Julius Rosenwald Fund Builds 5,357 Schools for Black Children Denied Public Funding

Sears Roebuck president Julius Rosenwald partnered with Booker T. Washington to fund construction of schools for Black children across the South. Between 1912 and 1932, the Rosenwald Fund co-financed 5,357 schools in 15 Southern states — serving approximately 663,000 Black students. Crucially, Black communities raised matching funds, often amounting to more than Rosenwald's share, demonstrating extraordinary collective investment in education under oppressive conditions. The schools filled the gap left by white Southern states' deliberate defunding of Black education.