The Rosenwald Centennial Project
MEDIA KITS
“BACK TO OUR ROOTS” An afternoon of "Old School Jams” on the Old Rosenwald School Grounds in the Huntsville Woods on Earth Day...
For Immediate Release:
WHAT: Rosenwald School Acres’ EarthDayJamFest
WHEN: April 21, 2023 • 3-8pm: “Back to Our Roots” Rosenwald Earth Day “Old School” Music Festival
WHERE: The original Rosenwald School # 1 Grounds, 639 Rosenwall, Huntsville, TX 77340
FREE ADMISSION…Benefiting The Samuel W. Houston Museum and the Founders' Kittrell-Wilson Cemetery Renovation
More info: www.earthdayjamfest.com; Email: rosenwaldacres@gmail.com; Text: 832-598-7469
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“BACK TO OUR ROOTS” Earth Day Music Festival: An afternoon of "Old School Jams” in the Huntsville Woods on Earth Day, April 22, 2023, from 12-7pm. This free spring outdoor celebration on the 100 year old Rosenwald School grounds will feature musicians, singers, poets and storytellers, vendors, food trucks, and artisans! LOCATION: 639 Rosenwall Rd., Huntsville Texas, 77340. Vendor booths $50 & $75.
More information: rosenwaldacres@gmail.com • www.EarthDayJamFest.com
SPONSORS (as of Feb 2023): H-E-B, Gingartum Root Juice, Texas Coffee News, The Houston Sun, Awesome Without Borders, The Houston Informer Foundation, TexasMedieval, Dr. Winnie King, KCOH-AM, KHVL-104.9, Yummy Yummy Mongolian Grill, Texas Medieval, The Granary, ButlerWiseman, Sam’s Table Restaurant, American Flip Factory, MoShows.com, The Wiseman Company, Dr. & Mrs. KG Belle, Judith Groudine Finkel, Michelle Paschall, The Fusilier, Kittrell, Vann and Wilson Families
MEDIA PARTNERS...
You are vital to the success of this event! Please note that Rosenwald Acres and the staff and volunteers of Sam W. Houston Museum and the Kittrell Wilson family wish to thank everyone supporting this Centennial Celebration:
QUICK LINKS:
EARTH DAY Digital eBrochure:
EARTH DAY "BACK TO OUR ROOTS MUSIC FEST in Huntsville TX...FREE ADMISSION!
April 22, 12-7pm...
More information Email: rosenwaldacres@gmail.com
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CAN'T COME? ...WE'VE GOT ZOOM
TO VISIT THE FESTIVAL REMOTELY.
Visit Facebook live or ZOOM...
(To be activated on April 22, 2023 at 3pm)...
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84660418331?pwd=L2wvRTB2MmsvbDdvWUdUWm5UcFRaQT09
Meeting ID: 846 6041 8331
Passcode: Rosenwald
A History of Huntsville’s Tuskeegee-Rosenwald School:
For Immediate Release:
WHAT: Rosenwald School Acres’ EarthDayJamFest
WHEN: April 21, 2024 • 3-8pm: “Back to Our Roots” Rosenwald Earth Day “Old School” Music Festival
WHERE: The original Rosenwald School # 1 Grounds, 639 Rosenwall, Huntsville, TX 77340
FREE ADMISSION… More info: www.earthdayjamfest.com; Email: rosenwaldacres@gmail.com; Text: 832-598-7469
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SPONSORS (as of Mar 2023): H-E-B, Gingartum Root Juice, Texas Coffee News, The Houston Sun, Awesome Without Borders, The Houston Informer Foundation, TexasMedieval,, Dr. Winnie King, KCOH-AM, KHVL-104.9, Yummy Yummy Mongolian Grill, The Granary, ButlerWiseman, , American Flip Factory, MoShows.com, The Wiseman Company, Ronnie Carter. Larry Mitchell, Dr. & Mrs. KG Belle, Judith Groudine Finkel, The Wiseman, Fusilier, Kittrell, Vann and Wilson Families ...& more...
