Buzz
Despite the name, most blackboards aren't actually black. The term 'blackboard' is often used interchangeably with 'chalkboard,' but it's more common for these boards to be green. So, why is there this discrepancy? Why is a green board still called a blackboard?
Two centuries ago, blackboards were indeed black. According to author Lewis Buzbee’s Blackboard: A Personal History of the Classroom, large slate boards used by teachers to write for the whole class emerged in the early 1800s, and the term 'blackboard' was coined in 1815. Early versions were made from slate, or in rural regions, wooden boards painted dark using a mixture of egg whites and charred potatoes. Later, they were made from wood darkened with porcelain-based ink. They truly were black, just as their name suggested.
This affordable and widespread technology revolutionized education. By the mid-1800s, even remote schools had adopted blackboards.
As an 1841 teaching manual, The Blackboard in the Primary School, stated: 'The inventor or introducer of the black-board system deserves to be regarded as one of the greatest contributors to learning and science, if not among the greatest benefactors of mankind.'
In the 20th century, blackboards underwent a subtle change, though their purpose remained the same. In the 1930s, manufacturers began producing chalkboards with a green porcelain enamel on a steel base. By the 1960s, the trend of green chalkboards was in full swing. Teachers discovered that this new paint color was easier on the eyes, as it reduced glare. As a result, many blackboards were gradually replaced by their green counterparts. (Though the name 'greenboard' never quite caught on, 'blackboard' remained.)
Today, many students might not even recognize a blackboard or 'greenboard.' In the 1990s, schools transitioned to whiteboards, which created less dust and eliminated the screeching sound of chalk on the board. According to The Atlantic, by the turn of the millennium, whiteboards were outselling chalkboards by a 4-to-1 ratio.
However, blackboards still make occasional appearances in classrooms—sometimes as decoration. In 2015, during a renovation of an Oklahoma school to install smart whiteboards, construction workers uncovered two old slate blackboards that had been left behind, still marked with drawings nearly 100 years old.
