Saving Georgia's Rosenwald Schools is an important initiative for HPD's African American programs staff.  They are surveying and documenting these endangered historic resources. Please read the case studies linked from the right side of this page.  Staff also provides technical assistance to numerous preservation groups that are finding new uses for the more than 40 buildings still standing. 

Contact:
Jeanne Cyriaque, African American programs coordinator
jeanne.cyriaque@dnr.state.ga.us phone 404-656-4768 fax 404-657-1040

The historic context Rosenwald Schools in Georgia, 1912-1937 was approved by the National Register of Historic Places on August 17, 2009.  The context will facilitate the nomination of Georgia's extant Rosenwald schools to the National Register by property owners, historical societies, and community groups. 

Rosenwald Schools in Georgia, 1912-1937 is the result of several years of research by Jeanne Cyriaque, African American Programs Coordinator at HPD and is part of a larger initiative to identify, document, and preserve the remaining Rosenwald schools in the state.  The context also provides a detailed factual account of the Rosenwald Fund's specific impact in Georgia and places its significance within the broader framework of black education in the state.

Between 1915 and 1937, the Julius Rosenwald Fund provided funding and plans for the construction of 259 schools throughout the state.  To date, approximately four dozen of the Georgia schools have been identified.  The fund had a significant impact upon the advancement of African American education in the state of Georgia, and was a welcome relief for the state's African American population that had long endured the hardships and injustices imposed by the South's segregated public education system. In addition to assisting with the construction of new school buildings, the fund also advocated extending the school term for black students, increasing compensation received by black educators, subsidizing transportation for black students, and supporting the development of libraries. 

Rosenwald-funded schools varied in size from small one-teacher schools to large 11-teacher facilities that offered instruction from first grade through high school. In the funds early years,  wood-frame, one-story, one- and two-teacher schools were the most common.  In later years, larger schools constructed of brick were built with greater frequency, though always in much smaller numbers than the wood-framed rural schools.  Rosenwald schools were built according to standardized plans that were produced by the Rosenwald Fund.  The fund required a two-acre campus that often included teachers homes, industrial vocational buildings, privies, and athletic fields in addition to the school.

Rosenwald School Historic Property Information Form (RS-HPIF) -
INSTRUCTIONS:  This form is ONLY for nominating Rosenwald Schools.  The Historic Preservation Division has background information about Julius Rosenwald and the Rosenwald school program in Georgia so please write about your specific school and its specific history. 

For more information about Rosenwald Schools in other states, please visit the Rosenwald Schools Initiative Task Force of the National Trust for Historic Preservation Web site - www.rosenwaldschools.com.