Icons of Our Heritage

While this is primarily a book of photographs, the text and captions communicate the roles that country churches, one-room schools, water powered mills and covered bridges played in the development of our nation.

Churches nurtured the spirits of our ancestors and kept them going in the face of adversity. The rural church, with its steeple or belfry, was more than a picturesque feature of the countryside; it was a vital part of American life. Churches established the moral tone of the community and brought communities together. Teachers in one-room schools, with limited tools and resources, educated the bulk of American students for over 150 years. With limited resources, these teachers provided young people with what they needed to earn a living and cope with life. Water powered mills ushered in the industrial revolution and once supplied a nation of isolated rural communities with the necessities of life. Covered bridges provided practical solutions to getting people, livestock, and products across streams and rivers and reflected the peoples' penchant for building things that last. Water powered mills and covered bridges made often forgotten, but significant, contributions to the economic and social development of our country. Reflecting on the contributions of those responsible for these institutions to the development of the nation helps develop a perspective of who Americans are, what they have accomplished, and what they can accomplish.

Larry Shirer earned a BBA from Ohio University and an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. He is deeply committed to learning and has been consistently involved in personal development through reading and classes in philosophy, morality, and spirituality. He has also taught part time at the university level. Since semi-retiring, Shirer has worked as a commercial real estate broker and has self-published four books. He has been actively involved in community service activities, including serving as Chairman of the United Way Board of Directors, Chairman of the Board of Directors of a local soup kitchen, Treasurer of a mental health board and mentoring junior high youth. Check out his website at www.larryspointstoponder.com