School children on a field trip to the Sholes School Museum in Leroy Oakes Forest Preserve, St. Charles, IL.
Memorizing information was one of the tools teachers used to teach young students of the 19th and early 20th century. Short poems, called “memory gems,” were commonly used by teachers in one-room schoolhouses, such as the 1872 Sholes School, to teach lessons on subjects like literature, while also instilling social and moral values, healthy practices, and an appreciation for the natural world. The schoolteacher was expected not only to teach the “3 Rs” but also to impart lessons about life according to strict social norms.
Several collections of memory gems were written at the turn of the century for use by teachers and mothers. Preservation Partners of the Fox Valley has an original copy of one of them, Memory Gems for Children: Based on Nature and Ethics, written by Jessie Carr Tyndall in 1912.[1] Volunteer teachers at the Sholes School Museum write a memory gem on the chalkboard for visitors to learn, as schoolteachers would have done over 100 years ago.
Tyndall’s memory gems were intended to teach students about the beauty of the natural world and proper behavior in society. “Mothers,” Tyndall wrote, “you are in a great measure, responsible for the lifetime happiness of your children.” For the teacher, she continued, “It should be your duty and pleasure to assist the home mother in her loving work of filling the minds of the little ones, with a few of these beautiful selections.” “If you accomplish this,” Tyndall concluded, “your work has been nobly done.”
Below are a few of our favorite memory gems from Tyndall’s book:
If a task is once begun,
Never leave it till it’s done.
Be the labor great or small,
Do it well or not at all.
Kind hearts are the garden.
Kind thoughts are the roots.
Kind words are the flowers.
Kind deeds are the fruits.
Whenever I fly,
From my own dear nest,
I always come back,
For home is the best.
Lovely are you goldenrod,
I will try, like you,
To fill each day with deeds of cheer.
Be loving, kind and true.
Little children, you should seek,
Rather to be good than wise,
For the thoughts you do not speak,
Shine out in your cheeks and eyes.
If at first you don’t succeed,
Try, try again.
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[1] Jessie Carr Tyndall, Memory Gems for Children: Based on Nature and Ethics (Springfield, MA: Milton Bradley Company, 1912). See an online copy at https://archive.org/details/memorygemsforchi00tyndrich/mode/2up.