The Bess Britton Michigan One-Room Schoolhouse Collection consists of 20 notebooks of history concerning nearly 600 of Michigan's historic one-room schoolhouses. The collection was donated by Mrs. Bess Britton of rural Decatur Township, Van Buren County, and is housed in the Van Buren District Library's Local History Room.
Over a ten-year period, Mrs. Britton has compiled clippings, photos, report cards, narratives, class lists, and more on any one-room schoolhouse in the State of Michigan. She has carefully organized and enclosed them in archival sheet protectors and arranged them by name of school. An index can be found at the Van Buren Webroots website.
During her research, she wrote dozens of letters and made a multitude of telephone calls in the pursuit of more history. This hobby turned into a mission which has turned out one of the most unique collections of one-room schoolhouse history in the country.
Bess Cook Britton and her husband, Edgar, live on the Cook Centennial Farm in southeast Decatur Township. She is a member of the Michigan One-Room Schoolhouse Association, the Van Buren Regional Genealogical Society, the Van Buren County Historical Society, and is an active volunteer for the Van Buren District Library, collecting, clipping, and alphabetizing obituaries.
Mrs. Britton made a donation of the entire collection to the Van Buren District Library in January 2000. The library is indeed proud to feature it as part of its regional Local History Collection and pledges to continue adding to the collection's growth. Items will be added as received on an on-going basis. Anyone interested in donating items (originals or copies) may contact Toni I. Benson, local history librarian, at (269) 423-4771 or via e-mail at tbenson@vbdl.org
The Collection may be viewed anytime during the Library's regular business hours. It is non-circulating and all items must be viewed in the Local History Room, but photocopying is permitted and encouraged.