School Buildings
Rosenwald Schools
Over 5,300 buildings were constructed across the Southeast and Southwest for use in the Rosenwald school program. These buildings served over 650,000 students. Learn More
Community Involvement
Volunteers work on the Shiloh Rosenwald School in Notasulga, Alabama. Learn More
Architecture
The Rosenwald school buildings were carefully designed to meet the goals of the program. Learn More
Preservation
Preservation efforts are underway at Rosenwald school buildings across the South and Southwest. These buildings are being saved through a combination of grants, private donations, fundraising, and volunteer work. Many buildings have been given new life and new purposes, again becoming the centers of their local communities.
Architecture
Plan for a two-teacher school.
The school buildings were one of the many innovative features of the Rosenwald program. In the early twentieth century, Progressive architects applied new ideas to school design and developed new standards to evaluate school plans. Their concerns included lighting, ventilation, heating, sanitation, instructional needs, and aesthetics—all intended to create positive, orderly, and healthy environments for learning. Most of these designers and plans focused on urban schools, however. The designers of Rosenwald schools applied the same Progressive principles to country schools, and in so doing made the Rosenwald school building program a major force in rural school design.
