing animals;
Others include numbers used for counting.
Over time, design changes, manufacturers come and go
But the principle of sliding letters to spell words is constant.
A 20 th century round board spelled the phrase "cat and lazy dog" in the Toy Center.
"That's exactly why a student left it," Schaefer-Jacobs says.
She loves her job: Imagine the classroom environment in which these items have lived.
The museum, part of the Smithsonian Institution, sits on the edge of the National Mall in downtown Washington, DC, where it receives donationsSchaefer-
Jacobs recommends sending photos of the item to the museum by email.
Curators will decide whether to accept the object based on the image.
Even the Lodish series went through such a rigorous review-the museum did not take away a few pieces.
Back on the fourth floor of the museum, above the hum of the public exhibition, Schaefer-
Jacobs began to put these things back in the box.
She prepared a tuition card for black students attending an isolated school in the south of Jim Crow, and packaged a math toy called "consul, calculate monkey.
"Over the next few months, the museum will continue to receive boxes from the Lodish collection.
Debbie Schaeffer
Jacobs will be there, wearing her bright blue gloves, carefully opening the packaging, cleaning and cataloging each item, and her hands tightening in a cold climate --controlled air.
She will check every project, piece together their stories and look for clues to the history of American education.