Rosenwald High School was a
Rosenwald School
The Rosenwald School project built more than 5,000 schools, shops, and teacher homes in the United States primarily for the education of African-American children in the South during the early 20th century. The project was the product of the part ...
located on
Louisiana Highway 10
Louisiana Highway 10 (LA 10) is a state highway located in southern Louisiana. It runs in an east–west direction from U.S. Highway 171 (US 171) south of Leesville to the Mississippi state line east of Bogalusa.
The route connects a ...
in the city of
New Roads, Louisiana
New Roads (historically french: Poste-de-Pointe-Coupée) is a city in and the parish seat of Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, United States. The center of population of Louisiana was located in New Roads in 2000. The population was 4,831 at the 2 ...
, United States. It was opened in 1922 as New Roads Rosenwald Elementary School and was located on upper Cemetery Street. It was formerly known as New Roads High School, and New Roads Rosenwald High School.
It was as an all-Black school that went up through the seventh grade, built with funding from the
Rosenwald Foundation
The Rosenwald Fund (also known as the Rosenwald Foundation, the Julius Rosenwald Fund, and the Julius Rosenwald Foundation) was established in 1917 by Julius Rosenwald and his family for "the well-being of mankind." Rosenwald became part-owner of S ...
. The school has origins in the Rosenwald Schools of the early 1900s. In 1950, an all-Black high school - New Roads High School, was opened in the city of New Roads. This new school was the first high school for Blacks in
Pointe Coupee Parish
Pointe Coupee Parish ( or ; french: Paroisse de la Pointe-Coupée) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 22,802; in 2020, its population was 20,758. The parish seat is New Roads.
Pointe ...
. In 1958, the school was merged with Rosenwald Elementary School and was moved to the New Roads Street location.
At this merger, the school was called New Roads Rosenwald High School. The name was later changed to Rosenwald High School.
In 1980, Rosenwald High was partnered with the mostly white
Poydras High School
Poydras High School was a school located on Louisiana Highway 1 in the city of New Roads, Louisiana, United States. The building formerly housing the school now houses the local historical society.
History
The school came into existence, in the e ...
as part of a desegregation plan similar to that involving
Batchelor High School and
Innis High School
Innis High School was a high school located in the village of Innis in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, United States, at 6450 Louisiana Highway 1. The school, originally called Innis Consolidated School, was established in 1906 on of land donat ...
. After Poydras High closed in 1981, Rosenwald became the only public high school in New Roads, and the only magnet high school in the parish.
It was a high school in the
Pointe Coupee Parish
Pointe Coupee Parish ( or ; french: Paroisse de la Pointe-Coupée) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 22,802; in 2020, its population was 20,758. The parish seat is New Roads.
Pointe ...
Public School system until after the 1990–91 school year, when the high school was closed down as part of a plan to combine all parish public schools into the newly formed
Pointe Coupee Central High School
Pointe Coupee Central High School was a public high school located in the Labarre area of unincorporated Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, United States, on Louisiana Highway 1.
History
Pointe Coupee Central opened in the 1991–92 school year. ...
. The school's mascots was the Trojans. It was named after the philanthropist,
Julius Rosenwald
Julius Rosenwald (August 12, 1862 – January 6, 1932) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He is best known as a part-owner and leader of Sears, Roebuck and Company, and for establishing the Rosenwald Fund, which donated millions in ...
.
The old Rosenwald High School building, located at 1100 New Roads Street, is currently Rosenwald Elementary School.
See also
*
List of Rosenwald schools
This is a list of notable Rosenwald Schools, from Texas to Virginia, from Florida to Oklahoma. There once were 5,000 or so Rosenwald Schools in the United States, primarily serving black Americans.
At least 58 of these schools are listed on the ...
References
Public high schools in Louisiana
Schools in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana
1922 establishments in Louisiana
Educational institutions disestablished in 1991
Magnet schools in Louisiana
Educational institutions established in 1922
Historically segregated African-American schools in Louisiana
Rosenwald schools in Louisiana
New Roads, Louisiana
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