The Review Board of the State Historic Preservation Office has recommended the Great Branch Teacherage for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.

Five members of the Great Branch Restoration Committee, Frank Young, Jervey Kennerly, Ruth Waller, Eartha Amaker and Rosa W. Kennerly, went to Columbia on July 27 to await the Review Board’s decision regarding the committee’s application.

A final decision on inclusion of the Great Branch Teacherage on the National Register is expected from the National Park Service in October.

The Great Branch Rosenwald School was built in 1922 and was burned by arsonists in the 1950s. The Teachers’ Home, which is still intact today, was built in 1924-25. It is the only remaining Rosenwald teachers’ quarters in South Carolina.

Booker T. Washington, principal of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (now Tuskegee University), in the late 19th and early 20th century spoke to audiences of the importance of self-help for black southerners. Washington preached economic advancement through vocational education, drawing support from black and white Americans who agreed with his ideas of addressing the economic and educational needs of minorities as the best means to meet the long-term goal of equality.

One of Washington’s dreams was to provide rural black children with safe, adequate school buildings, which at this time were not being funded by many counties in the south. Taking his proposal to northern philanthropist Julius Rosenwald, the president of Sears, Roebuck and Co. in 1912, Washington found a true supporter of his philosophies and the financial assistance he was seeking.

In 1912, Rosenwald celebrated his 50th birthday by distributing monetary gifts to a variety of causes, including $25,000 for Tuskegee Institute. This donation funded matching grants to African American teacher-training institutions that were modeled after the program at Tuskegee. With $2,800 left after final distributions, Washington asked Rosenwald’s permission to use the remainder for an experimental project building rural public schools in Alabama.

The monies were used to build the first six Rosenwald schools, allowing school children and teachers to move out of churches and lodge halls into structures built solely for educational purposes.

In 1914, Rosenwald awarded a $30,000 gift for the construction of 100 rural schools, followed by more monies for an additional 200 in 1916.

By 1917, the Julius Rosenwald Fund was established under the belief that philanthropic organizations should use their grants as seed money to encourage individuals and governments to take responsibility for needed programs and services.

In the 1900s, nearly 5,000 Rosenwald sites including schools, teachers’ homes and shops were constructed in 15 southern states to provide educational opportunities for black students.

“Although a National Register listing is primarily an honor, it is recognition by the federal government that a property is important to the nation’s past and worthy of preservation,” said Rosa W. Kennerly, grants coordinator for the Great Branch Restoration Committee.

Work on Phase 1 of the restoration project is scheduled to begin soon, Kennerly said, and the committee is still soliciting monetary support for the project.

All contributions are tax deductible. Checks should be made payable to the Great Branch Restoration Project and mailed to Marjorie Pough, 792 Drag Strip Road, Neeses, SC 29107.

– Special to The T&D

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