Pine Grove Rosenwald School
National Register Listing
Street Address:
937 Piney Woods Road, Columbia, SC (Richland County)
Alternate Name:
Pine Grove Colored School
NRHP Nomination
Record Number:
S10817740144
Description and Narrative:
The Pine Grove School is significant as a representation of the modernization of African American education in a period marked by massive discriminatory school funding. The school is also an important reminder of the educational improvements brought about by the philanthropic efforts of the Julius Rosenwald Fund which constructed over 5000 schools in fifteen Southern states from 1917 to 1932. Built in 1923, the Pine Grove School is a wood-frame, one-story rectangular gable-front building with a V-crimp tin metal roof. The layout of the Pine Grove Rosenwald School is a variant of the two-room schoolhouse published as Rosenwald Community School Plan No. 2-C. The Community School Plans were utilized by the Rosenwald Fund between 1920 and 1928 and offered state of the art schoolhouse designs. The common characteristics of these designs included the orientation of the building, light colored paint schemes, and large banks of tall narrow windows. These particular elements were aimed at providing proper ventilation and optimal natural lighting inside the school, features that many early-twentieth century African American schoolhouses lacked. An initiative for the construction of the Pine Grove Rosenwald School raised $2,500 for the schools construction. The local African American community donated $265, the white community raised $315, and public funds totaling $1,200 were gained for the construction and operation of the new school. In return the Rosenwald Fund provided a $700 grant and architectural assistance towards the construction of the school. Listed in the National Register January 29, 2009.
Period of Significance:
1923 – 1950;1923
Level of Significance:
Local
Area of Significance:
Education;Social History;Ethnic Heritage: Black
National Register Determination:
listed
Date of Certification:
January 29 2009
