Woodville Rosenwald School Foundation

Dear Friends of the Woodville School,

We are so excited to announce that, with your help, we have met our match for the Cook Foundation grant! These funds will be used to complete the kitchen and bathroom renovations, to build a new front porch, a display space, conference room and library. We anticipate this work will be completed summer. The Foundation is deeply grateful to the Cook Foundation, the Gloucester community and our friends and supporters around the country who have contributed to this effort. The Woodville School will be a place where a very important piece of African American history will be preserved and shared.

Members of the Yorktown Rotary Club have nearly completed their work on the large classroom. Under the leadership of David Grimsley, these dedicated volunteers have restored the original beadboard walls, replaced trim and painted the large classroom. Visitors will be able to experience the classroom as it was used in the early 1900s, and the room will provide space to host events in the building.

None of this would be possible with out the expertise of our volunteer architect, Kay Van Dyke, who drew the plans and supervised all of the work to date.

February was Black History Month and March is Women's History Month, so it is the perfect time to remember the important work done by the teachers of Woodville and other African American schools. Isabella Smith was the Supervising Industrial Teacher in Gloucester County for many years. She is listed in Who’s Who in the Colored Race published in 1915. Her work brought industrial education to African American families and schools in the county. She was funded in part by the Anna T. Jeanes Fund. The fund educated and hired Black teachers and traveling supervisors for rural schools and improved African American school facilities. The "Jeanes teachers" traveled the South, providing vital support for the education of black students. In 1937 the group merged with several charities sharing similar missions and became the Southern Education Foundation.

Thank you for your continued support of the Woodville School. Happy Spring!

100% of donations go directly to charitable and educational purposes relating to the African American experience in Gloucester County. All donations are tax-deductible. Click Here for details

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Dear Friends of the Woodville School,

Your donation will be matched thanks to a generous grant from the Cook Foundation.