Howard R. Barnard, born in New York City on Sept. 14, 1863, came west at the age of 20, worked in a sugar mill and herded cattle in Rush County before becoming an educator. In 1906 he established Entre Nous "College" in northwest Rush County, building a 2-story building, hiring teachers, and providing school buses with funds from a sizable inheritance he received from the east. The school was one of the first to offer visual education, free transportation, and physical training, but by 1913 his funds were depleted and it closed. Barnard taught in the public schools of Rush County, often going hungry to buy more books, and in 1923 became librarian in the LaCrosse Rural High School. At his death on Dec. 9, 1948, he left his large collection of books to "the school children of Rush County." His life story appeared in numerous national publications, and he was regarded as one of the great educators in the history of America's small schools.