HISTORY
Julius Rosenwald (1862-1932) was a Chicago businessman, philanthropist and part-owner of Sears, Roebuck and Company whose Jewish family fled persecution in Europe. Rosenwald believed all Americans deserve an education. 1912: He established the Rosenwald Fund for "the well-being of mankind” and began to work with educator/former slave, Booker T. Washington and his Tuskegee Institute to build 5,300+ rural school buildings for over 600,00 Black children in 15 southern states. January, 2021: The Julius Rosenwald and Rosenwald Schools Act was signed into Congress.
Professor John Wesley Wilson (1860-1948), (son of George Wilson and Virginia Houston Wilson). An English Instructor, John and his wife, Amarintha Kittrell Wilson (1864-1944) were concerned about providing a formal education for their little brown grandchildren. In 1921, the couple transferred 2 acres of land to the Huntsville ISD and raised the matching funds to create Rosenwald School #1: A 2-room school house with a Well, Kitchen and separate Girl / Boy Outhouses.
Professor Samuel W. Houston (1864 -1945), a prolific educator, John Wesley Wilson’s 1st cousin and son of Joshua Houston (Texas’ 1st Black County Commissioner), built several Huntsville Texas educational institutions with multiple grants from The Rosenwald Fund…including Texas’ first Vocational Educational Boarding School for Black youth on Highway 30. The Samuel Walker Houston Museum is currently housed in the same building where Samuel W Houston High School, then Elementary school, educated thousands.
1921-1962: Rosenwald School#1 Head Teacher Esther Bridges, with educators such as Thelma McGuire and returning alumni Maddy Jewel Walker and Mary Helen Wilson Wiseman, M.Ed. (granddaughter of John and Amarintha) plus support from the community allowed Rosenwald to grow in size & popularity. "Rosenwald School Road”* became the place to be for local meetings, basketball games, socials, picnics, horseback and foot races. (*The road’s name was eventually shortened and inaccurately spelled "Rosenwall Road.)
1962: Rosenwald School was demolished and the land auctioned to David Branch who, in 1963, sold it back to Charlie Wilson (John and Amarintha’s eldest son). 1966: Mary Helen asked her father to will the beloved school grounds to her.
2020: Rosenwald, inherited by Mary’s eldest daughter, Kijana Wiseman-Fusilier, M.Ed. (Kijana.com); and granddaughters, Joy Wiseman and LaTanya Brooks, M.Ed. (GrowWithStem.com). They are preparing the land for a new multi-generational family homestead with solar-powered AWG (Atmospheric Water Generation) instead of a well; and Boxabl™ casitas that utilize earth-friendly, zero-impact, renewable energy (Boxabl.com). Special thanks to our Sponsors and the Kittrell, Wilson, Spivey, Wiley, Grisby, Vann, Moten, Glaze, Carter, Davidson, and Moore families for their assistance!
4/22/2024 • Sun • 3-8pm at 639 Rosenwall Road, Huntsville, TX 77340:
The third annual “Back to Our Roots” EARTH DAY MUSIC FESTIVAL celebrates the Rosenwald School Historic Legacy while raising funds for Huntsville’s Kittrell-Wilson Cemetery behind the festival grounds where school Founders, Students and Alumni are buried; plus the historic preservation projects of The Houston Informer Foundation, Inc and
Walker County’s original Tuskegee - Rosenwald School Acres.
Information Distribution Opportunities…
JOIN US!
Media Partners!
You are vital to the success of this event! Please note that Rosenwald Acres and the staff and volunteers of Sam W. Houston Museum and the Kittrell Wilson family wish to thank everyone supporting this Celebration.
More information Email: rosenwaldacres@gmail.com
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TO VISIT THE FESTIVAL REMOTELY.
Visit Facebook live or ZOOM...
THE ZOOM LINKS WILL GO LIVE
at 3PM on APRIL 22, 2023...
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84660418331?pwd=L2wvRTB2MmsvbDdvWUdUWm5UcFRaQT09
Meeting ID: 846 6041 8331
Passcode: Rosenwald
Historic Perspective...
Samuel W. Houston and the Julius Rosenwald Fund...
One hundred years ago, a public school education was a dream for most Black children in the South.
1912: The president of Sears & Roebuck, a jewish man named Julius Rosenwald decided to work with Tuskegee Institute to donate $63 million of his personal fortune to build over 5,000 schools in 15 states —expanding opportunity for over 600,000 young minds.
