Trailblazers Seek Excellence

Did you know the trailblazers Julius Rosenwald and Booker T. Washington built schools in the south for Black students? Well, I had never heard of the Rosenwald Schools until a couple weeks ago when my aunt suggested that her family reunion itinerary would be to visit the Rosenwald School she and her siblings attended. I didn’t think I was interested in going until I read the National Parks article “Remembering Rosenwald” and how his accomplishments revolutionized American schools. He wanted the schools in the rural areas not only to teach reading and writing, but also farming, gardening and life skills. Rosenwald’s schools thrived with clean and well-lit classrooms, they had devoted teachers, involved parents and supportive communities. A few of the prominent people that attended his schools were Civil Rights activist, Congressman John Lewis, Maya Angelou, Medgar Evers, and Carlotta Walls LaNier. LaNier was the youngest of the Little Rock Nine that integrated Central High School in 1957. Rosenwald created 5,000 historic schools in the south, however, there are only about 500 still standing.

Newell Quinton had retired from the Department of Veteran Affairs in Baltimore and had returned home to raise pigs and goats on his father’s farm. When he noticed the decaying condition of the school his grandparents had helped build, his parents and seven of his siblings attended, he decided that he wanted to reconstruct the school. Quinton had many wonderful and fun boyhood memories of the Sharptown Colored School in Baltimore Maryland, remembering that there was a pot-bellied stove that warmed them in the winter and two ancient oak trees in the front yard that provided shade in the summer. The teachers lived close to the school in a black enclave, name was changed to San Domingo near Maryland’s Eastern Shore, and this was a place that held a lot of pride for the community. All Rosenwald’s school names were chosen by their communities. When Quinton decided to reconstruct his beloved alma mater, he learned that it was indeed one of the 5,000 historic schools built by Julius Rosenwald in the south. It gave him more of a determination to honor not only Rosenwald, but every elder, parent, grandparent that cut the timber to build the school and every mother, grandmother who baked goods, prepared hot meals, or sewn clothes to help raise money for the project.

Through one man’s determination for social change caused advocates, preservationists, historians, photographers, and civil rights activists to ensure that our country knows of Rosenwald’s life and a desire for the 500 of the 5,000 Rosenwald schools still standing to make a difference in the lives of our children and help them to strive for excellence. Let us aspire to see how we ourselves can make a change in our society.

National Parks, Rona Kobell and Andre Chund, “Remembering Rosenwald” Summer 2023/Vol. 97 No.3