By Valerie Strauss

An 1895 test from Saline County, Kansas, has been the subject of numerous articles and blog posts over more than a decade, discussing its authenticity and the student cohort for which it was written. A copy of the original test resides in the Smoky Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina, Kansas.

The exam itself does not say it is an eighth-grade graduation test but the society says that it was, and that the names of students who took it are also stored there. It says that some of their descendants still live in Kansas, and that it received the test from descendants of 1930s Saline County school Superintendent J.W. Armstrong. It also notes that seventh graders were allowed to take the test and then retake it the next year if they failed.

[Ben Carson says Americans in the 1830s were better educated than today. He’s wrong.]

The test was first published in the 1990s by the Salina Journal. The Smoky Valley Genealogical Society and Library has this note on its website about the exam:

Due to the continuous questions, emails, phone calls, and letters, Smoky Valley Genealogical Society had decided to place a copy of the 1895 8th Grade Exam on our website. Our society DOES NOT have the answers to the exam, but we provide a link below to another site which does provide answers.

Many people forget that Kansas is an agricultural state. 8th grade was as far as many children went in school at that time. It was unusual for children to attend either a high school or a normal school because they were needed on the family farms. The names of the children who took the exam and their scores are on file in the Saline County Courthouse. Due to privacy concerns, SVGS has chosen not to publish them. Many descendants of those who took the exam still live in the Saline County area. The descendants of the school superintendent, J.W. Armstrong, were the ones who gave us our copy of the exam.

Times have changed, children have changed, and our world has changed. This test was not put on our website to create controversy. Rather it was put on because it gives us a glimpse back in history at that time. There are other exams in other counties that have been published. Our test seems to have created more interest because it’s easily accessible via the internet.

In any case, here’s the test:

April 13, 1895

J.W. Armstrong, County Superintendent.

Examinations at Salina, New Cambria, Gypsum City, Assaria, Falun, Bavaria, and District No. 74 (in Glendale Twp.)

Reading and Penmanship. – The Examination will be oral, and the Penmanship of Applicants will be graded from the manuscripts.

************************

GRAMMAR

(Time, one hour)

1. Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.

2. Name the Parts of Speech and define those that have no modifications.

3. Define Verse, Stanza and Paragraph.

4. What are the Principal Parts of a verb? Give Principal Parts of do, lie, lay and run.

5. Define Case. Illustrate each case.

6. What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of Punctuation.

7-10 Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

************************

ARITHMETIC

(Time, 1 ¼ hour)

1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.

2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?

3. If a load of wheat weights 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50 cts. Per bu., deducting 1050 lbs for tare?

4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?

5. Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.

6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 per cent.

7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 per m?

8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 per cent.

9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance around which is 640 rods?

10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.

*************************************

U.S. HISTORY

(Time, 45 minutes)

1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.

2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.

3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.

4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.

5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.

6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.

7. Who were the following: Morse, Whtney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?

8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, and 1865.

*******************************************

ORTHOGRAPHY

(Time, one hour)

1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic orthogaphy, etymology, syllabication?

2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?

3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?

4. Give four substitutes for caret ãuä.

5. Give two rules for spelling words with final ãeä. Name two exceptions under each rule.

6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.

7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: Bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, super.

8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: Card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.

9. Use the following correctly in sentences: Cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.

10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

*****************************************

GEOGRAPHY

(Time, one hour)

1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?

2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?

3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?

4. Describe the mountains of N.A.

5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall, and Orinoco.

6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.

7. Name all the republics of Europe and give capital of each.

8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?

9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.

10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give inclination of the earth.

*****************************************

PHYSIOLOGY

(Time, 45 minutes)

1. Where are the saliva, gastric juice, and bile secreted? What is the use of each in digestion?

2. How does nutrition reach the circulation?

3. What is the function of the liver? Of the kidneys?

4. How would you stop the flow of blood from an artery in the case of laceration?

5. Give some general directions that you think would be beneficial to preserve the human body in a state of health.

washingtonpost.com