1912 Eighth Grade Exam Discovered: Take Exam Here

Rare 8th Grade Test from 1912 Discovered in Kentucky

Would you be adept enough to pass an 8th grade examination from 1912? Museum staff at The Bullitt County Genealogical Society, located in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, stumbled upon a rare relic of the past: an eighth grade exam over one hundred years old.

The bygone test covers varying subjects, which include: spelling, reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar, geography, physiology, civil government, and history.

The exam questions, which are quite challenging compared to today’s standards, would be predicated upon what a middle school aged student should know in the early 19th century. Some questions appear to be quite benign, such as: “How many parts of speech are there? Define each.” Others, more difficult: “Write in words the following: .5764; .000003; .123416; 653.0965; 43.37.”

Also interesting is a question that directs the student to “Sketch briefly Sir Walter Rawleigh, Peter Stuyvesant.” For those that may not remember their history lessons, Sir Walter Raleigh was instrumental in the failed colonization of Roanoke Island, and Peter Stuyvesant was a primary player in the development of early New York City history. It was not uncommon for American schools in the early 1900’s to teach students how to draw or sketch as part of offered curriculum. Whether the students lost credit for poor sketching skills of these important figures in American history remains to be discovered.

David Strange, an executive director at the museum, told The Huffington Post the exam was actually given to the museum last year. However, the 101-year-old test started gaining popularity again when it was picked up by ABC News this weekend and went viral.

“It is funny for us,” Strange told HuffPost. “We are just a rural county. Our website is used to getting a couple hundred hits but we [recently] got 200,000 [hits]. We’ve had it on the web for about a year or so.”

“It’s quite a challenging test,” Strange said. “I do try to remind everyone it’s a 1912 test and you need to place yourself in that mindset sometimes. I remember having a similar question [as is on the test] when I was in school. I wouldn’t want to take it again.”

Think you have what it takes to pass the 8th grade? Take a shot at these final exam questions:

How long of a rope is required to reach from the top of a building 40 feet high to the ground 30 feet from the base of a building?
What is a personal pronoun?
Through which waters would a vessel pass in going from England through the Suez Canal to Manila?
Compare arteries and veins as to function. Where is the blood carried to be purified?
During which wars were the following battles fought: Brandywine, Great Meadows, Lundy’s Lane, Antietam, Buena Vista?
Sketch briefly Sir Walter Raleigh, Peter Stuyvesant.

Here is the entire 1912 Eighth Grade Exam:

Click here for the answers

On The Web:
1912 Eighth Grade Examination for Bullitt County Schools
http://bullittcountyhistory.org/bullitthistory/bchistory/schoolexam1912.html

1912 Eighth Grade Examination for Bullitt County Schools – Answers
http://www.bullittcountyhistory.com/bchistory/schoolexam1912ans.html

1912 Eighth-Grade Exam Stumps 21st-Century Test-Takers
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/12/1912-eighth-grade-exam_n_3744163.html

Walter Raleigh
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Raleigh

Peter Stuyvesant
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Stuyvesant

American Elementary Schools in the early 1900s
http://library.thinkquest.org/J002606/early1900s.html