Teachers were respected for their learning and usually took an active part in the community. Lucy Palmer, a schoolteacher in Malpeque from 1887 to 1890, writes very little about her life as a teacher, but shows how active her social life was. She was invited out constantly to parties, picnics, drives, quilting parties, walks, and neighbour’s houses for tea or supper. Her diary gives a lively picture of community life in Malpeque at the turn of the 19th century.