Molinaro concedes 19th Congressional District raceby Melanie Lekocevic / November 13, 2024Related Posts
One-room schoolhouse offers glimpse into the past
By Melanie Lekocevic
Capital Region Independent Media
COEYMANS HOLLOW — It was a time when students used inkwells for their writing utensils, coal kept the classroom warm and female teachers were fired if they got married.
Education in years gone by was far different from the high-tech whiteboards, laptops and distance learning classes youngsters have today.
History buff and retired teacher Dick Brooks gave a presentation recently at the Little Red Schoolhouse on Route 143 in Coeymans Hollow detailing what learning was like when one-room schoolhouses ruled rural education. Brooks is also a columnist for the Ravena News-Herald and other local publications.
The building now known as the Little Red Schoolhouse was built in 1879 to educate children in District No. 7, long before the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk district was consolidated. The building has been on the National Register of Historic Places since May 16, 1996, and still stands as a reminder of education in years gone by.
“The teacher, at the start of the day, would ring the bell and you might stand outside and chat with your friends, but when the teacher rang the bell, you took your seat and got ready for the morning exercises,” Brooks said.
The day did not start with recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance or with singing the national anthem. Why not? Because they didn’t exist yet, Brooks said.
Instead, many teachers started the day reading a verse from the Bible.
Students in many grades were taught in the same one-room schoolhouse. In the early years, the same teacher taught grades one through eight in the same classroom, at the same time.
“This school, up until 1949, had anywhere from six to eight grades, depending on how many kids were in the district,” Paul Caswell, president of the Little Red Schoolhouse Society, said. “If they had too many kids, they only had six grades and the other two went to Coeymans, but if they didn’t have enough kids, they had all eight (grades).”
Local resident Dawn Cary attended classes at the Little Red Schoolhouse for first and second grades, with roughly 15 students in the two grades attending school together. For third and fourth grades, Cary attended school in Alcove, fifth grade was at the building now housing the town hall, and sixth grade was in what is now the RCS Community Library, Cary said. Seventh and eighth grades were in the Coeymans school, and high school was at the old Ravena High School.
Moving around so much was just business as usual for students at the time, she said.
“We didn’t know any different — it was just the way we attended school,” Cary said.
Cary is a member of the Little Red Schoolhouse Society and said preserving memories of that time is important.
“I think it’s fantastic that this is available for people to see, especially younger generations who have no idea what it was like back then,” she said.
If things were different for students, particularly in the early days, they were even more so for the teachers.
Brooks read from the “Rules for Teachers” at the schoolhouse from 1872.
Teachers were required to fill and clean the lamps that lit the classroom, bring a scuttle of coal to warm the room, and sweep and mop.
The rules also applied to their personal off-hours.
“Men teachers may take one evening each week for courting purposes or two evenings a week if they go to church regularly,” Brooks read from the list. “After 10 hours in school, teachers may spend the remaining time reading the Bible or other good books. Women teachers who marry or engage in unseemly conduct will be dismissed.”
“So if you got married, you got fired,” Brooks added.
Teachers were also required to set aside a portion of their earnings for retirement “so he will not become a burden on society,” Brooks read — no IRAs or pension plans in those days.
Teachers were also required to adhere to a list of requirements pertaining to their personal habits.
“Any teacher who smokes, uses liquor in any form, frequents pool or public halls, or gets shaved in a barber shop will get good reason to suspect his worth, integrity and honesty,” according to the list.
After five years of teaching, good teachers were awarded a 25-cent weekly increase in their salary.
In 1915, when more female teachers began entering the workforce, rules governing their behavior were added — and were even more strict.
“You will not marry during the terms of your contract. You are not to keep company with men,” Brooks read from the list of rules. “You must be home between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. unless attending a school function. You may not loiter downtown in ice cream stores.”
Female teachers were prohibited from riding in carriages or automobiles with any man unless he was their father or brother, and smoking cigarettes and dressing in bright colors were prohibited. Dyeing their hair was also a no-no, and two petticoats were required.
And this may sound familiar — women teachers were paid less than their male counterparts.
“Female teachers were paid 40% to 60% less than the male teachers,” Brooks said. “That doesn’t sound too fair.”
Social Security Matters: How do survivor benefits work for a married couple?
By Russell Gloor
For Capital Region Independent Media
Dear Rusty:
How does Social Security handle the death of one spouse? Say, for example, the husband receives $2,000 per month in Social Security and his wife receives $1,000 per month. How is the death of either spouse handled?
Signed: Concerned spouse
Dear Concerned:
Benefits to a deceased beneficiary stop as soon as Social Security (SS) is notified of the death (notification is usually done by the funeral director who handles arrangements). Benefits are not paid for the month of death, only for the preceding month when the beneficiary was alive for the entire month.
A surviving spouse is entitled to the higher of two benefits – their own personally earned SS retirement benefit, or an amount based on the deceased spouse’s benefit at death.
In the example you cite, and assuming the surviving spouse has reached full retirement age (FRA): if the husband dies first the wife will receive the husband’s $2,000 monthly benefit instead of her previous $1,000 amount. But if the wife died first, the husband would continue receiving only his $2,000 monthly amount because that is more than his deceased wife was receiving. Note in either case, the surviving spouse would be entitled to a one-time lump sum “death benefit” of $255.
The surviving spouse would need to contact Social Security to claim the “death benefit” and — unless the surviving spouse was previously receiving only a spousal benefit — also to claim the higher monthly amount, if eligible. If the surviving spouse was previously receiving only a spousal benefit from the deceased (and not entitled to SS retirement benefits on their own), then Social Security would automatically award their higher survivor amount when notified of the death.
If a surviving spouse has reached full retirement age (somewhere between 66 and 67, depending on year of birth) and is eligible for a survivor benefit, the amount of the survivor benefit will be 100% of the deceased spouse’s benefit. But if the survivor claims the benefit before reaching FRA, the amount of the survivor benefit will be reduced (by 4.75% for each full year earlier). The survivor’s benefit reaches maximum at the survivor’s full retirement age.
If a surviving spouse has not yet reached their FRA, and if they are entitled to (not necessarily collecting) their own Social Security retirement benefit, the surviving spouse has the option to delay claiming the survivor benefit until it reaches maximum at their full retirement age. And if the survivor’s personal SS retirement benefit will ever be more than their maximum survivor benefit, the surviving spouse also has the option to claim only the smaller survivor benefit first and allow their personal SS retirement benefit to grow (to maximum at age 70 if desired).
With Social Security there is hardly ever a simple answer to a question but, in the example you use, if both are over their SS full retirement age:
- If the husband dies first, the wife will get 100% of the amount ($2,000) the husband was receiving, instead of the small amount ($1,000) she was previously receiving.
- If the wife dies first, the husband’s monthly benefit will remain at $2,000, and he will get no increase in his monthly amount.
- In either case, the surviving spouse will be entitled to a one-time lump sum death benefit of $255.
This article is intended for information purposes only and does not represent legal or financial guidance. It presents the opinions and interpretations of the AMAC Foundation’s staff, trained and accredited by the National Social Security Association (NSSA). NSSA and the AMAC Foundation and its staff are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other governmental entity. To submit a question, visit our website (amacfoundation.org/programs/social-security-advisory) or email us at ssadvisor@amacfoundation.org.
