Editor's note: This show originally aired Jan. 13, 2022.
During the Jim Crow era, segregation drove Black children into poor quality schools. But about 100 years ago, a collaboration between two unusual partners, Booker T. Washington and Julius Rosenwald, built almost 5,000 schoolhouses specifically for Black children throughout the South.
One-third of the South’s rural black school children and teachers were served by Rosenwald Schools by 1928, according to the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. The schools ultimately enriched the lives and education of a generation of Black families, including in North Carolina.
We speak with experts about the legacy of the Rosenwald Schools in Mecklenburg County and throughout the American South.
GUESTS
Andrew Feiler, photographer, author and creator of the exhibit to be featured at the Charlotte Museum of History, “A Better Life for Their Children”
Fannie Flono, former associate editor for the Charlotte Observer, author of "Thriving in the Shadows: The Black Experience in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County," Charlotte Museum of History trustee and Chair of the Save Siloam School Project
Dan Morrill, former consulting director for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission and professor emeritus of history at UNC Charlotte
