The Ypsilanti Heritage Foundation has formally committed itself to support the One Room Schoolhouse Project which is underway on EMU's campus. The Geddes Town Hall School has been moved onto campus and the formal fund raising kick- off was held at this year's Homecoming. The project is, in fact, Eastern's commitment to the State of Michigan's Sesquicentennial Celebration. A site has been selected: it will be located at the northeast corner of the lot on which the Rackham Building stands, a site already devoted to young children. This means the schoolhouse will stand on a naturally wooded site at almost the very center of the campus. It will be along the north-south axis, at the southern end of which is Welch Hall, which will be under renovation early in 1988. The University is also strongly considering Sherzer Hall, with its still intact 1902 lecture hall, lab room, and professor's office above, as a museum. Sherzer also stands along that north-south axis, close to historic Starkweather Hall. So the schoolhouse will play a significant role in Eastern's new commitment to recognition of its historic past, as well as its dedication to community involvement, with both the new Business School and the Corporate Training Center underway.
The Schoolhouse will serve, not only to remind future generations of Eastern's proud history of teacher training (the first training school west of the Alleghenies), but also as a special meeting place for any course relating to education and/or American history. It will also be an adjunct to the local schools, just as the Towner House Children's Museum is now, for on site, in character experiences in local history, thus bring University and community closer together.
FUNDS ARE BEING ACTIVELY SOUGHT. No contribution is too small! Send your check to "Eastern Michigan University", designating it specifically for The One Room Schoolhouse Project, Development Office, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI, 48197. Your contribution is tax deductible!