In my last column, I mentioned a book I recently read by June R. Holden. Fulton, NY (A Narrative History) is an informative overview of our city’s early years. When the Fulton Historical Society published the book, in 2001, they credited a school curriculum as its inspiration. The curriculum, the Society noted, was written by Roxanne Alnutt Stuart.
I know Roxanne from my work with the Fulton Library’s Memoir Project. She’s contributed several essays about her Fulton memories, so I was aware of her knowledge of our city’s history. But I had no idea she’d written a school curriculum based on our proud past. I contacted Roxanne to learn more.
“I wrote the curriculum guide in the 1984-85 school year, when I was home after my Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis,” Roxanne explained. “New York State was mandating that school districts teach local history in grade four, and at the time there was no material except for Grace Lynch’s pamphlet on Fulton. I was getting ready to retire and wanted to do something to help fourth grade teachers, so I wrote a curriculum that was easy to understand and contained projects for children.”
Roxanne shared a copy of the curriculum with me. She’d organized it into units that covered different aspects of our history. Following each unit, Roxanne provided questions that put our history into concepts children could identify with. For example, here’s a question from her Native American unit: “Name at least ten places in our area that have been given Indian names.”
I challenged myself with that question, trying to come up with the streets, buildings and bodies of water that honor those who lived here before us. I came up with Seneca, Cayuga and Oneida streets, all with local tribe names; our neighboring Onondaga County; and the not-too-distant Mohawk River. And who could forget our lake, Neatahwanta?
Roxanne also included a unit on Immigration, which covers how, other than Native Americans, all of us can trace our ancestry to another country. She identified the first settlers as Dutch and English, followed by Irish, who helped create our branch of the Erie Canal, then Italians, who brought their farming skills. All good information, but Roxanne challenged students to dig deeper with her history-based activities.
“I believe that children and most people remember the hands-on projects before they remember the lecture or reading,” Roxanne explained. Regarding Immigration, she created a project called “Trace Your Name.” Youngsters were to ask their parents what they knew about the origins of their family name. Then they were sent to encyclopedias—no computers back then! —to search for more history about their name.
I bet students were interested in the evolution of Fulton Schools. Roxanne told of a Major VanVaalkenburg, whose early 1800s barn became our first school. Lessons were led by a Mr. Donald and then a Mr. Robinson. As Roxanne noted in her curriculum, “In those years, one room was all that was needed to teach all grades and teachers were almost always men.”
The School unit also pointed out that it was 1811 when Fulton’s first real schoolhouse was built at the corner of First and Rochester streets. It would serve the entire east side of the Oswego River until neighborhood schools were established. I wonder how many fourth graders grew jealous after reading that the children of those first schools were not required to attend class if their parents needed them to work at home.
The curriculum also included a unit on Prominent Fultonians, which, as might be expected, featured men. But students also learned of Marion Dickerson, a 1911 graduate of Syracuse University, who taught American History at our city’s high school. Marion went on to make history herself. After living overseas for several years, she returned to the United States when women won the right to vote. Determined to see how far her gender’s new rights could extend, Dickerson ran for a seat in the New York State Legislature, narrowly being defeated by her male opponent. But it marked the first time a woman had run for Legislature in our state.
Perhaps most impressive about Roxanne’s curriculum is its bibliography. Coded so students could find resources for future research, it listed 76 book and article titles, showing students the vast knowledge waiting for them beyond their classroom. “Janet Hutchinson, the Oak Street School librarian, provided me with that list of resources,” Roxanne noted.
The curriculum also included a list of suggestions for continuing the study of local history. Students were encouraged to research people’s personal papers, old newspapers, and records found in government offices, census bureaus and businesses. She included contact information for local historical museums and encouraged teachers to help students “unlearn Indian stereotypes” and find “history at the cemetery.”
One teacher who benefited from Roxanne’s curriculum is Darle DeLorme. Darle grew up in the same neighborhood as Roxanne and attended church with her. After Roxanne retired from teaching, Darle said that “using her curriculum felt like we were still co-teachers. Roxanne and I shared an affection for our city’s history, and the fact that she took time to research and create it is wonderful. It was a pleasure to use her words as my resource.
Author June Holden also saw the value of Roxanne’s work. “June found my guide at the Fulton Historical Society,” Roxanne explained. “She came to me with her idea to write a book. Of course, I let her use it.”
June Holden’s book, unfortunately, is now out of print. (Anybody want to help me get it back in the hands of interested readers?) But it remains a treasure of information for local history buffs. We’re lucky to have it. And so are the many fourth graders and their teachers who learned to appreciate our city through Roxanne’s curriculum.
Phillips Street School, one of our city’s former elementary schools, where students learned about Fulton history.