Don’t Be Unseemly, Ladies. Men, Court Away.

I had heard before about unbelievable rules for teachers back in the day.  But I hadn’t seen them till now. (There’s also this crazy report from 1913 of a teacher being punished for–wait for it–giving birth to her child.)  Sure enough, here the original rules from 1872.  Compare these two rules, for men and for women.

Men teachers may take one evening each week for courting purposes, or two evenings a week if they go to church regularly.

…

Women teachers who marry or engage in unseemly conduct will be dismissed.

Shout out to Open Culture for finding, sharing, and contextualizing.