Julius Rosenwald’s work was not only appreciated by the communities he touched, but inspired those communities, and many others outside of it, to get involved with the improvement of education in rural African Americans in Jim Crow South. The L1 Gallery of Atlanta, Georgia will be showcasing the photography of Dr. Horace Mann Bond (father of the late Julian Bond). Horace Mann Bond was an amateur photographer, who was able to capture Rosenwald’s work first hand in the South. You can see the exhibit through the month of October 2015 at the L1 Gallery in Atlanta, GA at 828 Ralph McGill Blvd Ste.1. Click here for more information.
The place? Ann Arbor, Michigan. The setting? A small movie theater. The time? The early ’70s. A young grad student, Aviva Kempner, sells tickets while attending college at the University of Michigan. Maybe it’s raining out- it rains a lot in Michigan, right?
Flash forward to the present:
Aviva with her friends and family
On September 24th, Aviva returned to the Michigan Theater to proudly screen her third critically acclaimed documentary with the support of her friends and family! Following the screening, she treated her town of her alma mater with a Q&A about her project and Julius Rosenwald.
Aviva Kempner and her film are mentioned in this article from Architect Magazine, written by Witold Rybczynski.
The article talks about the architectural style used for the Rosenwald schools. Booker T. Washington and Rosenwald’s concept for these projects were community self-help, the buildings were designed and made by the people who would then use them. Advising handbooks were written by Robert Robinson Taylor, who had designed buildings at Tuskegee and many HBCs.
As the school house project moved from Tuskegee to the Rosenwald Fund after the death of Washignton. Rosenwald sought advise from Fletcher Bascom Dresslar, a professor of health education at George Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville. He gave Rosenwald much advice on how to design the school buildings. He focused on functional, simple, traditional buildings. Rybczynski compares them to Shaker architecture.
Frank Lloyd Wright also proposed a design for a Rosenwald School in 1928. His version was far more ambitious, it included a courtyard with a swimming pool and a proscenium stage. Its construction would have included pioneering use of concrete and fieldstone that he would use on later buildings. Wright’s Rosenwald School was never built, probably because it would have been too expensive.
Even with their traditional appearance, the schools incorporated many innovative elements. One example was removable walls, which meant that two classrooms could be combined into one larger room. Classrooms were arranged with large windows facing east and west, which gave the highest possible amount of sunlight to the individual rooms. As many of the buildings did not have electricity, this was a necessary feature.
In total, there were 5,357 Rosenwald schools, shop houses, and teacher’s houses built. Despite arson, vandalism and deliberate neglect from white communities, most remained in use until the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling went into effect in 1954 and specifically black schools were no longer a necessity. Since then, many have fallen into disrepair. However, The National Trust For Historic Preservation is working to restore many of the schools. Additionally, many of the buildings have found new uses as town halls, community centers, and more.
We had a wonderful screening of Rosenwald on Wednesday night at Landmark Theaters Midtown Arts Cinema in Atlanta, Georgia. Andy Young’s daughter was in attendance and made a public statement about the importance of the film. Atlanta City Councilman Michael Bond, the son of Julius, was also there and spoke to Aviva about the film in a discussion moderated by M. Alexis Scott. Scott is the Publisher Emerita of the Atlanta Daily World and is also a member of Fox 5’s Georgia Gang.
This screening was presented with the help of the Atlanta American Jewish Committee, The Black-Jewish Coalition, and the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival. We thank them for making this possible.
Regular showings in Atlanta begin on September 18 at the same theater. Aviva will also be making an appearance on the opening night.
People in the DC area can see author Wil Haygood at Politics and Prose this Sunday at 5:00 pm. He will be discussing his new book, Showdown: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court Nomination that Changed America. In his book, Haygood details the impact Marshall had on the Supreme Court and examines the cases he faced during his time in that position. Haygood has written many biographies of notable African Americans before. He has previously written books on Sammy Davis Jr., Sugar Ray Robinson, and Adam Clay Powell Jr.
Politics and Prose is located at 5015 Connecticut Avenue NW Washington DC 20008.
While you’re in DC, be sure to check out the Thurgood Marshall Center for Service and Heritage at 1816 12th Street NW, between S and T Streets. This center is located at the former site of the first YMCA founded for African Americans. The corner stone was placed by Theodore Roosevelt and the YMCA was supported by Julius Rosenwald at the request of President Taft after the grant given by John D. Rockefeller and matched by a groundbreaking fundraising effort with in the black community fell short. The building’s history weaves around the various forms of the Civil Rights movement and has been an active part of the DC community for a century. You can easily reach it by getting off the Metro at the U Street – Cardozo station. It’s just a few blocks away.
On September 1st, Aviva Kempner made an appearance at the Old Greenbelt Theater in Greenbelt, Maryland. In attendance were members of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
Aviva with some Delta Sigma Theta sisters
Ten days later, September 11th, Aviva headed to Baltimore, Maryland where Rosenwald was slated to begin screening at the Charles Theater. She was joined at the screening by a special guest:
It is unknown as to whether or not the penguin had, in fact, attended a Rosenwald school
In addition to a penguin, Aviva was joined by an even more special guest; The King Years trilogy author, Taylor Branch. After the screening, Branch joined Aviva in a discussion on Julius Rosenwald, Civil Rights Movement and Julian Bond.
Branch and Kempner answer questions form the audience
Rosenwald opened up to a full house on September 12, as an exorbitant number of people, including relatives, came out for the premiere at the Real Art Ways theater in Hartford, CT.
Peter Ascoli sits below a painting of his grandfather, Julius Rosenwald at the Standard Club where postcards promoting the film were left. Rosenwald was a member of the Club.
It’s no secret that Julius Rosenwald was a strong supporter of the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, especially when you stop to consider the fact that he was the one that converted the The Palace of Fine Arts into the museum we know today. With this in mind, it’s no surprise that the Chicago Community Trust organized a special screening of the film, Rosenwald at the Museum of Science and Industry on September 3rd. After the screening was a panel consisting of Jewish United Fund president Steven Nasatir, Chicago educator Dr. Barbara Bowman, director Aviva Kempner, and Peter Ascoli, the grandson of Julius Rosenwald.
Aviva takes the stage
Pictured: Steven Nasatir, Dr. Barbara Bowman, Aviva Kempner, and Peter Ascoli
Julius Rosenwald awarded a fellowship to my father, Charles R. Drew, M.D., in 1932 when he was on the verge of dropping out of McGill Medical School. His father had been laid off as a carpet layer in Virginia due to the depression. In his letter of thanks for the fellowship my father said “It is my constant hope that I shall be able at some time to add some new thought, discover some new process or create something which will prevent or cure disease, alleviate suffering or give men a chance to live and thereby (I can) in part repay the debt which I am happy to acknowledge.” Spencie Love, One Blood, University of North Carolina Press, 1996, p. 116. Later, based on a thesis titled “Banked Blood” written for a Doctorate at Columbia, he was chosen as Medical Director of Blood for Britain, an emergency project to send liquid plasma to British soldiers on battlefields in France during World War II. . Based on that performance, the Red Cross called upon him to set up their first stored plasma Red Cross Blood Bank, a New York City program that became the model for blood collection all over the country. Spencie Love,16. Julius Rosenwald made prescient philanthropic investments in the education of African Americans to the lasting betterment of our nation, and in my father’s case, saving lives, still, across the world.
-Sylvia Drew Ivie, daughter of Dr. Charles R. Drew
Charles Drew
To hear more about Dr. Charles R. Drew’s story, don’t forget to see Rosenwald, in theaters now. Click here to find a screening near you!
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