Hope School Community Center – Pomaria, South Carolina

The Hope School Community Center, originally called the Hope Rosenwald School, is located in Newberry County near Pomaria. It was built in 1925 and used as a school for African-American children until the US Supreme Court ruled against separate but equal laws in 1954.

Between 1917 and 1932, over 5,000 schools were built in the rural South to educate African-American children. They were called Rosenwald Schools in honor of Julius Rosenwald, then president of Sears and Roebuck, who provided the majority of funds for their construction.

During the 1950s, South Carolina began a “separate but equal” building spree in an effort to forestall integration. While the Hope School predates the SC Equalization School building spree, its history is similar to many of the schools built during this era.

After the Hope School closed, it was used by the church next door as storage and meeting space. Locals and alumni began a restoration effort in 2007, and in 2009 the school was rededicated as Hope School Community Center.

Learn more about other Rosenwald Schools and SC historically black schools.

The Hope Rosenwald School is listed in the National Historic Register, where you can find many great historical photos of the school.

SCIWAY thanks Ann Helms of Spartanburg for submitting this picture she took in 2010.