Shiloh Rosenwald School

The Shiloh-Rosenwald School is believed to have been one of the first six schools built by the Rosenwald Foundation. This three-room single-level structure is constructed on a brick pillar foundation and stands 18 feet above the ground. The interior framing is wood stud and the exterior framing is wood. The exterior wall is six-inch lap siding and is the original exterior siding. The ceilings and walls of beaded pine (original) are in good condition in 96% of the building. A roof of asbestos shingles was added in 1985 to replace the original tin roof that was leaking. The roof is trimmed with 1×6 pine fascia. The building has a gable roofline, and the two main entrances are protected by projecting gable and a shed porch (4×5) with (1×6) wood fascias on the doorway entrances. All doors are the original doors (five and six panel doors) except the two main entrance doors (two panels and six panes). The hardware (locks, hinges, hooks) are original. The area used as a coal house underneath the building has been enclosed by concrete masonry blocks (1995). The original piers are still in place. The decorative trellis placed along the bottom of the building deteriorated and was replaced with the concrete masonry blocks.

Each of the rear windows contains nine panes. All windows are to the east and west of the building maximizing the natural lighting coming into the rooms. Identical entrance ways into the building are located on each front side of the building facing the street. A nook measuring 5'3”X4'4” is at each main entrance on both sides. Each entrance way leads to the center Classroom A situated in the middle of the T-structured building. A secondary door (five panels) with transom window allows entry into the one large room that stretches the length of the building. This room is separated by operable folding doors that are 8’0”x18’0’’. When folded, the doors convert a large auditorium type room into two separate Classrooms B and C. Renovations were made to room Classroom A. (This is indicated in the original school floor plan as the Industrial Room.) Historical consultants visited the site to help find the balance between keeping the historical character of the building intact, while providing modern updates such as Internet connections, to the space. Additional input has been received from the Alabama Historical Commission.

Classroom B has a secondary door (five panel) with a transom window. Immediately to the right as you enter the door is the Storage Room (13’x0’’). The floor in the Storage Room seems to be the original floor (requiring oil). A stage across the width of the room seems to be in good condition with the original flooring. A set of two steps (portable) allows for departure from the stage into Classroom B. This room has five of the ten rear windows. The lighting in this room seems to be the original lighting. Another chalkboard is in the classroom area and is in good condition. The folding doors separate Classrooms B and C. The floor seems to be in good condition. The wall and ceiling coverings in this room are the original beaded pine. Classroom C is separated from Classroom B by a set of operable original folding doors. If entering Classroom C from the main entrance, to the right, is the entrance to the Tech Center, Classroom A. There is a secondary door into Classroom C that features a five-panel door with a transom window. There is a battery of five of the ten windows on the rear side of the structure. The covering on the wall and ceiling is the original beaded pine. The floor covering is pine located throughout the structure. The operable lighting fixtures in this room are original. The school sits on approximately two acres of land. This land belongs to the Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, also located on this land. The original landscape consisted of a wall of hedges outlining the yards and two large cedar trees to the right and left of the entryway to the school grounds. There were also daffodils in various areas in the edges of the yards (no beds). There has been some soil erosion from wind and rain. An unused well for drinking water sits to the right of the building. The outside “privies” have been torn down and trees are growing where they were once located.

• Rosenwald School A Rosenwald School was the name informally applied to over five thousand schools, shops, and teachers' homes in the United States which were built primarily for the education of African-Americans in the early twentieth century. The need arose from the chronic underfunding of public education for African-American children in the South, who were required to attend segregated schools. Julius Rosenwald, an American clothier who became part-owner and president of Sears, Roebuck and Company, was the founder of The Rosenwald Fund, through which he contributed seed money for many of the schools and other philanthropic causes. To promote collaboration between white and black citizens, Rosenwald required communities to commit public funds to the schools, as well as to contribute additional cash donations. Millions of dollars were raised by African-American rural communities across the South to fund better education for their children.

Rosenwald Fund Julius Rosenwald (1862-1932) and his family established the The Rosenwald Fund in 1917 for "the well-being of mankind." Unlike other endowed foundations, which were designed to fund themselves in perpetuity, The Rosenwald Fund was intended to use all of its funds for philanthropic purposes. It donated over 70 million dollars to public schools, colleges and universities, museums, Jewish charities and black institutions before funds were completely depleted in 1948. The school building program was one of the largest programs administered by the Rosenwald Fund. These schools became known as "Rosenwald Schools." By 1932, the facilities could accommodate one- third of all African-American children in Southern schools.

Preservation In some communities, surviving structures have been preserved because of the deep meaning they had for African-Americans as symbols of their community dedication to education. Others were threatened by lack of funds in rural areas, changing style of education to consolidated and integrated schools, and other social changes. In 2002, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named Rosenwald Schools near the top of the country's most endangered places and created a campaign to raise awareness and money for preservation. In February 2002 the Trust convened activists from all over the South to launch "The Rosenwald Initiative." School-locating efforts are underway in Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia, and South Carolina. "Out of 5300 Rosenwald schools, we still only know the fate of a few dozen," says John Hildreth of the Trust’s Southeast Regional Office. "The Trust is eager to help address this preservation challenge. These buildings represent an important part of America’s heritage."