Throwback Thursday: Rosenwald Schools
As Black History Month begins, Throwback Thursday is taking a look at some
southern Kentucky Black History stories. We begin with Rosenwald Schools, an
education plan devised by Booker T. Washington of the Tuskegee Institute and Julius
Rosenwald of Sears Roebuck fame. Around the turn of the 20th century, this all-
Black schools became the best option for African American education.
Most schools in the country remained segregated in the post-Civil War
Reconstruction era years and beyond. Black children didn’t always have the best
educational opportunities. Booker T. Washington was born a slave in Virginia but
went to grade school run by the Union Army in Alabama after the war. He was
inspired to continue his education and founded the school to teach other African
Americans to teach, the Tuskegee Institute.
His institution caught the eye of the white progressive President of Sears and Roebuck,
Julius Rosenwald. The two met in 1911 and Rosenwald started serving on the
Tuskegee Board of Directors. He started funding the construction of schools for Black
students all over the southern United States. These Rosenwald Schools were
considered the best educational opportunities for the African American community.
Rosenwald Schools had very specific construction plans based on community size, promoting the best health and education opportunities.
Schools were built using this funding from 1913 until around 1932. When the Supreme Court ruled
segregation in public schools was unconstitutional with the verdict of Brown vs. the
Topeka Board of Education in 1954, Rosenwald Schools became obsolete.
There were several Rosenwald Schools in the Southern Kentucky area, and some
have fallen into ruin, while others are in excellent condition and have been
maintained for other functions.
Rosenwald Schools were in at least 12 southern Kentucky communities: Rockfield, Auburn, Bristol, Russellville, Adairville, Oakville,
New Hope, Union, Lewisburg, Horse Cave, Munfordville, and Coney Fork.
That’s it for this week, brought to you by Hart County Tourism and the Kentucky
Museum. In Bowling Green, because local matters, Telia Butler, WNKY News 40.
