A Better Life for Their Children: A Rosenwald Schools Journey
September 5 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Thursday, September 5, 2024 6:00PM
Name
A Better Life for Their Children: A Rosenwald Schools Journey
,LectureDescription
Co-hosted by Virginia Holocaust Musuem logo
Book cover: A Better Life for Their Children – a black and white photo of the interior of a school room Born to Jewish immigrants, Julius Rosenwald rose to lead Sears, Roebuck & Company and turn it into the world’s largest retailer. Born into slavery, Booker T. Washington became the founding principal of Tuskegee Institute. In 1912 the two men launched an ambitious program to partner with Black communities across the segregated South to build public schools for Black children. This watershed moment in the history of philanthropy—one of the earliest collaborations between Jews and Black Americans—drove dramatic improvement in African American educational attainment and fostered the generation who became the leaders and foot soldiers of the civil rights movement. Of the original 4,978 Rosenwald schools built between 1912 and 1937 across fifteen southern and border states, only about 500 survive. Though some have been repurposed and a handful remain active schools, many remain unrestored and at risk of collapse. To tell this story visually, Andrew Feiler drove more than 25,000 miles, photographed 105 schools, and interviewed dozens of former students, teachers, preservationists, and community leaders in all fifteen of the program states. The book and exhibition of this work is, A Better Life for Their Children: Julius Rosenwald, Booker T. Washington, and the 4,978 Schools that Changed America. The exhibition is on view at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture through April 20, 2025. Author, photographer, and exhibition curator Andrew Feiler will share images and stories from his extraordinary journey into the history of Rosenwald schools.
The lecture will be followed by an author book signing and light refreshments.
The content and opinions expressed in these presentations are solely those of the speaker and not necessarily of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.
Ticket Pricing:
General Admission – $20
VMHC Members – $10
Program Notes:
Tickets are required for in-person admission. Tickets are not needed if you would prefer to join us live on YouTube or Facebook.
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In-person attendees are invited to meet the speaker immediately following the lecture.
Signed copies of the book willl be available at ShopVirginiaHistory.org.