Nick Kramis Interview, circa 1978

Nick Kramis describes his early life and education in the Charlos Heights School, a one-room school in the Bitterroot Valley, Montana, during the early 1910s. He recounts the struggles of being a second-generation immigrant from Switzerland with the tensions of World War One and many of the students assuming his family was German. Kramis recalls his teachers and how they managed to teach grades 1 through 8 in a single room while encouraging their students to learn and bringing them up to Montana state education standards. He discusses the homestead he and his family lived on in the Charlos Heights area as well as the technological advancements of the day, such as radios. Kramis recalls the families living in the area during the early 1900s and the community events in which they participated.