This collection of essays presents narratives describing the role of classroom teachers in the development of public education in 20th century United States. Following a preface, the book is organized into four parts. The first part, Women's Work, includes "Having a Purpose in Life: Western Women Teachers in the Twentieth Century" (Courtney Ann Vaughn-Roberson); "The Intersection of Home and Work: Rural Vermont Schoolteachers, 1915-1950 (Margaret K. Nelson); and "Becoming the 'New Women': The Equal Rights Campaigns of New York City Schoolteachers, 1900-1920" (Patricia Carter). The second part, Teachers and Their Communities, contains "African-American Teachers in Buffalo: The First One Hundred Years" (Phyllis McGruder Chase); "Female Schoolteachers as Community Builders" (Margaret K. Nelson); "Religious Discrimination, Political Revenge, and Teacher Tenure" (Joseph W. Newman); and "One Who Left and One Who Stayed: Teacher Recollections and Reflections of School Desegregation in New Orleans" (Alan Wieder). Part three, Professionals or Workers? consists of: "The Social Status of Women Teachers in the Early Twentieth Century" (Patricia Carter); "The Complex Vision of Female Teachers and the Failure of Unionization in the 1930s: An Oral History" (Richard A. Quantz); and "Teachers and the Workplace" (Richard J. Altenbaugh). The final section, Conclusions, consists of "Interpretive Method in Historical Research: Ethnohistory Reconsidered" (Richard A. Quantz); and "The History of Teaching: A Social History of Schooling" (Richard J. Altenbaugh). (LL)