1921: Professors Samuel W. Houston was the son of Joshua Houston, Texas'1st African American County Commissioner. He, his college English professor cousin, John Wesley Wilson and John's well-educated wife Amarintha Kittrell Wilson took advantage of the "Rosenwald Fund" and founded schools in the Huntsville, Walker county area that impressed, astonished and improved the futures of thousands of young lives.
Huntsville's Rosenwald Schools...
Rosenwald School#1 was a small, 2 room school with a well, kitchen and separate outhouses for boys and girls. The school and grounds served as a community center for meetings, events, picnics, and a "hangout" after work. "Rosenwald School Road" was the place to go for horse & foot races, basketball, contests and other sporting events. (The name was later later shortened & misspelled as "Rosenwall Road.”)
The Galilee County Training School morphed into the Samuel Walker Houston Industrial and Training Institute on Highway 30. This was also Texas' first boarding school for African American children. The curriculum included occupational skills: carpentry, plumbing, sewing, cosmetology, and general maintenance. Prof. Houston insisted that students' liberal arts training include linguistics, fine art and music classes.
The institution was the pride of Huntsville with funding from the local community and outside sources, including a grant from the General Education Board of New York and generous support form the Rosenwald, Jeanes, Slater, Smith-Hughes, Smith-Lever Funds. The Samuel W. Houston High School followed and was located on the site where the current Museum and Culture Center stands.
The Past...
The Kittrell-Wilson Cemetery This 130 year old family cemetery is where many of the founders and custodians of Huntsville's original Rosenwald School#1 are buried.
Located behind the school grounds, it is is badly in need of a new culvert, improved access road, gate and headstone replacement, supplementation and/or repair.
The Present...
The descendants of the Kittrell-Wilson family are raising funds to restore and maintain the Kittrell-Wilson Cemetery and help the Samuel Walker Museum relocate to a new building on the original site of the Samuel Walker Houston Industrial and Training Institute on Highway 30.
Currently the family is preparing the land for earth-friendly, "off-the-grid" solar-powered habitation with a totally green footprint by investing in renewable and sustainability trends:
SOLAR AND WATER UTILITIES:
We are taking advantage of next-level improvements in solar panels for our electrical power. For our water needs, instead of digging the typical rural-area wells, we are installing solar-powered atmospheric water generation and rain-water harvesting powered by solar panels.
The Future.
PLANS ARE TO USE SOLAR-POWER TO CREATE WATER FROM THE ATMOSPHERE (AWG) AND EXPAND TO SOLAR-POWERED BOXABL™ CASITAS.
*Boxabl Casitas (boxabl.com) are built in a factor--like a car. come ready for green energy attachment, and are scientifically engineered (15 patents) to be resistant to mold, wind, water and fire damage. (See more at the link below.)
THE EARTH DAY FESTIVAL. Sponsors and info....
“BACK TO OUR ROOTS”
“BACK TO OUR ROOTS.” Earth Day Music Festival:
Charity Affiliate:
Samuel Walker Museum and Cultural Center.
Non Profit Organization NPO # 73-1720777
An afternoon of "Old School Jams” in the Huntsville Woods on Earth Day, April 22, 2023, from 3-8pm. This free spring celebration of newly reclaimed historic land and a return to earth-friendly living will feature live entertainment, vendors, food trucks, artisans, poets and storytellers on 2 acres of the 100 year old Rosenwald School grounds, 639 Rosenwall Rd., Huntsville Texas, 77340. Sponsor Opportunities + Vendor Booths $50 & $75
Proceeds to benefit the Samuel Walker Museum and Cultural Center. ( NPO # 73-1720777) and the Kittrell Wilson Cemetery where the founders and many of the caregivers of the Rosenwald School #1 are buried.
Join US!...
Free Family Fun...
THE “BACK TO OUR ROOTS" EARTH DAY MUSIC FESTIVAL
LIVE ARTISTS AND BANDS:
Motown, Blues, Vaudeville, Jazz & Country!
ON THE OLD ROSENWALD SCHOOL GROUNDS ON APRIL 21!
ROSENWALD SCHOOL ACRES, 639 Rosenwall Rd, Huntsville, TX 77340
FREE ADMISSION: April 21, 2024 • 3-8pm