Winer: Rosenwald Schools Benefit Hamilton County

A Rosenwald School House in Sumner County, north of Nashville near the Tennessee-Kentucky border.
A Rosenwald School House in Sumner County, north of Nashville near the Tennessee-Kentucky border.

Julius Rosenwald, businessman and philanthropist, is not well remembered today, but in the early 20th century his Rosenwald Fund started 5,337 rural schools for African-Americans.

The six Rosenwald elementary schools built in Hamilton County included Chickamauga (1926), Eastdale (1923), Harrison (1923), Roland Hayes (1929), and Summit (1926). Booker T. Washington, grades 1-12, was built in 1924 and after a fire rebuilt in 1930.

Rosenwald was born in 1862 in Springfield, Ill., a few blocks from Abraham Lincoln's residence. The Lincoln legacy intertwined with his Jewish heritage influenced his entire life. Julius Rosenwald believed the plight of African-Americans was the most serious social problem in the US.

In 1895, at 33, Rosenwald and his brother-in-law bought one-half interest in Sears, Roebuck & Co. for $75,000. Rosenwald became president in 1908 and grew Sears into America's largest retailer.

Rosenwald was befriended and greatly influenced by Booker T. Washington. In 1912 he began a lifelong position on the board of directors of Tuskegee Institute. Seeing firsthand the poor state of education for blacks in rural Alabama, Rosenwald funded his first six schools near Tuskegee in 1913. In 1917 the newly formed Rosenwald Fund, recognizing that public education for black children had been underfunded throughout the South, expanded the building program.

Each school had to meet certain criteria. Tuskegee professors set standards on room size, lighting, heating, sanitation and furnishings. To stretch Rosenwald's funds and to foster community ownership and pride, he required participation by white and black communities. During the 15 years, which ended in 1932, the total cost of the buildings was $28.4 million with 15 percent coming from Rosenwald, 64 percent from tax funds, 4 percent from white friends, and 17 percent from the local black community. Additionally African-American parents contributed substantial in-kind labor and materials.

Rosenwald required that his schools be maintained as regular units of the public school system. By 1932 one-third of all black students in the rural south attended Rosenwald Schools. In Tennessee, 373 of the schools served 44,460 students.

In 1929, Rosenwald granted $74,152 to the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Library. Four regular library branches were established in schools with Booker T. Washington having the largest library. A truck was purchased to service those schools without a branch.

Still the financial support gap between white and black schools was vast. In 1937 the per pupil valuation of school buildings for whites was four times that for blacks, and the annual cost per student was three and one-half times greater. However, each community with Rosenwald Schools took great pride in its accomplishments for the children.

Charlotte Jordan taught at Harrison Elementary from 1928 through 1935. Harrison was a one-room, one-teacher school with about 14 students. There was a stove in the middle of the room, no electricity and an outhouse. As money became available, parents bought oil lamps so the children could see better. Older students cleaned the room and made the fire. There was no library, but books were brought in on a rotating basis. Textbooks were hand-me-downs from white schools. Some students finished high school, and many of those went on to college.

In 1935 Charlotte Jordan was transferred to Summit Elementary, a three-room, three-teacher school. There was a stove in each room and electricity but no indoor plumbing. Students brought their lunches to school. Each classroom had a rotating library. Parents held fundraisers several times a year to collect money for needed school supplies.

Malcolm Walker has fond memories of attending Chickamauga Elementary in the Shepherd community. He remembers his teachers: Marjorie Strickland, Evelyn Hardin and Rosetta Kirby. Because the schools were small, it was not uncommon to have two or three grades taught in one room. Malcolm Walker graduated from Booker T. Washington High School and Tennessee State. He had a distinguished career in education serving Chattanooga, Hamilton County and Tennessee school systems.

Hamilton County Commissioner Warren Mackey remembers with pride attending the Roland Hayes school, which was located on the corner of Riverside Drive and Crutchfield and served both the Riverside Park and Bolton Town neighborhoods. The principal was Flora Cox. Teachers were Mses. Williams, Green, Allgood and Johnson. The school provided a sense of community for both parents and children.

None of the Hamilton County Rosenwald Schools are still standing. However, their benefits remain a positive influence for generations to come.

Sanford Winer is a retired CPA. For more visit Chattahistoricalassoc.org.

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