Between 1912 and 1932, the Rosenwald Project constructed 4,978 schools in rural African American communities throughout the southern United States. This project was developed through the partnership of Julius Rosenwald and Booker T. Washington. Rosenwald, a Jewish-American philanthropist and president of Sears founded the Rosenwald Fund for “the well-being of mankind.” Booker T. Washington, a former slave, was the first president of the Tuskegee Institute, now known as Tuskegee University, in Tuskegee, Alabama.

During the segregation era, African American schools were severely underfunded, especially in the south. The Rosenwald Project helped build schools for these communities in eleven states including Tennessee. More than $4 million from the Rosenwald Fund was given on the condition that local communities raise matching grants. African American communities contributed a total of $4.8 million to help construct 5,338 schools, shops, and teacher homes throughout the South including McMinn County.

View this exhibit here: Rosenwald Schools