For over 130 years, one-room schoolhouses like this one in the Wapping section of Deerfield, Massachusetts, were where many Americans received their education. The Wapping school was one of fourteen schoolhouses in Deerfield. They were often located at intersections or edges of properties not fit for farming. In the 1830s this simple design with its many windows (for light and ventilation) was widely replicated around the country as the result of an early 19th century education reform movement centered in New England. Schoolhouse repairs, teachers’ pay and “boarding-round” were the responsibilities of the families living in each school district. The three adults in this photograph from the mid-1890s are probably the female teacher and two members of the school committee. By this time, although women could not vote, they could serve on school committees. It was not considered proper for married women to teach.