Ruffin in Williams in Colleton County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
Ruffin Rosenwald School
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Ruffin Equalization Schools
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), May 23, 2026
1. Ruffin Rosenwald School side of the marker
Ruffin Rosenwald School. This frame building dates to 1928-29 and originally housed a segregation school for Black residents of Ruffin. Its cost was paid by local African Americans, the school district, and the Julius Rosenwald Fund. It replaced another Rosenwald school built in 1920-21 that had burned. Approx. 5,000 Rosenwald schools were built in S.C. This is the only one known to still stand in Colleton Co.
Ruffin Equalization Schools. This building was replaced by Ruffin High School and Elementary School, built across Smyly Road in 1954 and 1962. Both were funded by the S.C. equalization program, an effort to preserve segregation by improving Black schools. The elementary campus closed in 1967 and was added to the high school. Ruffin H.S. desegregated in 1970 but remained predominantly Black until it closed in 2002.
Erected 2021 by South Carolina Department of Archives and History; sponsored by Colleton County Council and Wecova Foundation. (Marker Number 15-25.)
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Education. In addition, it is included in the Rosenwald Schools series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1954.
Location. 33° 0.752′ N, 80°
this page online
Regionally, this marker is in the Lowcountry. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Deep South. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 12 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Cross Swamp Methodist Church (approx. 8.2 miles away); Bonnie E. Cone (approx. 9.3 miles away); Green Pond United Methodist Church (approx. 9.4 miles away); Island Creek Meeting House (approx. 10 miles away); Walterboro Jail (approx. 11.2 miles away); Walterboro (approx. 11.2 miles away); Training the Tuskegee Airmen (approx. 11.2 miles away); Confederate Monument (approx. 11.2 miles away).
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), May 23, 2026
2. Ruffin Equalization Schools side of the marker
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), May 23, 2026
3. Ruffin Rosenwald School / Ruffin Equalization Schools Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on June 1, 2026. It was originally submitted on June 1, 2026, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 5 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on June 1, 2026, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
