Smyrna Rosenwald School

Land for Mount View Church and School was given by Clem Ross in 1870, and in 1874 Richard Benson sold land to the Mount View trustees for church and school for $5; the school was built by the Ross family and the Mount View Church family. After Julius Rosenwald became interested in Booker T. Washington's efforts to improve education for African-Americans and joined him in 1913 in a program that used matching grants from 1913-1933 to help construct more than 5300 school buildings in 15 southern states, a new schoolhouse was built in 1927 from donations and the Rosenwald Fund when Rucker Hill Elementary was overcrowded and inadequate and after Mount View School had closed in 1918. Formally designated as Smyrna Rosenwald School, it was led by principal Mrs. Nannie J. Glass of Lebanon, and in 1930 Mrs. Lottie Richardson became the first Smyrna African-American child to attend high school at Holloway High in Murfreesboro. Mrs. Maude Collier became principal in 1932, and after her sudden death in 1935, Mr. A. D. Washington of Murfreesboro was assigned the position and remained principal until his untimely death in 1962. From 1935-1962, students displayed their best work at Holloway High School and the Mid State Colored Fair and won many awards for carpentry, arts and crafts, maypole platting, and music under the motto "Take what you have and make what you want." In 1959, Queen Washington, A. D. Washington's wife, and Silver Springs students transferred to the school, and Emit and Elizabeth Bishop deeded 8 acres to Rutherford County for a new school. The school was rebuilt in 1960 on the southwest side of Old Nashville Highway, with a dedication held on November 20, 1960, and after A. D. Washington's death in 1962, Mrs. Cora R. Vaughn was assigned as principal. With integration in 1967, Smyrna Rosenwald became Smyrna West, which still exists as a Rutherford County school, and in 2003 and 2005 the Town of Smyrna and the Hilltop-Rosenwald Historical Committee created Hilltop-Rosenwald Park and a replica of the original school named the Rosenwald Community Center.

Smyrna, Tennessee · United States