A Visitor From The East...

Tuesday, March 25th, we had visitors from Washington, DC to Sadieville.  They were Stephanie & David Deutsch. David is the great grandson of Julius Rosenwald. Stephanie is his wife. 

Julius Rosenwald worked with Booker T. Washington to build simple school buildings for the African-American children living in the south.  Booker T. Washington died only a year or so into the project. Julius Rosenwald created a foundation to keep their efforts going. One of these little schools is in Sadieville and we have restored it.

Stephanie Deutsch, has immersed herself in the history of their journey. She has written a book about this huge part of American history. She was in Kentucky to speak at Kentucky State University in Frankfort, Kentucky. She became aware of our little school and wanted to visit it. So, Stephanie and David drove to Sadieville Tuesday afternoon to see our Rosenwald School.

It was a very cold day with snow falling in spits and starts. Stephanie and David met Cindy Foster, our city clerk at City Hall. Claude and I drove over and we all drove to the Rosenwald School.

When we entered the school Stephanie was near tears.  She and David visit lots of Rosenwald schools as they travel. She was particularly touched with how we tried to stay true to the original format of this school. That, and the cold air, made her feel as the children would have felt as they went to this school.  Our school has no running water. There is a pot-bellied stove in the school to heat it.  We have electricity there now but there probably was not in their day. Stephanie related how the tradition throughout the south in these schools was for the boys to arrive first and start the fire in the pot-bellied stove so it might be a little warmer for the others as they arrived. 

Cindy also showed her a brochure that lists each of the Rosenwald Schools.  There is an icon beside those that were burned down.  A vivid reminder of the social and political climate in which they were built. 

Here are a few pictures of Stephanie and David Deutsch, Cindy Foster and Mayor Claude Christensen. In the second picture, David is looking at the picture of his great grandfather, Julius Rosenwald. In the third picture, Stephanie is signing her book. It was a lovely visit and we felt so pleased that Stephanie and David appreciated our efforts to preserve this important part of history.