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Forgotten Lessons from the Rosenwald Schools
Why an early 1900s education program for Southern Blacks matters today
Most Americans learned about Reconstruction after the Civil War, and many are familiar with former slave/educator Booker T. Washington. But few people are aware of the unique partnership between Washington, a Black man, and Julius Rosenwald, a white man, resulting in the construction of close to 5,000 “Rosenwald Schools” between 1912 and 1932. It’s a story that has profound lessons for modern day race relations in the United States.
Schooling Blacks in the Segregated South
An 1896 Supreme Court decision paved the way for segregation in America, endorsing the concept of “separate but equal” in public facilities, including schools. Southern states employed the ruling to build separate schools for whites and African Americans, but the schools were far from equal; most schools built for Blacks were inferior and some rural Southern counties didn’t build any at all.
As principal of Tuskegee Institute, Booker T. Washington was determined to provide quality schooling for Blacks in rural areas of the South. He wanted to build schools, but he recognized the importance of community involvement by both Black and white citizens. His idea was to facilitate Blacks…
