History of the Pine Grove Rosenwald School (circa. 1923-53)

The Rosenwald rural school building program which began in 1912 was a major effort to improve the quality of public education for African Americans in the early 20th-century South.  By 1928, one in every five rural schools for black students in the South was a Rosenwald school, and these schools housed one third of the region’s black school children. The Pine Grove School is an original Rosenwald School built in 1923.

By 1928, one in every five rural schools for black students in the South was a Rosenwald school, and these schools housed one third of the region’s rural black schoolchildren and teachers. At the program’s conclusion in 1932, it had produced new schools, teachers’ homes, and shop buildings in 883 counties of 15 states.

The Pine Grove School, built in 1923, was one of 15 other Rosenwald Schools constructed in Richland County.  It is believed to be the only one still standing.  Communities were given half the funds to build the school and they had to raise the other half.  This was not an easy task for poor, rural black families, but because they felt so strongly about their children’s education, they did everything they could to raise the money.  They sold quilts and other items, some provided labor and materials, while others even donated family land.

The total cost to build the Pine Grove School was $2,500, which was composed of contributions from the Rosenwald Fund, $700, the white community, $315, the black community, $285, and the public contribution was $1,200.