The O.H. Bernard Rosenwald School and Community Center

On this site in the early 1920s the Ali Vesta School opened as the first school in Hickman County to provide educational opportunities for African Americans. It was a two-room building that accommodated approximately eighty students and two teachers. In 1930 it was replaced by a Rosenwald School, named after Rosenwald State Agent Ollie H. Bernard. The Bernard School became the only school in the county for African American students in grades one through twelve. As a result of desegregation. the Bernard School closed in May 1969. In 1979, a Bernard School reunion attracted some 250 people, including former students, teachers, family, and community members, with almost every graduating class represented. Following a ground- swell of support to save and renovate the Bernard School, a group of alumni purchased the building in 2006, and with community supporters, founded the Bernard Community Center, Inc., providing economic, social, and educational benefits to the community.