Holly Hill Rosenwald School

Front: The Holly Hill Rosenwald School once stood near this location. Built 1926-27, the Holly Hill School was the third school for African American students built in the area and one of almost 500 S.C. schools funded in part by the Julius Rosenwald Foundation (1917-32). Local African American residents matched the $1,500 Rosenwald grant and the remainder of the funding for the six-teacher schoolhouse came from public sources. Reverse: Separate lunch room, home economics, and library buildings were later added. In 1946 the main school building was lost to fire. It was replaced by a new building in 1948 and in 1954 a modern high school was constructed on Pratt St. with funds from S.C.’s school equalization program. Both of the new schools were named in honor of James S. Roberts (1891-1955) who served as principal from 1929-1955.