Founded in 1884, St. Luke’s Baptist Church is still an active church with services every other Sunday. It was formed by former members of the First African Baptist Church. The church was initially called the 2nd Baptist Church. Current structure has been in use since 1902.
St. Luke’s also had one of two Rosenwald Schools on the island. Everything I’ve read states that the school is still standing and is being used by the church. If that is the case, this is the school, but it has been heavily modified. I hope to get confirmation that this is the building.
Built in 1920 for $3250, this two-teacher type schools was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017. There is a current fundraising campaign to restore the school.
The Brooklyn School is a Rosenwald School affiliated with the Brooklyn CME Church in north Spartanburg County. Built in 1928, this two-teacher type school cost $3016 to build. Since I first photographed this school, it has rapidly deteriorated. This is the last known Rosenwald standing in Spartanburg County.
Early photos of it can be seen on the Fisk database.
In celebration of its 100th year, descendants of students who attended Kinlaw Rosenwald School are restoring this 3-teacher type school. Once the restoration is complete, this school will serve the Kinlaw community for years to come.
When I visited with my friend, Brian, we were lucky enough to meet one of the men helping go restore the building, Marshall Glover. You can read more about the school and donate money by visiting the school’s site.
The Poplar Spring School sits on the grounds of the Poplar Spring United Methodist Church. Built when the church was a part of Campbell County, this is a beautiful example of a one-teacher type school.
The church began in 1867 in a brush arbor. This is at least the third physical structure the church has had in it’s history. You can read more of their history on the chirch’s website. Outside of the church and school, there is a small cemetery and picnic area on the church grounds.
Built in 1925 for $3600, the Tallahassee School in Hazlehurst, Georgia is a two-teacher school in desperate need of attention. While there has been a renewed interest in these schools, this is one where it seems to have been in a similar state for years now. I hope there will be a community effort to save this historical school.
Built in 1925 with Rosenwald funds, the Blackshear School served the Black community of Blackshear, Georgia. After it closed, it became the Marian Anderson Library. At one point, it held a special collection of books and paintings on the African American experience that was eventually moved to the Lee Street Resource Center. I am uncertain when it no longer stopped serving as a library, but it now being used as a storage facility.
This Meriwether County Rosenwald school sits just off the downtown area in Manchester. It was built as a five-teacher type school in 1928 for $13,600. The Fisk University Rosenwald database has a photo of it on their site.
The Oak Grove Church and School sit at the end of a dirt road in Prairieville, Alabama. The school was built in 1925 for the local Black community. Built as a two-teacher school at the cost of $3000, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.
Built in 1927 for $24,000, this six-teacher type Rosenwald School is in Pass Christian, Mississippi. Hurricane Katrina badly damaged the school, and it was scheduled for demolition which community organizers rallied to get the building saved and restored. It now serves as a senior center. The day I took this photo the parking lot was full, so I was pleased that it’s a building being used.
Bynum School, a Rosenwald School located in Panola County, Mississippi, is a one-teacher type school that was built for $1460 in 1925. It’s thought to be the last remaining one-room Rosenwald in Mississippi.
Built in 1933 in Brooks County, Georgia, this school was built with Rosenwald funds to serve Black school children of the county. The Morven Alumni Association, another Rosenwald School in the county, fund raised and helped get the building restored. This school building operated from 1933 to 1959. It now serves as a community building for Barney, Georgia and the surrounding towns. It is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
Turin restored the Walter B. Hill Industrial School to become the town’s city hall. A Rosenwald School it was named for the Supervisor of African American Education, Walter B. Hill. The school opened in 1927.
Founded as early as 1891, the Unity Grove school was founded with the assistance of James Weldon Johnson in the Unity Grove community near Locust Grove. In 1931, the school was rebuilt as a two-teacher type school with Rosenwald funds. The total budget for the rebuild was $2537. The school was in use until 1954 when it was consolidated with another school in the county.
Built in 1924, the Catawba School is a Rosenwald School in York County, South Carolina. This two-teacher type school was built for $3200. It was one of at least 22 schools built in the county to educate the Black children of the county. It stayed open until 1956. This is one of two documented schools still standing and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
