PEEKING INTO THE PAST – Rosenwald Schools

Published 1:44 pm Wednesday, November 6, 2024

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During the 1920s, there were several schools built around Stanly County for Black students that were partially funded by the Julius Rosenwald Fund out of Chicago. (Rosenwald was the head of Sears at the time.) The school building shown in today’s picture was constructed in the Oakboro area. In April 1946, this building was lost in a fire and the students were transferred to Kingville until a new building could be built. The new building was completed around 1949. It is unclear if all Oakboro area Black students returned to the new building or if it was just an elementary school and the high school students remained at Kingville. This second building was used until 1961 when another building was constructed, this time out of brick. This newest building was used until 1967 when it, too, was closed as the school system was completing the task of integration of the county schools. {Lewis Bramlett – Stanly County Historical Society}