The Rosenwald School in Rectortown, "No. 12"

The Rosenwald School in Rectortown, "No. 12". . , In 1912, Booker T. Washington, head of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, asked Julius Rosenwald, a Jewish Philanthropist and President of Sears, Roebuck and Company, to serve on the Board of Directors at Tuskegee. Their unique partnership led to the creation of the Rosenwald Fund to support the education of African-American children in the rural South. There were 382 Rosenwald schools built in Virginia between 1917 and 1932. Eight such schools in Fauquier County offered a quality education to untold numbers of African-Americans., Mr. Luke Woodward, a Rectortown resident, provided the land for the original No. 12 School at this site. Mr. Rosenwald wanted to provide seed money to encourage community support for a new and improved No. 12. This new school was built in 1924 at a cost of $4,500.00. It was funded in three parts: the Black contribution - $800.00, public contribution - $3000.00 and Rosenwald contribution - $700.00. The growth and population in the 1950's necessitated a third classroom. Miss L.E. Washington, Miss C.E. Lewis, and Mrs. Eura H. Lewis were among the teachers of grades 1-7 in this school. A retainer wall and its steps constructed in 1952 by former pupil, Reginald Tines, remain as a monument to No. 12., (captions) , Julius Rosenwald and Booker T. Washington (Courtesy Archives - Tuskegee University) , #12 Rectortown School , Rectortown Students , L.E. Washington, Sponsorship , African-American Historical Association , The Claude Thompson Elementary School , Friends of Rectortown, Inc. , The Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation , Mount Olive Baptist Church, Rectortown , Rectortown United Methodist Church