American Educational History Timeline

Click on the arrows on the left and right to move along the timeline.

• 1830

  The Virginia General Assembly forbids the teaching of African Americans—slave or free—to read or write.

  1870

  Virginia Law declares that "…white and colored persons shall not be taught in the same school but in separate schools…"

  1871

  Virginian schools employ one "Negro teacher" for every 232 school-aged African-American children.

  Photo: Pre-Rosenwald School, Woodville. VA. (n.d.) (Courtesy of the Fisk University Rosenwald Fund Card File Database, negative 0685)

• 1876

  Scrabble School founder Isaiah Wallace is born to former slaves Charles and Annie Wallace.

  1888

  African-American landowners Wood and Albert Grant purchase 90 acres in Woodville—the future site of Scrabble School.

  1896

  U.S. Supreme Court endorses the doctrine of "separate but equal" in Plessy v. Ferguson.

  1900

  Rappahannock County enrolls 636 African-American students.

  1904-07

  Philanthropist Anna T. Jeanes sets the stage for Rosenwald’s efforts by donating over a million dollars to support southern African-American schools.Photo: Southern Education Fund

• 1913

  Booker T. Washington convinces Sears Roebuck magnate Julius Rosenwald to fund the construction of six schools in Alabama.Photo: University of Chicago Library.

  1914

  Rosenwald establishes a rural school building program throughout the South for African-American children.

  1915

  Virginian schools employ one "Negro teacher" for every 80 school-aged African-American children.

  1917

  The Julius Rosenwald Fund is established. Professional architects are contracted to design innovative schools for communities.

• 1919

  On average, each white teacher in Virginia is responsible for 33 white pupils, while each African-American teacher has 48 African-American pupils.

  Isaiah Wallace begins to raise money to build a Rosenwald School—the future Scrabble School.

  1920

  The Rosenwald Office develops a program of detailed plans and specifications for schools; these become a guidebook for the construction of thousands of schools across the country.Drawn by S.L. Smith, published in "Community School Plans, " 1924

• 1921

  Wood Grant donates two acres for the Scrabble School.

  1921-22

  The Scrabble School is built, the first Rosenwald School in Rappahannock County.Photo: Fisk University Rosenwald Fund Database

  1923-28

  Rappahannock County communities in Washington, Flint Hill, and Amissville build Rosenwald Schools.

  1928

  1 in 5 schools for African Americans in the South is a Rosenwald School.

• 1932

  Julius Rosenwald dies at age 69. The Rosenwald Schools Program ends...