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)
Marker is property of the State of Texas