Rosenwald School Legacy

Archives & History Center
8301 Parklane Rd
Columbia, SC 29223

Tele: (803) 896-6100
Fax: (803) 896-6167

Great Branch Teacherage in the Orangeburg Vicinity

In 1915, Sears and Roebuck President, Julius Rosenwald, established a matching grant fund in his name to construct better quality black schools throughout the South. Between 1917 and 1932, his Fund assisted in the construction of over 5,000 school buildings, forever changing the rural Southern landscape. Nearly 500 buildings were constructed in South Carolina. At a time when State support for educating African American children was woefully inadequate, Rosenwald Schools played a critical role in educating South Carolina’s children.

Though over one-third of black children in the South in the first half of the twentieth century passed through the doors of a Rosenwald school, today, many of these schools of hope have disappeared from the landscape. In South Carolina, many became victims of neglect and abandonment as a result of the School Equalization Program (or 3% sales tax program), started in 1951 under Governor James Byrnes, which consolidated rural black schools by building state-of-the-art new black schools in an effort to thwart integration. To learn more about equalization schools in South Carolina, click here to visit the website. Other Rosenwald schools have been severely altered and still others stand empty awaiting a new life.

It is the aim of the staff of the South Carolina State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) to be resources for individuals and communities who are looking to preserve the legacy of the Rosenwald Schools. This website is one effort to create broader awareness of the schools in South Carolina. Please check back regularly. As more and more schools are discovered, we will provide technical assistance with the rehabilitation of these buildings.

We are constantly updating our contact list of people interested in the legacy and preservation of Rosenwald Schools. Please send your contact information to Brad Sauls at (803) 896-6172 or sauls@scdah.state.sc.us to receive updated information about current events in South Carolina. To begin receiving Historic Preservation News and Notes, an online newsletter of the State Historic Preservation Office, send your request to emjohnson@scdah.state.sc.us.

Resource Links

Rosenwald Schools Initiative : http://www.rosenwaldschools.com/index.html

This website describes the Rosenwald Schools Initiative sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The site also includes historical information about Rosenwald Schools and links to many other sources.

Rosenwald Schools: Beacons for Black Education in the
American South: http://www.rosenwaldplans.org/SchoolPlans.html .

This site was created by Dr. Tom Hanchett, Director of the Museum of the New South in Charlotte, North Carolina. The site focuses on North Carolina but also contains a history of the Rosenwald Fund, all of the floor plans used by the Fund from 1917-1932, and links to other sources.

Fisk University Rosenwald Fund Card File Database:
http://rosenwald.fisk.edu/

This is the most comprehensive online searchable database for known Rosenwald Schools built in 15 southern states. It is composed of the information found on the original Rosenwald Fund cards housed at Fisk University.

The Jackson Davis Collection of African American Educational Photographs
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/small/collections/jdavis/

This website is a digitized database of nearly 6,000 photographs of African American schools, teachers, and students taken throughout the Southeastern United States by Jackson Davis in the first half of the twentieth century. The complete collection, which also includes documents, is housed at the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library on the University of Virginia campus.

South Carolina Department of Education’s School Insurance Photographs (1935–1952: http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/onlinearchives/search.aspx
(Under “Record Group,” select “School Insurance Photographs, 1935 - 1952.”)

This is an online collection of photographs of South Carolina schools made between 1935 and 1952, which is housed at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History. The photographs document both black and white schools. Some of the black schools were Rosenwald Schools; others were not. To verify that a school is a Rosenwald School, see the SC Rosenwald School Database. While these photographs are not a complete representation of the schools that existed during this time period, the photographs give a glimpse into what some of the schools looked like.