Northern Neck Now

The Julius Rosenwald High School, originally known as the Northumberland County Training School, was one of only seven two-story schools in Virginia constructed utilizing Tuskegee Institute designs for buildings that offered educational opportunities in industrial education to the first generation of African Americans born after Reconstruction. Of the 306 Rosenwald-funded schools that populated the Virginia landscape, the form and architectural integrity of the Julius Rosenwald High School attests to the “industrial” training that white communities deemed acceptable for Black students. Only one training school was built per county in Virginia. This exceptionally well-preserved, two-story, six-room, wood-frame school provided educational opportunities for generations of African American students from the Reedville area, and towns across Northumberland County as far away as 30 miles or more.

Julius Rosenwald High School