A senate RESOLUTION

TO CONGRATULATE Retreat Rosenwald School UPON THE OCCASION OF the building's one hundredth ANNIVERSARY AND TO COMMEND THE school FOR ITS MANY YEARS OF DEDICATED SERVICE TO THE oconee COMMUNITY AND THE PEOPLE AND THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA.

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina Senate are pleased to recognize Retreat Rosenwald School as it celebrates this important milestone; and

Whereas, the Retreat Rosenwald School operated from 1924-1950 to serve the Black students in the outskirts of Westminster. The school was founded through the efforts of a partnership between Booker T. Washington and Julius Rosenwald, then president of Sears and Roebuck, to build schools for African American children in the South during the early twentieth century; and

Whereas, the school, one of ten Rosenwald schools in Oconee County, was restored through a project in 2021. The building has three main rooms consisting of two classrooms and an industrial room; and

Whereas, many Rosenwald schools were partly sponsored by African American churches. Retreat Rosenwald School was among these. The school sits on about two and a half acres donated by neighboring Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, a Black church established after the Civil War. Education was important to the church, which held reading classes on Sundays following worship; and

Whereas, Minister Ken Rogers of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, whose grandmother, Velma Childers, taught at the school, states that Retreat Rosenwald School's history remains important to the church members. Committee members celebrating the school building's anniversary hope that this celebration will bring more people to the site to learn about Rosenwald schools and the role they served for the Black community; and

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina Senate greatly appreciate the dedication and commitment of Retreat Rosenwald School to serving the people and the State of South Carolina.  Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the Senate:

That the members of the South Carolina Senate, by this resolution, congratulate Retreat Rosenwald School upon the occasion of the building's one hundredth anniversary and commend the school for its many years of dedicated service to the Oconee community and the people and the State of South Carolina.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Pleasant Hill Baptist Church.

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