Rockville's First Colored School / Rockville's Second Colored School

Rockville's First Colored School, also, Rockville's Second Colored School. . , Rockville's First Colored School , Location: 246 North Washington Street , In March, 1867 African-American men pledged to support a school by taking responsibility for money "as may be necessary to pay the board and washing of the teacher and to provide fuel and lights for the School-house." A school likely opened soon afterwards., Education was one way newly emancipated slaves could assert their independence and plan for the future. In 1872, Montgomery County began to provide public education to African-American students. The elementary school was built in 1876 and accepted students in grades one through seven. When the two-room schoolhouse burned in 1919 (refer to map below), students moved into the basement of Jerusalem Methodist Episcopal Church. The school was rebuilt in 1921 on the east side of North Washington Street., Rockville's Second Colored School , Location East side of North Washington Street , The second Rockville Colored School opened in 1921 serving grades one through seven. To continue their education, students had to commute by streetcar into Washington, D.C., or board with a local family., In the mid-1920s, Noah E. Clark and other African-American parents petitioned for the county's first black high school. In 1927, the school board voted to construct a high school in Rockville. The African-American community supplied $6,700 toward construction, matching a grant from the philanthropic Rosenwald Foundation. Julius Rosenwald, president and CEO of Sears, provided matching funds to construct nearly 5,000 African-American schools throughout the segregated South between 1917 and 1948., Rockville Colored High School was located adjacent to the elementary school on North Washington Street. It was the only high school in the county for African-American students. Many students had to ride for hours by bus to get to and from class. In 1934, the school board purchased land in Lincoln Park for the new Lincoln High Scool.