In 1912, Booker T. Washington approached philanthropist Julius Rosenwald about his concept to build rural schools desperately needed for African American children across the segregated south. That partnership sparked an initiative that eventually created more than 5300 schools, vocational shops and teacher’s homes across 15 states in the South and Southwest from 1912-1932.
North Carolina was home to 813 of these buildings, more than any other state.
Stanly County had eight of these buildings. There were six schools and two teacher’s homes.
- Kingville School and Kingville Teacher’s Home
- Norwood School and Teacher’s Home
- Oakboro School
- Cottonville School
- Porter School
- New London School (the only Rosenwald building still standing in Stanly County)
In December 2014, The Stanly County Historical Society granted the museum $500 to purchase copyrights for photographs of Stanly County’s Rosenwald Schools from Fisk University in Nashville, TN.
Fisk University did not have any photographs of the Kingville Teacher’s Home, Norwood School, or Porter School. If you have photos of any of these buildings or any related to the students or teachers, please share them with us!
Here are some photos of the exhibit displays: