2024 marks the Ephraim Historical Foundation’s 75th year. Read on to discover how school teacher Helen Sohns got things started.

by Kathleen Harris, EHF Educator

Ephraim's new elementary school (today's village offices) opened January 24, 1949. "Separate cloak and lavoratory rooms for girls and boys" were something to cheer about, good-bye outhouses! What's more, the basement, complete with a kitchen, had a "large recreation room for games when inclement weather prevails."

Parents, in turn, were happy about the new oil furnace with steam heat that guaranteed an even temperature throughout the building, though truth be told a few young rascals would miss dropping crayons through the old school's iron floor grate, onto the furnace below. Speaking of flooring, how about the new building's modern, easy-care asphalt tiles instead of old-fashioned hardwood planks milled from local trees. Asphalt tiles, invented around 1920 as a by-product of asbestos mining, seemed just the ticket for easy care. They were in fashion nationwide and would remain so until non-asbestos vinyl tiles became standard in the 1980s, with help from the EPA.

Source: “Plan Open House at Ephraim School on Washington’s Day” by Mrs. Wm. Wedepohl. February 17, 1949, Door County Advocate

All of them had taken turns tugging on the faithful bell, and heard its clang of welcome. All had practiced sums on the chalkboard and, at day's end, gone outside to clap dusty erasers. The schoolhouse was where Ephraim's children first learned how to compromise with neighbors, practice kindness, and learn that success and taking accountability can feel good, in different ways. The one-room schoolhouse represented what Ephraim strived to be: a community that was welcoming, hard-working, honest, and resourceful. And fun! Goodness, who could forget the budding thespian talent on display at countless schoolhouse pageants and plays.

The old school was more than a building. Embracing progress didn't mean you simply chucked the past. Did it?

1859: Ephraim's First School

The building Sohns wanted to save wasn't Ephraim's first school. In 1857, Rev. Andrew Iverson, the Norwegian minister who established Ephraim as a Moravian community a few years before, was elected Town Superintendent of Public Schools. It was a good fit given his Moravian belief in creating an engaged citizenry through education. At the time the Township of Gibraltar included Ephraim, Fish Creek, Egg Harbor, and Baileys Harbor. Each town had its own school. Ephraim (District #4) representatives quickly met and voted to levy a tax for $120 to build a log building on land Iverson donated.

Ephraim's first school opened in 1859 with Pauline Larsen appointed first teacher. She was the daughter of Ole Larsen, who met Iverson in Buffalo, New York when the Moravians were journeying to Wisconsin. Pauline was a married teacher, uncommon at the time. She had 35 pupils her first year and earned $4 a week. Ephraim's first school still stands on Willow Street and is privately owned.

NOTES

Pictured above right: Ephraim's Schoolhouse in the late 1890s. Nellie Noble is identified as the teacher. Nellie Noble Howe (1878-1962) was daughter of Alexander and Emily Noble of Fish Creek. They are buried at the Ephraim Moravian Cemetery. Nellie is buried in Blossomburg Cemetery, Fish Creek, near her daughter Dr. Gertrude Howe, the last resident of Gibraltar Historical Association's Noble House.

“Teachers Meeting” May 2, 1896 Door County Advocate

The fifth meeting of the teachers of Gibral­tar was held April 18 in the schoolhouse at Fish Creek. The meeting was called to order by Vice-President Walter Smith. Miss Weborg being absent, Mr. Whitford kindly took her place and conducted the exercise in pedagogy in a very instructive manner. Following was a selection from the Sketch Book by Nellie No­ble and a sketch on the life of Emerson by Mable Thorp. All the time having been spent, the remainder of the program was omitted.

The committee on program arranged the fol­lowing for the next meeting to be held Sat­urday, May 9: Imagination in Education, R. Whitford; Emerson's Essays, History, Walter Smith; The Sketch Book, The Voyage, Gertrude No­ble; The Talisman, Nellie Noble; general con­versation exercise.

Those present were Misses Gertrude Noble, Eva Hill, Hannah Johnson, Nellie Noble, Ma­ble Thorp, Laura McSweeney, Messrs. Walter Smith and R. Whitford.

NELLIE D. NOBLE, Sec'y