Charlotte Caldwell, author of 'Visions and Voices'

It began with a dilapidated schoolhouse that Charlotte Caldwell and her husband could see from their window. Then came a neighbor's story about riding her horse, bareback, to a one-room school, which was followed by months of phone calls, emails, research and a series of trips that added 12,000 miles to the family car. Locating one-room schoolhouses in each of Montana's 56 counties, and finding people who attended or taught in them, took a tremendous amount of time and energy. But Caldwell believes Visions and Voices: Montana's One-Room Schoolhouses, the book of photographs and stories she produced, was worth all the effort she put into it.

Why? Because she believes that one-room schoolhouses are important. They hold the stories of our culture, from the arrival of the first non-native families to present-day students who use technology to overcome their isolation. Caldwell's dedication to saving these buildings and stories includes giving 100% of profits to preservation efforts.

Hear Charlotte Caldwell talk about and read from Visions and Voices during this week's program, on the radio or online.

• Thursday, February 7 at 7:30 p.m. on Montana Public Radio
• Thursday, February 7 at 6:30 p.m. on Yellowstone Public Radio
• Sunday, February 10 at 6 p.m. on Spokane Public Radio
• On demand audio
• MTPR podcast