Videos

Places of Hope and Aspiration: Rosenwald Schools in Rappahannock County, Virginia

Special/Group Showing Requests:

If you would like to host a group showing for a school, community, civic or religious organization, please send us a request to do so by email to Nan Roberts, President at nbraka1908@gmail.com. You’ll receive a form to fill out and return to us in advance of your hosting event.

The Fight To Preserve Rosenwald Schools

The story of how Black people, just a handful of years after slavery ended, managed to grow a solid middle class without access to so many of America’s public schools is not well-known. That story involves Black ingenuity, an unusual friendship between a Jewish philanthropist and a conservative Black educator, and a widespread desire among Black parents for their children to be provided the same quality of education as white children.

Aware of the crucial economic role education can play for the descendants of slaves, Julius Rosenwald, a Chicago philanthropist and Sears, Roebuck president, along with Booker T. Washington, the principal of Tuskeegee Institute, worked with Black communities across the south to build more than 5,000 schools for Black children.

This story has been largely washed from our nation’s collective memory but some of those 5,000 school houses that Black communities built and staffed, still stand in plain sight.

Education Week spoke with scholars and national park leaders about the Rosenwald schools’ history and the fight to preserve their legacy.

The story behind Scrabble School and what it was like to go to school there.

Scrabble School celebrates Black History Month: African Americans in Military Service

The Scrabble School Preservation Foundation celebrates the 2025 Black History Month Observance in Rappahannock County. The Event features a tribute to Rappahannock County African Americans who served in military service, “in honor” and “in memory” of those who served. There is a panel discussion featuring Mr. George Harrison, WWII Veteran, and Ms. Jennifer Shanks, U.S. Air Force Veteran, both born and reared in the county, who will share their experiences in military service.

Our Guest Presenters are Ms. Terry Miller, Curator for the Carver Center Museum in Rapidan, VA, and U.S. Navy Captain (retired) Edward Gantt, a highly decorated Officer having served in Vietnam with 30 total years of service, now a member of the renowned United States Colored Troops (USCT) Reenactors.

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Observance and Julia E. Boddie Scholarship Fundraiser

SSPF is pleased to present the 2025 Scrabble School Preservation Foundation, Inc.’s Rappahannock County, VA, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Observance and Julia E. Boddie Scholarship Fundraiser! We hope you will enjoy the online show that includes excerpts of the Scholarship Dinner held in September 2024 AND additional guest performances, a real BONUS! Please give us your feedback via email: scrabbleschoolva@gmail.com.

Scrabble School Preservation Foundation: Black Business 2

The Scrabble School Preservation Foundation celebrates Black History Month 2024. The program features “Black Businesses of Rappahannock County, VA: Part 2