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The Rosenwald Project Kicks Off Soon

If you’re not familiar with the original Rosenwald School Program, don’t feel bad — many of us at SENIOR Solutions were not fully aware of its history either at first. However, after learning that our Oconee Senior Center was originally a Rosenwald School, we began to dig, and what we found was a truly remarkable story — one that we now want to share.  
The original Rosenwald Program was established in 1912 to build schools to educate underprivileged African-Americans in the rural South. The program was headed by Julius Rosenwald of Sears, Roebuck and Company, along with Booker T. Washington, who most of us remember from our history books as a leader in the advancement for African-American education. (And each man’s life story is remarkable in itself.) In its time, the Rosenwald Program helped fund more than 5,200 buildings and schools. Without the initiative, many blacks would have not been afforded an education.
While it’s one thing to read how the Rosenwald Program helped bring change, it’s quite another to hear firsthand accounts from those who were there, as we learned last week when we began shooting footage for a short documentary we’re making for our Rosenwald campaign. (And a big thank you goes to Lander University for their help.)
After hearing accounts from people like Mary Jones, Rosie Parker and Hiawatha Pettigrew — who actually attended the school — we realized what our building symbolized to many African-Americans in Oconee County who grew up in this time period. To this day, they look at the former schoolhouse as a starting point for the advancement for blacks in the community. It was an era that’s hard to imagine for generations that followed, and we look forward to sharing these engaging people’s stories once editing is complete. 
So come back to our site often and stay up-to-date on The Rosenwald Project. Our campaign officially kicks off on Saturday, March 13th, at Clemson University, and there are ways you can help.