Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education History topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate committee hears resolution to study Rosenwald Schools in Georgia
Summary
Senate Resolution 301 was presented as a hearing‑only measure to create a study committee on Rosenwald Schools; sponsor emphasized the schools’ historical scope—about 240 in Georgia—and asked the committee to consider long‑term historical preservation and educational impact.
Senator Davenport introduced Senate Resolution 301 (LC 550564) to create a study committee on Rosenwald Schools, a network of early 20th‑century schools funded through a partnership between Julius Rosenwald and Booker T. Washington that served Black communities across the South.
Davenport told the committee the Rosenwald program built roughly 5,000 schools across the South and about 240 of those were in Georgia. He said the schools were community‑matched projects that improved school attendance, literacy and years of schooling and noted research linking the program to long‑term gains including higher life expectancy in affected communities. He recalled that his own mother attended a Rosenwald School in Clayton County and walked several miles to school in the 1930s and ’40s.
The resolution was designated hearing only during the committee session; committee members voted to advance the measure as a hearing item and did not convert it into a bill during the meeting. Sponsor Davenport asked for prompt consideration and for the committee’s support in studying the scope, impact and preservation of surviving Rosenwald School buildings in the state.
Committee members voiced support for studying the history and impact of the Rosenwald program and raised procedural questions about how a hearing‑only resolution could be moved forward by the committee. The committee voted in favor of the hearing designation.
