By Patricia Staino

• Introduction
• The State of Education in the Early 20th Century
• Preserving the Legacy of Rosenwald Schools
• A Chapter Closes; the Foundation Laid
• North Carolina Rosenwald Schools on the National Register Study List
• North Carolina Rosenwald Schools Listed In The National Register Of Historic Places
• To Help with the Project
• Download the article as a

The State of Education in the Early 20th Century

In the early 20th century, education was greatly affected by a town’s or city’s wealth or lack of it. There was no federal education regulation, and people believed schools were the local governments’ responsibility. The wealthy white neighborhoods had the money for good facilities and programs, but many rural communities, particularly the black communities, faced short school years, substandard buildings (often those abandoned by white schools) and teachers with little schooling themselves.

For Rosenwald, the goal of the fund went beyond building schools and improving black education. He hoped that the program would help promote positive interaction between the black and white communities that culminated in working together toward a common cause. His conditions for granting the money to communities were that the state and county contribute to the building of the facility and agree to maintain it as part of the public school system; that white citizens contribute part of the money and take an interest in the school; and that black citizens show a desire for education by contributing money or labor to the project.

Rosenwald schools could cost up to $4,000 to build, and during the time of the fund’s school-building activities, more than 5,300 buildings were erected in 15 southern states. North Carolina was the leader with more than 830 schools.