Conclusion
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Top Photo: "Their children were forced to work in the fields. They could not go to school," 1940–41. Casein tempera on hardboard, by Jacob Lawrence. Phillips Collection.
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The remarkable philanthropy of Julius Rosenwald, inspired by his partnership with Booker T. Washington, provided education and grants for generations of African-Americans who changed American history.
Their work demonstrates that investment in people, through education, is a path to change the history of a people and a country. |
Ms. Mildred Ridgeley Gray, Rosenwald graduate, teacher, and principal; b. 1921. February 23, 2019, photo by Matthew Palatnik during the 92nd reunion celebration of the Ridgeley Rosenwald School.
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"They believed education was the answer. My grandmother was a slave - my mother's mother was a slave. Now my father didn't have any education at all. But my mother had eighth grade education. And she thought that education was the answer to our really having a way of life that she would like for us to have. She struggled for herself, but she wanted better for her children." - Mildred Ridgeley Gray* [84]
[Click below to listen to the audio clip] (*Ms. Ridgeley Gray's mother donated the land for the Ridgeley Rosenwald School.)
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