Wooden school desk from Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church and School

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

Wood and iron school desk, with the desk attached behind the seat. The chair seat is constructed of four (4) tightly fitted wooden boards. There appears to be a missing board at the front. The seat back consists of a single board and the top and three (3) closely fit boards in the center. The desk top is constructed of two (2) wooden boards of differing widths. It appears that additional board(s) are missing. The front board has a round hole for an inkwell on the right. To the left of the inkwell is a long groove that extends to the left edge, for holding a writing implement. The desk top and seat components are attached to two (2) iron side supports. The ironwork features a decorative motif featuring vines and gridded circles. At the bottom of each piece of ironwork is a circle containing a floral shape and the number [3].

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