Accidental findings

Researching for me this spring has meant searching, proving, more searching, disproving and then more searching. But the most exciting findings are the accidental tidbits I find as I'm looking up something else. For instance, in a phone conversation with a fellow collector of local stories, I gleaned information that will lead me in a completely different direction to find about the schools in North Carolina requiring eleven years for graduation at the time this schoolhouse first opened. The twelfth was added in 1944, near the end of World War II. He claimed it had nothing to do with the agrarian society that influenced the rest of the school rules and regulations. Instead it was in anticipation of the men returning from war and looking for jobs. Holding the teens back one more year would keep them out of the job market long enough to allow these soldiers time to find jobs. So much for expanding the quality of education! So I'm off to the library tomorrow to research this one interesting item. I'm anticipating hours of looking for one small detail. But then again, just think what accidental findings I might come across.