As you walk into the School House Museum in Smithfield (Va.), you are presented with a one-room school where African American students in Isle of Wight County were taught in the early 1930s.

The school, and all of its "amenities," has been brought back to life for elementary school children to teach them about the good, the bad and the ugly of segregated education, reports David Squires for the (Va.) Daily Press.

During a recent field trip, students learned that each day started with devotion, followed by the pledge of allegiance, then a roll call for students in all seven grades.

For its curriculum, the school used books discarded by the white schools and for lunch, the children ate leftovers brought from their homes. During the visit, one child asked if they had any resource classes like music.

The answer was no.

In fact, some Isle of Wight children did walk up to five miles (one way, of course) to attend school. Museum directors hope to give children a firsthand experience of something they had only heard or read about in history books. If it makes them more appreciative of all they have, that's an added bonus.

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