A community with a Rosenwald school meant children segregated from government-funded education could finally have a school house that wasn't located in a church, a barn, or someone’s home. Now the race is on to preserve the schools that still stand.
Between 1917 and 1932, Julius Rosenwald, once president of Sears Roebuck and Co., began building schools for Black students in the south.
Rosenwald was a German-Jewish immigrant. He understood that a community with a Rosenwald school meant children segregated from government-funded education could finally have a school house that wasn't located in a church, a barn, or someone’s home.
Retired Judge Ralph James once attended a Rosenwald school. He says it's his life’s mission to see the building where he received an education restored.
"It's a building with rich history beginning back in 1925 when it was actually constructed. And since then, the building served its purpose for almost 30 years and closed in 1954," James says.
In Gifford, South Carolina, Minister Charlie Grant is also working to preserve the heritage of the Rosenwald Schools.
"These schools were very important in the community as far as the culture is concerned," Grant says. "Helping to bring about activities in a segregated, during a segregated time, where the Black community could actually come together and fellowship with one another. And feel safe. It was a safe place for them."
There were once nearly 5,000 Rosenwald Schools, built to serve more than 700,000 Black children across the South. According to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, about 500 of the buildings survive today.
"Out of the four schools that were built in Hampton County, this was the first one that was built," Grant says of one school. "It is the only one still standing in the county. And we would love to see the school fully restored and so that it can be some type of community service to the community."
Rosenwald Schools have been credited with transforming education for Black students. Notable alumni of Rosenwald Schools include Maya Angelou, civil rights leader Medgar Evers and Congressman John Lewis.
