About

A Rosenwald School was the name informally applied to over five thousand schools, shops, and teachers' homes in the United States which were built primarily for the education of African-Americans in the early 20th century. The need arose from the chronic underfunding of public education for African-American children in the South, who were required to attend segregated schools. Julius Rosenwald, an American clothier who became part-owner and president of Sears, Roebuck and Company, was the founder of The Rosenwald Fund, through which he contributed seed money for many of the schools and other philanthropic causes.

 

To promote collaboration between white and black citizens, Rosenwald required communities to commit public funds to the schools, as well as to contribute additional cash donations. Millions of dollars were raised by African-American rural communities across the South to fund better education for their children. Despite Rosenwald's matching donations toward the construction of black schools, by the mid-1930s, white schools in the South were worth, per student, over five times what black schools were worth per student (in majority-black Mississippi, this ratio was more than 13 to one)

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ROSENWALD SCHOOLS IN GREENSVILLE COUNTY

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In Greensville County alone, there were 13 Rosenwald Schools. The Orion, Clairsville, and Barley Schools were One-teacher Types; Independence, Diamond Grove, Mars Hill, Antioch, Powell, Rylands, Radium, and Dahlia Schools were Two-teacher Types; Jarratts School was a Three-teacher type. Of the 13 schools in the county only the South Emporia Training School – later known as the Greensville County Training School – was a Six-teacher type, and the only one constructed of brick. Only 16 of the Six-teacher Schools were built in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

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On August 18, 2015, the Emporia city council voted to initiate court proceedings to tear the building down and approved $80,000 for demolition. In September 2015, even though Marva Dunn had been advised by the city manager that there was no need to come before the city council to ask them to reconsider and delay demolition of the building, she appeared before the board and stated she was doing so in memory of her mother, who had attended the school. Dunn stated she grew up hearing her mother talk about having walked miles and miles from Greensville County into the city of Emporia in the rain, snow, and cold

weather, trying to get her high school diploma. When her mother heard, they were trying to save the school. Dunn remembers hearing her mother say, “I sure hope they can save that old school. When I get my check, send them a few pennies. Dunn told the city council that when she read in the paper that the school was going to be torn down, she could hear her mother's voice talking about her struggles to get an education and saying, “When I get my check, I send them a few pennies". Dunn says when she looked around in the city council and saw her sister, she knew she was doing the right thing. Dunn brought her case for the 12-month extension to the City Council, moving in the direction of a Memory Garden for the Rosenwald School, which would include a garden-style memorial, slash-park, using the bricks from the old training school, with an outdoor stage.

 

In November 2015, the city voted to give Dunn a 12-month extension. She got busy and, with the approval of the Citizens United to Preserve Greensville County Training School, organized an inclusive Special Project Committee that solicited the help of various individuals, including the Middle of Broad (MOB) Origination in Richmond, Virginia, to assist her committee in designing a plan to present to the City Council. The Special Project committee continued to work and eventually merged with Citizens United’s board. The organization was required to go before the city council each year for review. Finally, in December 2018, due to the CUPTS' progress, the City Council voted 7- 0 to rescind the 2015 vote to demolish the Greensville Training School.