A historic marker commemorating the Mt. Nebo Rosenwald School was dedicated Sunday, November 10, exactly 100 years after the school first opened its doors to students in 1924.
The ceremony marked a significant milestone in preserving the legacy of African American education in rural Louisiana.
Jerry Klinger, president of the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation, attended the dedication ceremony. This marks the organization’s first funding of a Rosenwald School historical marker, highlighting the unique partnership between African American educator Booker T. Washington and Julius Rosenwald, the president of Sears, Roebuck & Company, who collaborated to improve educational opportunities for Black children across the rural South.
Oscar Augurson, one of the school’s earliest students now in his late 80s, shared his firsthand experiences in a documentary produced by the Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation. “It was congested but it worked,” Augurson recalled, describing how two classes often shared the same room in the four-classroom building. He noted that students used second-hand textbooks passed down from white schools, yet maintained that there was always a strong emphasis on respect for teachers and discipline.
The school’s establishment was a testament to community collaboration, with the Mt. Nebo Baptist Church leading local fundraising efforts. Like other Rosenwald Schools, its construction was financed through a combination of resources from the Rosenwald Fund, the local African American community, and contributions from the white community and school boards.
The dedication of this marker serves as a reminder of both the challenges and triumphs in the pursuit of education for African American children in the segregated South, preserving an important chapter in American educational history for future generations.
