Booker T. Washington, Julius Rosenwald, and the Building of Schools for the Segregated South

Businessman and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald, never finished high school, but he rose to become the President of Sears. Influenced by the writings of the educator Booker T. Washington, Rosenwald joined forces with African American communities during the Jim Crow South to build more than 5,300 schools for African Americans during the early part of the 20th century. These schoolhouses represent a significant step in the ongoing endeavor to bring high quality education to every child in the United States—an ideal that remains to be realized even today.

Because of his modesty, Rosenwald's philanthropy and social activism are not well known today—indeed, the great, great grandchildren of Rosenwald did not know about his philanthropy until Deutsch began researching his life.

Deutsch is married to great grandson of Julius Rosenwald, and says she wrote "You Need a Schoolhouse" because “Americans need to know about past issues that Julius Rosenwald and Booker T. Washington grappled with one hundred years ago—race relations, education, community, and opportunity—in order to understand the present."

Notes: Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing at the event.

• Location campus Central Library
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  • Target Audience: 55+
  • Lecture
  • Author Talk