Dirt, Soil, and Schools: Patterns of Land Ownership and Schooling

Abstract

Communities and societies organize schools as a means of defining and perpetuating themselves, of shaping the future from images of the present and past. This shaping process unfolds within such social contexts as economic systems, political climates, and a milieu of various religious conventions. It also unfolds within the physical context of the land, its features and qualities. Such has been the case in the small, southern community of Centerville. Rich soil blankets part of the town; a depleted, thin topsoil covers the rest. Similarly, some town residents have benefitted from rich educational opportunities, while others have found their schooling wanting. No school presently exists on Centerville land. The town's youth ride buses to schools in neighboring communities where they tend to experience a clash of cultures with the White, middleand upper-middle-class children of white-collar professionals. When they reach adolescence, many of Centerville's poorer students drop out of school, an action that makes it even harder for them to break the grip of poverty. Ironically, Centerville once supported several schools and was formerly widely regarded as a beacon of quality education (Green, 1973). This article attempts to explain how land conditions and local land ownership patterns have contributed to Centerville's dramatic educational transformation. I have drawn extensively from several sources for this research: newspaper clippings; minutes of town council meetings; geological, soil, tax, and zoning maps of the community; my own observations of the local terrain, its quality, and current uses; and interviews with several town residents. One particular resident, Sam Ward, a man in his early eighties who is regarded by many as the town's soil, land, and tax expert as well as its unofficial historian, granted me extensive interviews. Mr. Ward wields considerable power in Centerville. He owns much of the town's land,