Honoring the past: Allen Grove-Rosenwald School
History in Halifax remembers early African-American education

by Jacqueline Hough
The Daily Herald Staff Writer
Published/Last Modified on Tuesday, October 20, 2009 1:39 PM EDT

HALIFAX — When Brenda Boone Hamilton walks through the doors of the Allen Grove-Rosenwald School, she thinks about how many dedicated people worked hard to make the school and many others a reality.

Jacqueline Hough | The Daily Herald Viola Pittman Boone and Geraldine Pittman Clark sang during the program at the Allen Grove Rosenwald School Saturday. Both are the only two living children of Cary Pittman.

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“Oral history is so important,” she said. “History books don’t always tell the full story.”

She was one of many family members and others who honored the vision of Cary Pittman during a program Saturday at the Allen Grove-Rosenwald School. Hamilton is the granddaughter of Pittman. Her mother, Viola Pittman Boone, and her aunt, Geraldine Pittman Clark, are the only living children of Pittman.

“The journey which led us here today began some time ago when our ancestors crossed the Atlantic Ocean as free people or slaves,” Hamilton said.

Pittman was a prominent African-American farmer, building contractor and community leader, who was responsible for building the Allen Grove-Rosenwald School, now a historical site in Halifax. He was also responsible for the construction of at least 24 Rosenwald Schools during the early 1900s.

The rural Rosenwald School building program was a major effort to improve the quality of public education for African-Americans in the south in the early 20th century.

Guest speaker Congressman G.K. Butterfield spoke about the history of the Rosenwald Schools. “I have a keen interest in African-American history and the plight of people to get an education,” Butterfield said.

In 1912, Julius Rosenwald gave Booker T. Washington permission to use some of the money he donated to the Tuskegee Institute for the construction of six small schools in rural Alabama, which were constructed and opened in 1913 and 1914. Rosenwald was the president of Sears Roebuck and Company. “He was the Bill Gates of his era,” Butterfield said. “He was a wealthy man.”

In 1917, Rosenwald set up the Julius Rosenwald Fund with $20 million. By 1928, one in every five rural schools for black students in the South was a Rosenwald School and these schools housed one third of the region’s rural black schoolchildren and teachers.

Butterfield said the largest number of schools were in North Carolina with 800 of them.

By the time the program concluded in 1932, it had produced 4,977 new schools, 217 teachers’ homes and 163 shop buildings, constructed at a total cost of $28.4 million to serve 663,615 students in 883 counties of 15 states.

The Rosenwald Fund required local communities to raise matching funds for school construction and African-American communities were up for the challenge, he said.

Pittman collaborated with members of the local community and with leaders such as Booker T. Washington, to construct public schools in Halifax County. As a result of these efforts, records reflect a greater number of Rosenwald schools were built in Halifax County than in any county in the state.

He talked about his family’s connection to the Rosenwald schools. When Butterfield’s mother finished elementary school in the seventh grade, she had two options — go to work or continue on with education, if family had connections.

Her father was a Baptist minister so she finished her high school education at Shaw University. His father was in college at Shaw. After completing high school, Butterfield’s mother went to a teachers’ home in Garysburg where she taught at a Rosenwald School in 1923.

“After a teaching career in Garysburg, she came home to Wilson in 1928 and married my father,” he said.

After his speech, Butterfield received the first Julius Rosenwald/Cary Pittman Public Service Award, which will be an annual award given.

Lauren R. Hamilton, the great-granddaughter of Pittman, said Butterfield received the award because he is a distinguished person in the community and his family has roots here.

Butterfield said he would cherish the award.

During the program, some of Pittman’s descendants shared memories about him.

Cary Pittman III said education is the wealth of his family. “Education served as a pivotal point in Grandpa Cary’s life,” he said.

Pittman noted the apple didn’t fall far from the tree since many members of the family had careers in education.

“Education is our most valuable wealth,” he said. “This education legacy started in 1905 and got passed down to us.”

Margaret Bell Hawkins said her grandfather was the “backbone to the family.”

She has been tracing the family’s ancestry and it goes back to England.

Hawkins said, “I look at this building and know he did some skillful work for this building to still be standing today.”

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Comments

Kristen Pittman Redd wrote on Nov 6, 2009 10:50 AM:

" Thank you for the article recognizing the legacy of Cary Pittman.I remember as a child the many stories my father would share at the dinner table about my great grandfather and his accomplishments within his craft and community but most of all his family. It was wonderful to read this article and to be able to share it with our children, and even better to see them grasp the connection between family history and American history. "

Anita D. Wills wrote on Oct 26, 2009 2:23 PM:

" I can recall having dialog with my mother-in-law, Almyra Pittman-Wills, who fondly expressed an extreme sense of pride in her father's contribution in building the Allen-Grove Rosenwald School. His achievements symbolized the importance of eduacation for African-Americans. We applaud his dedication, vision and committment to both his family and communitity. Thank you for sharing his story and honoring his memory! "

Cary Pittman IV wrote on Oct 25, 2009 11:08 PM:

" Although I wish my family and I could have attended first hand, I am glad we can read an account of the program here and history of Allen Grove-Rosenwald School. "

Christine Pittman wrote on Oct 25, 2009 4:46 PM:

" What would Cary Pittman think about his grandchildren and all of his great grandchildren who have gone on to seize a higher education and who have achieved/who are fastidiously cultivating their careers in government, education, business and private ventures, inclusive of grands and great grands who have secured their Master degrees and great great grands who will certainly have no barriers to securing their PhD's! Our family is peppered with education professionals, engineering professionals, government employees, chaplain, electrician, public servants, nurse, women who have achieved higher education goals, an Ivy Leaguer, financial vp's, model mothers, and dynamic dads...certainly no small minded or limited horizons in the bunch. This can all be traced to a solid foundation laid by Cary's efforts giving the family its core values of hard work, persistence, and love of family. Our job is to keep the story alive and the torch lit for each up and coming generation. "

Ivy Pittman wrote on Oct 21, 2009 8:33 PM:

" I didn't know my great-grandfather, Cary Pittman, but ironically I graduated from Tuskegee Institute (now University) not realizing that he had known Booker T. Washington. Destiny is an interesting phenomena. Thank you for sharing this rich history. "

Glenda Boney Utley wrote on Oct 21, 2009 1:37 PM:

" I remember my mother, the late Marie Boney, telling me about the Allen Grove-Rosenwald School many years ago. This particular School was previously located off highway 561 just down the street from Allen Grove Baptist Church, where I grew up. I agree with Ms. Brenda Boone Hamilton "Oral history is so important. History books don't always tell the full story." "

Jacqueline Bell Pyatt wrote on Oct 20, 2009 9:27 PM:

" Thank you for the story about the program at Allen Grove-Rosenwald School honoring my grandfather, Cary Pittman.It was a fitting tribute to a man who played such a pivotal role in the building of Rosenwald schools in North Carolina and especially the historic Allen Grove site. We honor his legacy by sharing the story of his accomplishments, by encouraging the pursuit of educational excellence and by continuing his commitment to community service. "

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