Between a nationwide financial crisis, a world war, racial and social injustices, and segregation, life was very different in the early part of the 20th century. All of these changes, whether directly or indirectly, affected the educational system, making schools of the past completely different than what we’re used to today. From one-room schoolhouses to class portraits of yesteryear, these photos depict just how much Mississippi schools have changed over the years.

1. The 1909 graduating class of Gloster High School poses for a photo.

At this time, the average school year in Mississippi was 114 days.

2. The Gloster High School football team in 1945.

In the 1940s, "2-platoon football" was a common version of the popular sport, which required only 11 players a team.

3. Taken in 1939, this photo shows the interior of the school on Mileston Plantation in the Delta.

Because many of the students worked picking cotton, school began very late in the year and had low attendance until December.

4. Another plantation schoolhouse in the Delta, circa 1937.

This same year, the Farm Security Administration was established and began widespread assistance efforts to African American farmers, making it possible for them to purchase farms.

5. This community building at the Delta cooperative farm Hillhouse houses the school in addition to the library, clinic, and meeting rooms, circa 1937.

The first cooperative farm was established in Bolivar County in 1936. Cooperative farms, which would eventually belong to the workers, allowed farmers to share in the profits and produce of the farm in relation to their labor.

6. Teacher Ida Boyd poses with her class in 1915 at Hancock County’s Dead Tiger School.

The students in this photo are still trying to be identified. Recognize anyone? Click

here.

7. Students utilize the library at Tupelo’s Lee County Training School in 1936.

That same year, the school was partially damaged by a tornado.

8. This picture of St. Paul’s Parochial School was taken in 1916.

A majority of children didn’t attend school during the day because they had to work. Several children would only come to the school for one hour at night for religious instruction.

9. The 1911 class of a private school in Winona.

For several years, the school was run by Miss McIntosh, who charged students one dollar a month. Students' ages ranged from six to ten, with many heading to work at the nearby cotton mills by the age of 12.

10. Taken in 1956, this is the interior of Wilson Elementary School in Clay County.

Although taken several years after desegregation began, many schools remained segregated well into the 1960s.

11. Taken in May of 1936, a group of student aid recipients at the Lee County Training School pose for a photo.

The school was backed by the National Youth Administration - an agency that sought to provide work and educational opportunities for young Americans.

Have your own story about school in Mississippi during this time? We want to hear it! Tell us in the comments section below.