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1912 eighth grade exam: Could you make it to high school in 1912?

Snapshot via bullittcountyhistory.com
A picture of the top of the 1912 eighth-grade exam shows the spelling words teachers would quiz their students on. Notice the word endeavor is misspelled "eneeavor."

A 1912 eighth-grade exam was donated to a museum in Bullitt County, Ky.

The Bullitt County Genealogical Society put a scanned copy of the 1912 eighth-grade exam on its website today. 

This exam was called the "Common Exam" in 1912 and was "apparently a big deal," according to the Society's description of the scanned document. Students in Bullitt County would come to the county courthouse once or twice a year to take the exam. 

For passing the exam, students could be given scholarships to attend high school ("which was also a big deal back then," the site says).

The exam consists of 56 questions, a 40-word spelling test, and mentions a separate reading and writing test. 

The test quizzed students on mathematics, grammar, geography, physiology, civil government, and history. 

Try your hand at some of the questions. Would you have made it into high school in 1912?

  • By Andrew Averill Correspondent

1. On a map of mountain ranges, locate the Alps

The eighth-graders taking this test also had to locate five mountain ranges – "Blue Ridge, Himalaya, Andes, Alps, Wasatch." Can you locate those ranges on a world map? Find the Alps.

Wikipedia Commons

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