THE MICHIGAN ONE ROOM SCHOOLHOUSE ASSOCIATION
Survey of Michigan
One-Room Schoolhouses
It is estimated that at one time there were over 7,200 one-room schools in Michigan, and approximately 7,000 of those have been found and documented on our website by Michigan One Room Schoolhouse Association (MORSA) founding board member Suzanne Daniel. Our goal is to continue her work and find them all.
Please, feel free to search for the schools you know and to search for schoolhouse museums.
RECENT MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS
MORSA 2025 FALL Conference
Put Saturday, September 13, on your calendar. A unique site has been selected for the Fall Conference. The Manchester Historical Society will host the event in partnership with Bob and Sandy Mottice, on their farm which features the Sharon Township one-room-schoolhouse. Lovingly restored by Mr. Mottice over the years, it joins a log cabin, a carpenter shop, a blacksmith forge and several other buildings. The conference will be held at 2 sites: downtown at the Kingsley-Jenter House, home to the museum, and at the Mottice farm, just outside of town on Scio-Church Road. The president of MORSA will welcome guests at the coffee hour and introduce the guest speaker. A tour of the Mottice farm, lunch and the awarding of the Tom Johnson “Schoolhouse of the Year Award” will follow. The audience will have time to share their interest in one-room schools and what brings them to the conference. This networking is a crucial part of the conference. Please check back periodically right here on the CONFERENCE tab on this website for more information and a registration form when available.
M I S S I O N S T A T E M E N T
FOSTER
Foster a deeper understanding and appreciation for the one-room schoolhouses in Michigan.
ENCOURAGE
Encourage and stimulate the collection, preservation, and interpretation of Michigan's one-room school houses through conferences, newsletters, awards, consulting services, resources, and related historical activities.
INVENTORY
Coordinate an inventory of all one-room school houses in Michigan through correspondence, survey forms, photography, and research.
COORDINATE
Coordinate and further the programs of other historical societies and historians as they relate to one-room schoolhouses and act as a state-wide communication network.
COOPERATE
Cooperate with appropriate individuals, organizations, and institutions on the local, regional, and state level in projects and activities which will promote and sustain interest in the history of one-room schoolhouses.
Larry Schlack, Former President of MORSA
In 1993 the Michigan One-Room Schoolhouse Association (MORSA) was founded at Eastern Michigan University (EMU) in Ypsilanti. The founding was a joint effort of the Historical Society of Michigan and the College of Education at EMU. The organization does not promote a return to one-room schooling, but it rather seeks to foster understanding of and appreciation for Michigan's remaining one-room schools and the important role that they played in the history of education in Michigan. A further purpose of MORSA is to stimulate and encourage the preservation and interpretation of Michigan's one-room schoolhouses through conferences, newsletters, awards, consulting services, and related historical activities. An annual conference is held each year at which sessions on restoring schools, researching history of buildings, and acquiring furniture and artifacts for restored schools are attended by participants from all over the state. At a popular session titled simply "Stories and Reminiscences," those who attended or taught in a country school tell tales of what it really was like. The annual conference is held at a different location each year and always features a restored schoolhouse. A major activity of MORSA is the ongoing statewide survey of one-room schoolhouses. A county-by-county directory is in preparation detailing location, condition, and current use of buildings. The survey is housed at the Grand Rapids Public Library. Twice a year MORSA publishes the Slate, a newsletter devoted to items about restored schools and historical reminiscences about life in country schools. The association maintains a Web site at www.miorsa.org