Rosenwald Schools alums share stories to preserve Black history in Pender County

Browntown School
Browntown School on Highway 17 North in Pender County (Photo: Sydney Bouchelle/WWAY)

PENDER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Between 1912 and 1932, thousands of Rosenwald Schools were built across the southeastern United States for African-American children in an effort to make public education more equal.

While these schools are no longer in use and few remain, the foundation of some of these schoolhouses is still in Pender County. Along with the schools, many of the students who grew up going to them still reside in the county as well.

Emily Bradley has lived in Pender County her entire life; right across the street from Browntown School, a Rosenwald School she attended starting in the late 1930s for first through sixth grade.

“It wasn’t but one teacher there with all of the children. I thought that was kind of amazing for one person to be able to handle one through sixth grades,” Bradley said. “It wasn’t but one room in the school. They had a partition in the back where they could separate. We didn’t have no inside things, no bathroom, whatever. It was just an open room.”

The 89-year-old says every school-aged child in the community went to the school that sat right across the street from her house. They spent recess playing in the woods, packed their lunches, and enjoyed the days spent together.

“We had a good time. We didn’t know no different. We thought it was good, I did,” Bradley said. “It wasn’t easy but I think it paid off.”

Just a short distance away up Highway 17 North is another Rosenwald School, the former Sloop Point School. Dr. Johnny Batts attended there from 1948 to 1954.

What the school lacked in resources, Batts says his teacher made up in resourcefulness. When they weren’t in the classroom, he says she taught them about wildlife and the world around them.

“Sometimes she took us on field trips to different parks in Wilmington and other places, you know. She exposed us to a lot of culture. I think that’s why we went so far in life,” Batts said.

Alums of the Rosenwald Schools became heads of households, educators, and U.S. ambassadors. Dr. Batts went on to become an esteemed physicist, assisting in the development of the ultrasound scanning technique that helps detect abnormalities in the head and pioneering space exploration with NASA.

“Compare that to what we have now, they could see that we made it in spite of all odds because it seems as though the teachers then performed miracles with nothing,” Batts said.

As memories of the way things were fade, Batts and Bradley say it’s important for future generations to recognize the legacy built inside the walls of the Rosenwald Schools and realize that success can be reached with a solid foundation.

In 1956, Annadale School opened as an equalization school for Black students following the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling. The name of the school was changed to Topsail Elementary School in 1969. In an effort to preserve African-American history in Pender County, Annandale alumnus James Hansley led the effort to restore the name of Annandale School last year.

Annandale, Browntown, and Sloop Point Schools are significant pieces of history for many people. According to Hansley, this is why continuing to share the stories of what took place inside these buildings is so important.

“It’s very important for us to bring awareness to these things so that younger kids can observe that history,” Hansley said. “It’s something we want to preserve for our younger Black kids to have when they grow up.”

The Pender County Board of Education voted to rename Topsail Elementary School to Topsail-Annandale Elementary School last summer.

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