Rosenwald Schools
Julius Rosenwald, a Jewish immigrant and president of Sears, Roebuck & Co., became interested in improving rural Black schools in the South while serving on the board of Booker T. Washington’s Tuskegee Institute.
In 1913, Rosenwald began informally giving funds to Booker T. Washington to improve schools in Alabama. In 1917, Rosenwald incorporated the Rosenwald Fund, which provided grants to build schools throughout the South.
Although grants from the Rosenwald Fund came to an end in 1932, many Rosenwald schools remained open until the 1960s and 1970s, when the Supreme Court upheld and enforced Brown vs The Board of Education, which found the practice of states to create separate White and Black schools unconstitutional.
In the early 20th century, segregation in the rural South denied Black children access to formal education. To bring education to these children, countless individuals worked together to build Rosenwald Schools.
Two leaders in this movement were Booker T. Washington, an educator and principal of the Tuskegee Institute, and Julius Rosenwald, a philanthropist. From 1913 to 1932, they teamed up with local communities across the South to build thousands of Rosenwald Schools.
It was truly a community effort: “Julius Rosenwald and the Rosenwald Fund contributed more than 4.3 million dollars, and African-American communities raised more than 4.7 million dollars.”1
Historic Russell School
The school was named for one of the major neighborhood supporters, Thomas Russell. Built in 1926, it continued to operate until its closure in 1945.
While the school was open, hundreds of children were educated, bringing to fruition the vision and dedication of those who believed that high-quality education should be available to everyone.
The two-room school was equipped to have two teachers. It has high windows, hardwood floors, two cloakrooms (one in each room), and a small kitchen facing the front of the building.
The original chalkboards survive, as does one of the desks.
1. Mary Hoffschwelle. 2012. Preserving Rosenwald Schools. National Trust for Historic Preservation: Washington D.C.
Fireside Chat with Alum
Written by Stephanie Pryor
It was a crisp fall day in November 2014 when Ms. Bessie Pearly excitedly recounted her experiences as a student at the Historic Russell School. Bessie told me she attended Russell School from 1939 to 1945, beginning at age six and continuing there until sixth grade.
Ms. Pearly eagerly recalled her first day at school. She said her mother had dressed her in a brand new white dress which "had big red apples on it." "We didn't dress like that every day," she noted later, “but the first day of school was a special occasion.” After being at the school for a few hours, Bessie "ran away and went back home," telling me, "I got tired of sitting there." Bessie lived just behind the school. "My mother met me at the door," Bessie recounted. Her mother asked, "Well, what are you doing home?"
Bessie told her, "The teacher let me come home." It wasn't long before Bessie's older brother came looking for her – her sister and two brothers also attended the Russell School. After a short discussion with Bessie's brother, Bessie's mother learned that Bessie had not actually been allowed to come home by her teacher. Bessie finished her story by telling me that, "Mom made me go back to the school," where, it turned out, Bessie ended up creating many fond memories.
Some of her memories included stories about Ms. Walker, the kitchen lady, who Bessie said "made the best dessert.” She also talked about the nurse who would come to the school to give the children shots. Laughingly, she told me that when the children saw the nurse, “We would all start to cry because we knew we were going to get shots.”
Bessie recounted the daily schedule at the school. The boys would arrive several hours early in order to start the wood-burning stoves, so the school would be warm by 8 a.m. when class started. Recesses, one at 10 a.m. and another at noon, were filled with activities such as "Hide-and-Seek, Hop-Scotch, and Ring-Around-the-Rosie." The children of the school had their snacks, lunch, and recesses in the front yard of the school.
Bessie enthusiastically told me about how the whole community came together to run Russell School, and that even the children helped. The girls "cleaned the chalk-boards and desks" and the boys "helped with mopping." Women such as Annie Mack, who she often spoke of in our conversation, helped the teachers at the school. The women from the community watched and guided the kids, and "Annie Mack even sewed clothes for the children." Bessie also recalled that when the weather was poor, people from the community would open their homes to the school's teachers, giving them a place to stay.