On Oct. 12, Darrell Edwards of Ansonville asked me a question on Facebook — had I ever conducted any research on the Rosenwald schools that had been built in Anson County during the time period of 1917 to 1930?
Not actually expecting to locate any information, I discovered the following newspaper article in the files of the Anson County Historical Society office from the Express News issue of May 22, 1991 – “The Old Ingram School.”
Mr. Julius Rosenwald who was a successful merchant & philanthropist from the Chicago area established the Julius Rosenwald fund in 1917. Its chief purpose was to improve the education of African American children in the United States. In 1928 the fund had $40,000 in assets & had been effective nationwide, put more effective in the rural south.
Several country schools were built in Anson County thanks to Mr. Rosenwald. One such school even though abandoned for many years is the old Ingram School house, which is located on Ingram Mountain Road, northwest of Lilesville. The old school is located several hundred feet to the right of Pee Dee Baptist Church and not far from the Joseph Ingram Plantation owned by the Ross Family near the Pee Dee River. According to Darrell Edwards, it was about 10 years ago when he took pictures of the old school building and it was almost hidden from view by overgrown bushes.
According to the Express account, the Ingram School building was a three-room, wood-framed building. It was at that school in the year 1937 that Mr. Reece Sinclair began his teaching career. Mr. Sinclair and two other educators were in charge of 90 children that were in the 1st grade though the 7th grade. Mr. Sinclair’s salary at Ingram School in 1937 was $61 per month. The teachers would take a taxi from town. It would be six years before Sinclair would purchase his first car.
Students walked to school from the nearby farms on the then-dirt roads. The school day started at 8:30 a.m. and ended at 3:30 p.m. with one hour for recess. The children attended school in July and August and then dismissed until November, whereas November through May completed the school year. This system was known as the “split term” school year, which enabled the children to help out on the farm.
Come visit with me at the historical society office to learn more and thanks to Darrell Edwards for being my inspiration to compile this article of some forgotten history.
Steve Bailey is employed with the Anson County Historical Society and has specialized in local African-American family history for 20 years.