413 Port Republic Road
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Last updated on November 21, 2024
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In the 1910s, the African American community began to push for improved school facilities. A group of parents joined to raise money, and additional funding was donated by the Rosenwald Fund, a philanthropic organization headed by Julius Rosenwald and Booker T. Washington that assisted in the construction of black schools throughout the rural South to advance black education in the early 20th century. The new Rosenwald School was built in 1924 and cost about $11,000. It had four classrooms and an auditorium and taught grades first through seventh. The school opened in 1916 with Elbert Terry as principal. Two more classrooms were added to the original structure in 1934 to accommodate home economics and additional high school courses. The Rosenwald School awarded its first graduates in 1937. In 1939, a combination of gymnasium and auditorium was opened. Two new rooms and two new bathrooms were added. The original building and the 1934 addition were replaced by the present facility in 1959, but the 1939 auditorium/gymnasium and 1951 addition were retained. Rosenwald School had its last graduating class in 1965. The following school year, Waynesboro schools began integration. Rosenwald became the Waynes Hills Upper School. The Rosenwald returned in 1970, and the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation relocated to the building in 1982. In the 1990s, Augustine Bellamy began the Waynesboro African American History Museum in the present-day Rosenwald Community Center. The museum features photographs, artifacts, and other materials capturing the history of the school and the surrounding community.
