LOCAL AUTHOR DEBUTS HER NEW BOOK
HONORING HURON COUNTY’S ONE-ROOM SCHOOLS

Local author Janis Stein pays tribute to Huron County, Michigan’s one-room schoolhouses in her new book, Schools of Yesteryear, Volume I, featuring the country schools of Sand Beach & Sherman Townships in Huron County, Michigan.

In the early 1900s, over 100 country schoolhouses dotted the landscape in Huron County, Michigan. Schools of Yesteryear delves into the histories of 15 one-room schoolhouses in Sand Beach and Sherman Townships in Huron County. Through ancient school board minutes and ledger books, along with the input and photographs from over 150 former schoolhouse students, teachers and school board members, these one-room schoolhouses once again come alive.

Take a stroll back in time to the days when one teacher taught all grades within the same schoolroom, and the schoolhouse was the focal point of the community. From baking potatoes for lunch on the potbellied stove and anxious children performing their skit in the annual Christmas program to learning the three Rs and all students drinking out of the same long-handled dipper, Schools of Yesteryear takes a nostalgic look at life in the one-room schoolhouse.

This 216-page, hardcover keepsake makes the perfect coffee table book and contains over 400 photographs and in-depth written histories, preserving those schoolhouse memories of old. Ms. Stein’s book has earned endorsements from the Huron County Historical Society, the White Rock Schoolhouse Museum, The Lakeshore Guardian and the Michigan One-Room Schoolhouse Association.

“We not only commend Janis Stein but also thank her for researching and preserving the history of one-room schools in Huron County before the fog of history blots out all knowledge of them,” says William Winglar, president of the Michigan One-Room Schoolhouse Association. The Huron County Historical Society also recognizes Stein’s dedication to preserving the past. “Janis Stein’s excellent research records the struggles and triumphs of the early education system at the turn of the 20th century. The Huron County Historical Society is excited to place Stein’s schoolhouse book among our collection. Though Huron County, Michigan, celebrates its sesquicentennial in 2009, the county is still home to seven rural schools.”

Janis Stein was born and raised in Huron County, Michigan. Ms. Stein is a freelance writer and the Assistant Editor of The Lakeshore Guardian. She also owns Stein Expressions, LLC, a Michigan company dedicated to writing memoirs and preserving history, one story at a time.

Janis Stein has written articles, book reviews and stories for many Michigan publications, including The Minden City Herald, The Lakeshore Guardian, The Great Lakes Mariners, The Deckerville Recorder, The Huron Daily Tribune, TriCity Magazine and Huron Shore Magazine. Janis Stein’s in-depth articles celebrating Michigan’s history and the people who made it have earned her a readership yearning for more. In 2007, Ms. Stein was a featured speaker at Huron City Museums’ Pioneer Day, where she shared her knowledge about one-room schoolhouses.

Ms. Stein and her husband, David, along with their daughters, enjoy the tranquility of country life in Michigan’s Huron County.

If you would like more information about this book, or if you would like to schedule an interview with the author, please call Janis Stein at 989-864-5528, or e-mail Janis at books@steinexpressions.com. To purchase a book by mail, send a check for $29.99 plus $5 for shipping ($34.99) to: Stein Expressions, LLC, 5062 Edwards Rd., Harbor Beach, MI 48441. Please include your mailing address.

If you would like to meet Janis Stein in person, she will have books available for sale at the following dated events: August 30, Port Austin Farmers Market; September 6-7, Octagon Barn’s Fall Family Days; September 13, Harbor Beach Harvest Festival; September 20, Deckerville Oktoberfest; Tuesday, September 23, 6-8 p.m., Bad Axe Area District Library; and September 27, Michigan State Historical Conference in Grand Rapids.