A Black History Month Moment: Rosenwald Schools

Elkhorn School in Halifax, VA (Image Courtesy of Google Maps)

A Black History Month moment: I had the privilege of attending the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society conference a couple of weekends ago where the theme was "From the Archives to the Classroom with African American Genealogy". We learned a lot about the role of education in the history of African Americans. Of particular interest to me was the mention of Rosenwald schools.

Booker T. Washington of the Tuskegee Institute and Julius Rosenwald, president of Sears Roebuck, established over 5000 schools between 1912 and 1932 for African American children across 15 states in the segregated South. These schools were built with funds from the Rosenwald foundation along with funds from the community as well.

I learned that Fisk University maintains an online database of Rosenwald schools so of course I couldn't wait to find out the name of my mother's school to see if she attended one of these historic schools. I searched for her school in the database and there it was! She attended the Elkhorn School in Halifax, VA which was a 3-room school costing $2400 in total to build. This historic building is still standing today! I was also proud to learn that although the Rosenwald Foundation provided $500 towards the cost of the school, one of the funding sources for this school is identified as 'Negroes: $1,100.00'. How awesome that the black community came together to support the education of their children!

When doing genealogy research, I have found that I (like others I am sure) have been quick to jump to our ancestors that are deceased instead of focusing on our ancestors that are still alive!! Many of us still have access to living, breathing history and I encourage you all to tap into that!! I wish I had realized this while my grandparents were still alive but I am thankful that I still have the chance to hear history straight from the mouths of my parents and the other elders in my family who are still alive. They are a blessing and a wealth of wisdom, knowledge, and history! If you have any family members who were born in the south in the early 20th century, find out if they went to a Rosenwald school (http://rosenwald.fisk.edu/)! Talk to an elder in your family, interview them, document it by writing it down or videoing it. Your descendants will appreciate it one day!

#genealogy #blackhistory #Rosenwald #BookerTWashington #education