Kage School

For a majority of the nineteenth century, most residents of Southeast Missouri were involved in subsistence agriculture. Families tended to be large so that as soon as the children were old enough, they could work to help support the family. Education was not a priority in rural areas, but these parents still dreamt of the opportunity of education for their children, but it was often a dream that had to be sacrificed due to time, distance, and funds.  

However, a slight change in the attitudes towards and realities of public education began in the mid-1800s and gradually built momentum throughout the rest of the century. Several Cape Girardeau County pioneers believed in the results of education and therefore set their minds to building and maintaining public schools for the children of their rural community. In the case of the Kage School, these pioneers within the community were Benjamin Miller and Christian Kage. Benjamin Miller assumed the greatest responsibility for financially supporting the school in the beginning, and he served as the first chairman of the school board. Christian Kage granted a portion of his farmland to the school board in order to provide land on which the school would be built.  

The way in which the Kage School was created was quite common throughout frontier Missouri. A subscription system was used to provide money to build the school and buy supplies with the monies donated by parents within the district. Parents interested in having their children attend the school would donate money, time, or materials. An annual fee was paid by the parents for each child attending the school. After the school was in operation, they were responsible for paying the teacher’s salary. John D. Cook, the first teacher of Kage School, had one-half of his salary paid for by the parents of his students; the other half of his salary was paid for by the school board. Subscription schools such as this were generally only conducted for three of four months during the winter and many of the teachers employed had little education themselves beyond the elementary level. Teachers in rural school districts had high turnover rates - most simply left with the desire to obtain a better-paying job.  

In the late 1840s, a massive influx of German immigrants arrived in Missouri, especially in the Cape Girardeau County area. Displaced veterans of the Mexican War and refugees from revolutionary Germany came to start new lives. The new population within the state changed Missouri, bringing in demand for more progressive movements in education, many of which would not be accomplished until after the Civil War. 

In addition to Kage School, records show that District 52, the school district for the area, also operated an African American school from 1882 to 1884, and it was located less than a mile away from the Kage School. Possibly due to the high existence of running and maintain two schools and low attendance, the African American school was not in operation for very long. Records from the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries show that Black children attended Kage School alongside white children. Kage School served many different types of students. In contrast to the eighteenth century, young girls found their place within the classroom and attended school as frequently as boys in the nineteenth century. Although most of the students at Kage were white, there were always several students of African American heritage that attended the school throughout its years of operation. 

Although in 1870 a minimum age of six was set to allow children to attend school, it is probable that before this time many four- and five-year olds were sent to the Kage School. The school was seen as an appropriate, safe environment for children and older siblings were often put in charge of their younger brothers and sisters. It was also very common for students to continue their education until the age of nineteen. Great varieties of economic levels also existed within the student population. Most came from farming families, but in addition to them were children who were destitute, homeless, or orphans.  

Kage School, National Register of Historic Places. Accessed December 16th 2020. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63818521.

Kage School, Wikipedia. Accessed January 21st 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kage_School.