One thing we’ve all done is school: for at least eight years, every day, slogging to and from the place where we learn to add 2+2. (If you’re lucky, you get to walk uphill both ways.) Schools in the early 1900s, during World War II, were different in many ways; yet, you may be surprised at how recognizable they are. Here are some groovy vintage photographs of schools from years gone by.

In the early 1900s, one-room school houses were common. This one, located in Lancaster County, was photographed in 1938.
Sheldon Dick/ Yale
Here's a picture of Martha Royer's class. She was the teacher at the one-room schoolhouse in Lancaster County.
Sheldon Dick/ Yale
Here is another one-room schoolhouse, this one located in Hinkletown. Though it looks tiny, it eight grades of students went to school here.
John Collier/ Yale
This was the class in the Hinkletown one-room schoolhouse in 1942. It was a public school, and the teacher was Mennonite.
John Collier/ Yale
Not all schools at this time were one-room schoolhouses. Here are some parochial schoolchildren in Pittsburgh at dismissal in 1941.
John Vachon/ Yale

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Some schoolchildren wait for the schoolbus in Lancaster in 1942.
Marjory Collins/ Yale
waiting for school bus Lancaster
A teacher practices recitations with some students at a public school in Red Run in 1942.
John Collier/ Yale
During World War II, war nursery schools often took care of children while their mothers were working during the day— the fathers were often at war. This particular war nursery school was one of four that were located in Scranton.
Ann Rosener/ Yale
Some children check the honor roll postings on a bulletin board at the Lititz Borough Public School in 1942.
Marjory Collins/ Yale
Here, sixth grade students at Lititz Borough Public School study about the route to Murmansk, Russia, which was relevant current event during the War.
Marjory Collins/ Yale
Lititz Borough Public School sixth grade- students are studying about the route to Murmansk

I wonder what schools will be like 100 from now? What do you think? Share your thoughts below.

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