Friday, November 13, 2009

The University of North Carolina Wilmington is hosting a conference on the history of the Rosenwald African American school movement from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13 at the UNCW Executive Development Center at Landfall, 1241 Military Cutoff. Preservationists are racing against time to save the deteriorating Rosenwald school structures in Pender and surrounding counties, and to record the experiences of Rosenwald alumni and teachers before it is too late.

The Rosenwald African American schools were built between 1917 and 1932 during segregation by communities who used matching grant funds and building plans provided by the Rosenwald Fund. The movement was particularly strong in Southeastern North Carolina, which included schools such as Williston Middle School, which still exists today. Nationally, more than 5,000 school buildings were built, and African American communities in N. C. organized to build 813 Rosenwald Schools, the highest number of any state.

This one-day conference is designed to raise awareness of regional Rosenwald school history and to provide a forum for preserving it. Topics will include the statewide N.C. Rosenwald School Survey, strategies for preserving Rosenwald school buildings that still exist and ways to document oral history.

The conference will feature historians Tom Hanchett, Museum of the New South, and Glen Harris, UNC Wilmington Department of History; preservationists Tracy Hayes, Rosenwald Schools Initiative, Southern Office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Claudia Brown, National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers, George Edwards, Historic Wilmington Foundation; and educators Donyell Roseboro, UNCW Watson School of Education, and Marvin Pittman of the NC State Board of Education.

A panel discussion with Rosenwald school alumni and former teachers will be moderated by Monica Gisolfi, UNCW Department of History. Claudia Stack, who is developing a feature-length documentary focused on two Rosenwald schools in Pender County titled Under the Kudzu, will also participate in the conference.

The conference is funded in part by a Terence L. Mills Preservation Fund Grant for North and South Carolina from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and is hosted by the UNCW Upperman African American Cultural Center.

Media are invited to attend and cover the conference. Interview opportunities with participating Rosenwald teachers and alumni will be available.

Media contact: Dana Fischetti, media relations manager, 910.962.7259 or fischettid@uncw.edu