1918 School Programs at the Rosenwald School

Rosenwald School History

Begun in 1912, Rosenwald schools were built through a partnership between Julius Rosenwald, a Jewish philanthropist and president of Sears, Roebuck & Co., and black educator Booker T. Washington, along with support from the local black and white communities. Between 1913 and 1932, nearly 5,000 new schools were built in 15 states and thousands of students received an education, learned trades and skills, and were awarded better opportunities as a result of this education.

~~~

1918 School Programs

These programs include time in the Dorothy Davidson Rosenwald Schoolhouse and are scheduled from 9:00am to 1:30pm. The base price for these programs is $14. If you select basket weaving as the vocational lesson for the School Day Experience, there is an additional $2.00 supply fee per student.

Educational Scholarship Fund

Financial assistance may be available for qualifying groups. Burritt on the Mountain’s Education Scholarship Fund can be utilized to assist with the cost of field trips and outreach programs. Funds are limited and will be offered on a first-come-first-served basis for Title I and other qualifying schools and organizations in Alabama. Burritt on the Mountain’s Education Scholarship Fund may be used to cover the cost of field trip education programs. Education Scholarship Funds will NOT cover transportation costs, purchases in the welcome center or admission to the site for field trip participants to stay past the educational programming time.

A Child’s Life in 1918 (3^rd grade; 9:00 – 1:30)

This active field trip offers students a glimpse of the lives of children in North Alabama in 1918. Students spend half their day exploring our Historic Park and half their day in our Rosenwald Schoolhouse. In the Historic Park, students learn about chores and leisure activities of early 20th century farmers. In the schoolhouse, students experience education of the past through grade-appropriate lessons in reading, arithmetic, spelling, and penmanship. Suitable for up to 124 students per day divided into a maximum of four classes.

School Day Experience (4^th and 5^th grades; 9:00 – 1:30)

This exciting program allows students to experience a day in the life of a 1918 Rosenwald school. Fourth and Fifth graders will be transformed into 1918 students as they are outfitted in era-appropriate clothes, repack their lunches in baskets and pails, say the era-appropriate Pledge of Allegiance and study reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic. Students also get to experience writing with a nib pen and ink, doing their lessons on slates, learning a vocational training lesson, and playing games of the time period during recess. Teachers select either basket weaving (additional $2.00 supply charge per student applies) or gardening and plants as the vocational training topic for their class. Visiting teachers will receive before and after lesson plans to further their students’ educational experience. These plans focus on teaching what Rosenwald Schools were and their importance during the time period of “separate but equal.” This field trip is limited to a maximum of 64 students per day.