1895 Salina, Kansas Eighth Grade Graduation Exam-Unproven!

Summary of eRumor:

The email lists questions from what it says is an exam required for eighth grade graduation in 1895 in Salina, Kansas.  It is described as an example of how much more educated an eighth grader was a hundred years ago than today.

The Truth:

TruthOrFiction.com has listed this eRumor as unproven, even though there is a source for it and we have obtained an actual copy of the exam.  There has not been sufficient proof given, in our view, that the exam is what is claimed.

Rather than being for eighth graders, there are several aspects of the exam that raise the question as to whether it was intended for adults, perhaps newly graduated teachers or teacher applicants.

The eRumor says the exam is from the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society in Salina, Kansas, and was published in the Salina Journal newspaper.  That is true. Shirley Tower, the volunteer librarian for the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society, found the exam and posted it on their website in 1996 and the Salina Journal’s article appeared the same year.  The exam started circulating on the Internet and became the subject of numerous newspaper articles including in the Washington Post and the Boston Globe.

There is no reason to doubt the authenticity of the exam, but there are questions about for whom it was intended (If the graphics are difficult to read, place your pointing device arrow over the graphic for details).

First, the original exam doesn’t mention the eighth grade.  Here is an actual photograph of the title of the document:

Title portion of examination

Second, the document describes itself as being administered orally and for “applicants.”  Unless eight graders were described as “applicants,” it makes one wonder if the exam was actually for newly graduated teachers:

The examination will be oral, and the Penmanship of Applicants will be graded from the manuscripts.

Third, some of the questions don’t seem to be oriented toward students, but rather toward a teacher or a teacher applicant, for example:



How many of us could graduate from 8th grade?

Remember when our grandparents, great-grandparents, and such stated that they only had an 8th grade education?   Well, check this out. Could any of us have passed the 8th grade in 1895? This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 Salina, KS. USA. It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina, KS and reprinted by the Salina Journal. 8th Grade Final Exam: Salina, KS -1895

Grammar (Time, one hour)

1. Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.


3. Define Verse, Stanza and Paragraph.


5. Define Case, Illustrate each Case.




Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)

1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.


3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50 cts.bushel, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?









U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)



3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.

4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.

5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.



8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607 1620 1800 1849 1865.


Orthography (Time, one hour)


2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?

3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?

4. Give four substitutes for caret ‘u.’


under each rule.


7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: Bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound:Card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.




Geography (Time, one hour)

1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?



4. Describe the mountains of North America.








*****Gives the saying of an early 20th century person that “she/he only had an 8th grade education” a whole new meaning.