Advocates for Historic Rosenwald School Preservation to gather June 14-16 in Tuskegee, Alabama
In 1912, Alabama was the birthplace of a program that created over 5300 schools to serve African American families in the Deep South states.
Educator Booker T. Washington partnered with philanthropist Julius Rosenwald to help African American communities build local schools. Often these were the only primary and secondary educational opportunities available to African Americans in the first half of the 20th century.
Today the Rosenwald School Fund is recognized as the single most important program to further African American education in the United States. Alabama had 407 Rosenwald Schools. Scholars do not know how many of the Alabama buildings are still standing, but almost every county had at least one. There is one Rosenwald School building remaining in Birmingham, which is located on the Miles College Campus, and at least 12 others remaining throughout the state.
A national conference held in Tuskegee will help alumni and their families learn how to explore and share the rich legacy these schools left. Community activists and grassroots groups will learn how to identify, repair and return Rosenwald Schools to community uses.
Titled “100 Years of Pride, Progress and Preservation,” the conference is scheduled for June 14-16 at the Kellogg Conference Center at Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Alabama. Acclaimed author Nikki Giovanni will provide the conference closing keynote address.
To register or find more information about the conference, visit www.rosenwaldschools.com or call (202) 588-6407
To learn about Rosenwald Schools in Alabama go to www.preserveala.org/mediaresources.aspx or contact Dorothy Walker dwalker@preserveala.org or (334) 230-2665.
The Alabama Historical Commission protects, preserves, and interprets Alabama’s historic places and is the State Historic Preservation Office.
Updated on June 12, 2012: See the full story on the history of Rosenwald Schools, “Presevationists Work to Save Rosenwald Schools and Saga” under “Community.”
