Projects
The Rosenwald School Initiative
In 1917, Julius Rosenwald, President of Sears, Roebuck and Company, initiated a school building program that was to have a dramatic impact on the face of the rural South and in the lives of its African-American residents. Through the Julius Rosenwald Foundation, more than 5300 schools, shop buildings and teachers houses were built by, and for, African-Americans across the South and Southwest until the program was discontinued in 1932. The Rosenwald School program has been called the “most influential philanthropic force that came to the aid of Negroes at that time.” In all, the Rosenwald Foundation contributed more than $4.3 million to construct schools across the regions, and more than $4.7 million was raised by African Americans to build the schools.
Today many of these Rosenwald schools are gone, victims of changing times and communities. However, interest in the history of the schools and the preservation of the surviving structures has been growing throughout the region, fueled largely by former students and teachers. In 2001, the state of Mississippi included Rosenwald Schools on its 10 Most Endangered Historic Places list. The state of Alabama initiated a survey of remaining schools and developed a traveling exhibit to help educate the public about the schools’ history. In North Carolina, where more than 800 Rosenwald Schools were built, local groups have been actively pursuing preservation. In both North Carolina and Arkansas, the state historic preservation offices have put out calls for volunteers to assist in statewide surveys of Rosenwald Schools. Walnut Cove Colored School in Stokes County, North Carolina won a National Preservation Honor Award for its rehabilitation of a Rosenwald School for a senior citizens community center.
Interest is growing and the Rosenwald school buildings are proving to be viable for a variety of new uses. However, the obstacles to preservation are great. A majority of the schools have been abandoned, and most are located in rural areas lacking sufficient funds for upkeep or restoration. The number and condition of the modest structures that survive is unknown. To heighten awareness of the threats to these important historic resources, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named Rosenwald Schools to its list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in 2002. “The Rosenwald schools tell an extraordinary story of generosity,” declared Trust President, Richard Moe. “In a time of great racial inequity, Julius Rosenwald worked with communities across the South and Southwest to improve educational opportunities for African-Americans. We can’t risk losing the tangible reminders of this great collaboration.”
While some success in preserving Rosenwald schools has been achieved in communities across the regions, a unified effort is necessary to share resources toward the end of documenting and preserving these vanishing resources. The National Trust for Historic Preservation formed the Rosenwald Schools Initiative, calling together a task force of men and women with personal and professional expertise to devise a plan for the preservation of Rosenwald schools across the regions. That plan includes forming a national network of Rosenwald School preservation activists, and developing the tools—educational materials, networking and educational opportunities, and funding sources—for those activists to use in order to be successful.
From: The Rosenwald School Initiative http://www.rosenwaldschools.com/#Purpose
Students who attended the Rosenwald School in Neeses later became graduates of Claflin University. Today, the program of African and African American Studies at Claflin University is collecting the oral histories of former students, teachers and community residents who remember the Rosenwald School in their community.
