Anthology reconstructing the careers of 20th century teachers, emphasizing the parts played by crucial social, economic and political events and issues, the school organization and people who shaped the subjects' evolving perceptions of their roles as teachers in a particular community.

Having a purpose in life - western women teachers in the 20th century, Ann Vaughn-Roberson; the intersection of home and work - rural vermont schoolteacher, 1915-1950, Margaret K.Nelson; becoming the new women - the equal rights campaigns of New York city schoolteachers, 1900-1920, Patricia Carter; African-American teachers in Buffalo - the first 100 years, Phyllis Chase; female schoolteachers as community builders, Margaret K.Nelson; religious discrimination, political revenge and teacher tenure, Joseph W.Newman; one who left and one who stayed - teacher recollections and reflections of school desegregation in New Orleans, Alan Wieder; the social status of women teachers in the early 20th century, Patricia Carter; the complex vision of female teachers and the failure of unionization in the 1930s - an oral history, Richard A.Quantz; teachers and the workplace, Richard J.Altenbaugh; interpretive method in historical research - ethnohistory reconsidered, Richard A.Quantz; the history of teaching - a social history of schooling, Richard J.Altenbaugh.