The Sampson School has been recognized as a Rosenwald School, which is a most prestigious designation.  A Rosenwald School is a school that was aided in its construction by funds that were provided in part by Julius Rosenwald, an American clothier who became part-owner and president of Sears, Roebuck and Company.   Rosenwald was the founder of The Rosenwald Fund.

The need arose from the chronic underfunding of public education for African-American children in the South, as blacks had been disenfranchised at the turn of the century and excluded from the political system in that region. Black children were required to attend segregated schools.  The African American leader, Booker T. Washington, shared with Mr. Rosenwald the  plight of African-Americans’ difficulty in receiving a proper education.  Subsequently, Rosenwald contributed seed money for many of the “Rosenwald” schools and other philanthropic causes, requiring local communities to raise matching funds to increase their commitment to these projects.

The ‘ole” Sampson School was one of the schools for which Rosenwald provided the seed money.  Therefore, it is not only essential for the SHSAA, Inc. to preserve this very important part of history, but imperative that we do so, as there are only a fraction of these schools that remain due to demolition, disrepair, or destruction.