Columbia Rosenwald School

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Columbia Rosenwald School, right here in Brazoria County. Now settle in, because this story has some weight to it, and it deserves to be told right. It starts up in Chicago, with a foundation and a handshake between two men who believed education could change the South.

Julius Rosenwald, president of Sears, Roebuck and Company, partnered with noted African American educator Booker T. Washington, and together they built something. Not just one school.

Hundreds of them, all across the South, funded through the Rosenwald Foundation. The program began in 1917, and what those two men set in motion was quiet, persistent, and consequential. By the 1920s, the need was clear right here in East Columbia.

African American children were making do, sharing space with a nearby church, because that was what was available. County officials stepped up, drawing on the Rosenwald grant, local funds, and contributions from the African American community itself, and they established schools in both East and West Columbia. The building at this very site opened in 1921.

Mrs. P.A. Franklin walked in as its first teacher.

The school ran grades one through seven to start, added an eighth grade by the 1940s, and somewhere along the way the nearby Green Hill African American school consolidated with it, growing the community under one roof. Now, one detail in this story stops you cold if you let it. Students often attended classes after the fall harvest finished, even though the school term had already begun.

Think about that. Children worked the harvest first, then came to learn spelling, arithmetic, reading, language, writing, drawing, geography, history, science. They came anyway.

The school served this community for nearly three decades before the West and East Columbia school districts consolidated in 1949, and Columbia Rosenwald School closed its doors. This is one of the few remaining buildings of the hundreds that were built in Texas through that program, and it stands as a reminder of the effort those families made, and of the partnership that made it possible in the first place.

What the marker says

A grant from the Rosenwald Foundation of Chicago led to the establishment of a local school for African American students. The foundation represented a collaboration between Julius Rosenwald, president of Sears, Roebuck and Company, and the noted African American educator Booker T. Washington to fund similar schools throughout the South. This is one of the few remaining of the hundreds built in Texas. The program began in 1917, and by the 1920s there was a strong need for an African American school in East Columbia. County officials utilized the Rosenwald grant, as well as local funds and contributions from the African American community, to establish schools in both East and West Columbia. The building at this site, which opened in East Columbia in 1921, served children whose school had previously been sharing space with a nearby church. The school's first teacher was Mrs. P.A. Franklin. Columbia Rosenwald School included grades one through seven, adding an eighth grade by the 1940s. Also during the 1940s, the nearby Green Hill African American school consolidated with Columbia Rosenwald School. Students often attended classes after the fall harvest finished, though the school term had already begun. Subjects included spelling, arithmetic, reading, language, writing, drawing, geography, history and science. Columbia Rosenwald School closed in 1949 after the West and East Columbia school districts consolidated. The building here stands as an important reminder of early African American educational efforts in the area and as a symbol of the philanthropic activity that made it possible. (2007)