Staff and board members of TPT with trustees of the Cairo Improvement Club, owners of the Cairo Rosenwald School.
The Tennessee Preservation Trust is pleased to partner with the Cairo Rosenwald School in Gallatin, one of seventeen Rosenwald Schools selected to receive a generous restoration grant from Lowe’s and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Since 2006 Lowe’s has worked with the National Trust to provide $3 million for brick and mortar projects through the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation. This year’s grants support Rosenwald Schools, the schools for African-American children funded by philanthropist Julius Rosenwald.
The Cairo Rosenwald School, located just outside Gallatin in Sumner County, is owned and maintained by the Cairo Improvement Club. Trustees of the Cairo Improvement Club worked with the MTSU Center for Historic Preservation and the Tennessee Preservation Trust to complete the grant application. The Cairo Rosenwald School was constructed in 1925, served as a public school until 1959, and continues to operate as a center for meetings and other events. The funds will be used to stabilize the foundation, repair the roof, update electrical work, and restore the building to its original design. Once complete, it will continue to serve as a community and meeting center and rental facility for events.
Sign in front of Cairo School states, "This project is assisted by a grant from the Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation through a fund administered by the National Trust for Historic Preservation."
TPT Executive Director Dan Brown notes, “The Cairo Rosenwald School represents how a building can anchor its community, providing a space for education and fellowship that is shared by generations. TPT is pleased to join the National Trust and Lowe’s to preserve this important local landmark.”
The Rosenwald Schools represent an important chapter in the history of the United States. Originally built by Julius Rosenwald and Booker T. Washington between 1918 and 1932 as part of a school-building program for African Americans in the rural South, today only about 10 percent of the over 5,300 buildings constructed remain standing, and many are in serious disrepair. The National Trust for Historic Preservation named Rosenwald schools to its list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in 2002. For more information on the National Trust’s Rosenwald Schools Initiative, go to www.rosenwaldschools.com.
Work on Cairo School is expected to start in mid-summer. Keep up with the progress on this webpage, in upcoming Network newsletters, and at the June 5th-7th statewide preservation conference in Columbia and Spring Hill.
