Freeman School Landscape

Sunset over Freeman School.

NPS

For 95 years, the red brick, one-room structure provided a place for education and community functions. Built in 1871, the Freeman Schoolhouse, a part of Homestead National Historical Park, offers an excellent example of a Great Plains rural school and schoolyard. Freeman School represents the history and importance of American public education in conjunction with westward expansion of the United States between 1871 and 1967.

Freeman School also demonstrates historical significance for the precedent it set in the court case Daniel Freeman v. John Scheve. In 1902, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled religious instruction during school hours violated the concept of the separation of church and state delineated in the state constitution.

Landscape Description

Located approximately a quarter of a mile from the rest of the Homestead National Historical Park site, the Freeman schoolhouse site occupies a one acre rectangular site to the north of Nebraska State Highway 4. The schoolhouse itself measures 20 by 26 feet and approximately 12 feet in height. An area behind the schoolhouse, historically tall-grass prairie, was mowed or hayed to serve as a playground, distinguishing it from the restored tall-grass prairie elsewhere at the monument. In addition to the school, the site contains other structures, including a storage shed and two privies. Small scale features include a water pump and a metal pole. The historic function of the pole is unknown, although it is assumed to have been a piece of playground equipment. The structures and small scale features contribute to the historic landscape character.

Storage shed and water pump, 2011.

NPS / Meiners

In part due to restoration and rehabilitation efforts of the National Park Service, the schoolhouse site closely resembles its historic appearance during the period of significance from 1871 to 1967. In addition to retaining the same footprint on the site, the schoolhouse building also possesses integrity for its design, materials, and workmanship.

Historic Use

Daniel Freeman in 1904.

Library of Congress

The Land Ordinance of 1785 standardized the division and distribution of western farmland and created a means of generating revenue from the sale of land for public education. This, along with land grants for schools, demonstrated the federal government’s simultaneous promotion of westward expansion and public education. After the Homestead Act of 1862, more settlers claimed land in Gage County and the need for a school was recognized. In 1871, John Scheve provided one acre of land to the 21st district to construct a schoolhouse. The red brick used for school — originally known simply as the “Red Brick School House of School District 21” — was locally sourced from brick maker Thomas Freeman. Both Thomas Freeman and Daniel Freeman (the first homesteader in the state) served on the district school board. Thomas and Daniel were not related and it remains unclear from which individual the school’s name derives.

The school opened in 1872 and the two terms offered to students were organized around the region’s crop cycles. Instructors, usually young women, taught reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, and physiology.

A page in the "Omaha Daily Bee," November 21, 1903. The article shaded in red is titled, "Stops Reading of Bible." Please click on the image for a larger view and to access a text version of the page.

Image provided by University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE

In 1899, use of the Bible in instruction at the school prompted a lawsuit brought by Daniel Freeman. After the Gage County District Court denied Freeman’s request to stop the Bible readings during school hours, he appealed the case to the Nebraska Supreme Court. The Court sided with Freeman, which determined sectarian instruction would not be “allowed in any school or institution supported in whole or in part by the public funds set apart for educational purposes." It also set a precedent for the separation of church and state in United States public education.

Besides its primary use in education, the Freeman Schoolhouse also provided the Gage County community with a versatile social space. Over the years, elections, dances, box socials, club meetings, and church services were held at the schoolhouse. At least one wedding took place there. By the time the schoolhouse closed in 1967 due to the consolidation of the school district, it had served the community for nearly a century. At the time of its closing it was the oldest operating single-room school in the state.

The National Park Service obtained the school in 1970 and from 1973 to 1975 worked to restore the schoolhouse to its late 19th century appearance. Today, visitors can experience the schoolhouse and grounds to gain an understanding of the history of American public education and its relationship to westward expansion.

Play area outside of Freeman School, 2011.

NPS / Meiners

Quick Facts

• Cultural Landscape Type: Historic Site

• National Register Significance Level: National

• National Register Significance Criteria: A, C

• Period of Significance: 1871-1967

Landscape Links

• National Register of Historic Places: Homestead National Monument of America

• Teaching with Historic Places - The Freeman School: Building Prairie Communities

• Freeman School Park Brochure (PDF)

• More about NPS Cultural Landscapes