Rosenwald
Rosenwald
Jennifer Drinkwater. Rosenwald, acrylic on wood panel, 20” H x 16” W x 1.75” D, 2019.
Rosenwald arrives wired and ready to hang. My genius husband Aaron Swanson carefully crafts each panel with high-quality wood, mounting a smooth plywood surface onto a sturdy, mitred wooden frame that provides depth and support to the painting. The sides of the panel are sanded and finished for smoothness.
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Twenty percent of profit supports the Quitman County Economic Tourism & Development, Inc, a nonprofit organization creating economic growth and development by promoting tourism, helping improve public education opportunities, and promoting positive social and cultural transformation in Quitman County, Mississippi.
The community story that inspired Rosenwald….
Rosenwald Schools were a network of nearly 5,000 schools built across the South in the early 20th century to provide educational opportunities for African American children during segregation.
Funded in part by Julius Rosenwald, CEO of Sears, and in collaboration with Booker T. Washington, the schools were built with contributions from local Black communities and matching funds from Rosenwald's foundation.
These schools were vital in addressing the systemic lack of educational resources for Black Americans, who were often educated in dilapidated buildings and small churches with zero state resources.
Marks, Mississippi, home to one of the few remaining Rosenwald Schools in the state, holds historical significance as a center of African American history and civil rights, as it was the starting point of the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign.
The structures of Rosenwald Schools, including the one in Marks, were rooted in practicality, functionality, and cost-efficiency. Key features included: large windows (critical in rural areas where electricity was scarce), simple floor plans, east-to-west orientation (to take advantage of sunlight), constructed from local materials, and modest, welcoming porches.
The Old African American High School in Marks was one of the 633 Rosenwald-funded schools constructed in the state, and sits next to the current Marks High School. Over the past decade, the Marks community has been awarded several federal and state grants to refurbish the school to provide extra classroom space for students.