Rosenwald School

(Now "The Little Red Schoolhouse") A symbol of Black America's pride in education, plus crusade of Julius Rosenwald (1862-1932), a Chicagoan who in 1913 began to fund school buildings for negroes. By 1920, when this one-teacher structure was built at Ratcliff (4 miles east), Rosenwald's grants had to be matched -- in this case, by Houston County funds. Alfred Foy (1865-1944), a veteran of brush arbor and log cabin classrooms, taught in this building at Ratcliff 1920-23 and 1924-27; Miss Detroit Denman, 1923-24; Mrs. Evola Colbert Dorn, 1927-55. Their pupils' playground equipment consisted of a baseball diamond, basketball goal, mulberry tree and swing. Yet patrons -- true to zeal that helped obtain the building -- brought in food and saw that the children had hot lunches. Sessions ceased in 1955 when the Ratcliff school was consolidated with Kennard Common School District No. 75. The Ratcliff building was used 1955-68 as the community center for socials and public meetings. In 1868 the "Old Rosenwald School" was moved to Kennard for use by Headstart and related programs. Texas had a total of 518 school buildings funded by the Rosenwald Foundation -- 22 of them in Houston County -- providing classrooms for thousands.

Rosenwald School is a historical marker in Kennard, Houston County, dedicated in 1973. It is one of 185 historical markers documented in Houston County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 361 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 31.3630, -95.1778 near Kennard. The nearest cataloged historic site is Kennard (historical marker), about 0.2 miles away. Others within a short drive include First Baptist Church of Kennard, New Hope Cemetery, and Hagerville Community.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5225011241. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.