This graduation commemorative souvenir card features a thumbnail black and white photograph of Vadna E. Samuel, the teacher of this class circa 1901. The cover also includes information about the school, district, and director. It was produced for the Point School in Buena Vista County, Iowa, and it consists of two cards bound by a string in the upper left corner.
Inside, there is a list of pupils that suggests this classroom contained students of varying ages. Multiple students shared surnames, suggesting that families in this district enrolled children in groups regardless of age. Multi-age schooling was contested by some as too community driven and diverse; detractors complained that one and two room rural schools contributed to the decline of white, Protestant culture. Many progressive reformers spoke in favor of rural schools though, so they remained popular as the nation’s student population continued to increase, but eventually fell out of fashion as these schools began to age and it became more economical to transport students and centralize school services in district schools.
Vadna Ellen Goff was born February 11, 1874, in Charleston, Illinois, the daughter of William H. Goff and Harriet Ann Mobley. In November of 1900 she was married Horace Carlin. Samuels, a teamster, and later carpenter but her only occupation in the US census is wife. She is listed on this school souvenir as Mrs. Vadna E. Samuel and her eldest son’s birth date is October 1900 this community must not have had a ban on married teachers or pregnant teachers, as many areas implemented marriage bans for female teachers under the guise of it being too difficult for women to raise children while maintaining a career. Other school districts banned single women but permitted married women to teach provided they were not pregnant. Vadna Ellen Goff Samuels had 3 children, a son Claude, and then daughter Fra Lucille who attended Iowa State Teachers College in 1924, and daughter Vadna Maxime who married a techer. She died September 13, 1961 in Phoenix, Arizona.
