Rosenwald.Archive.Fisk

We are delighted to invite you to a special in-person celebration on June 5, 2026, honoring the launch of the Rosenwald Archive online database and the community that has sustained and preserved this history. This landmark portal reflects decades of stewardship dedicated to safeguarding the Julius Rosenwald Fund Archives (1912–1948) and ensuring their accessibility for generations to come.

This expansive resource reveals the living record of Julius Rosenwald’s visionary philanthropic commitment to Black communities—from the Rosenwald School building fund cards that helped seed more than 5,000 schools across fifteen states, to photographs of communities in motion, to fellowship applications and correspondence from a remarkable “Who’s Who” of twentieth-century artists, scholars, and leaders who helped shape the Harlem Renaissance and beyond.
On June 5, 2026, we will gather to celebrate this achievement, and it would be our honor to have you join us. Additional RSVP details, including the program and event time, will be shared soon.
We extend our deepest gratitude to the Mellon Foundation for its generous support of the Forging Future Pathways Forward Project at Fisk University, as well as to our partner institutions and the archivists, librarians, historians, technologists, and community partners whose decades of dedication made this unifying resource possible.

We especially welcome Fisk University and Rosenwald School alumni, families whose histories are reflected in these records, stewards of Jewish and Black history, educators, genealogists, social scientists, librarians, archivists, and friends of the project. Your presence affirms our shared commitment to preserving and sharing history in ways that inspire research, teaching, creative work, and community memory.

Please save the date for June 5, 2026. We look forward to celebrating with you and unveiling a resource designed to connect past, present, and future.

Sincerely,

Forging Future Pathways Forward Team
Julius Rosenwald Fund Archive
Fisk University

Today, we honor Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois—scholar, activist, and architect of modern Black thought—on his birthday and during Black History Month, celebrating a legacy that continues to shape global conversations on race, democracy, and justice. A proud alumnus of Fisk University, Du Bois’s intellectual foundations were forged in Tennessee, where his early experiences as a student and teacher sharpened his lifelong commitment to truth‑seeking and social transformation.

Du Bois’s impact extended deeply into the philanthropic vision of the Julius Rosenwald Fund, which recognized his unparalleled contributions to African American scholarship. The Fund counted Du Bois among its distinguished grantees, supporting leading Black intellectuals whose work advanced education, culture, and civil rights. Archival correspondence shows Du Bois in active dialogue with the Fund, recommending emerging scholars and shaping the pipeline of Black academic excellence.

The Rosenwald Fund’s mission—to uplift Black communities through education and investment in visionary leaders—aligned profoundly with Du Bois’s own. His sociological studies, political writings, and global Pan‑African advocacy embodied the very ideals the Fund sought to amplify.

As we celebrate his life, we honor a thinker whose brilliance illuminated pathways for generations, and whose partnership with Rosenwald philanthropy strengthened the foundations of Black intellectual and cultural history.

The Rosenwald Archive at Fisk University highlights two pioneering 1944 Rosenwald Fellows whose work shaped the cultural and intellectual landscape of the 20th century: Thelma D. Ackiss and Thelma Johnson Streat.

Ackiss, an accomplished scholar and D.C. attorney, used her fellowship to conduct a groundbreaking socio‑historical study of Black life in Houston—examining race relations, education, politics, religion, and economics. Her work drew upon her upbringing in Oklahoma and her undergraduate years in Texas, where the intertwined histories of Black and Mexican communities shaped her research focus.

Streat, a modernist painter, performer, and educator, received her fellowship to create the mural Death of Black Sailor. Already recognized by MoMA, she used art, dance, and intercultural engagement to challenge prejudice across the U.S., Mexico, Haiti, and Canada.

Together, their legacies exemplify Rosenwald’s enduring impact on scholarship, art, and social understanding.

Elizabeth Catlett and Jacob Lawrence were groundbreaking artists whose work shaped modern American art by centering Black life, labor, and political resistance. Both were recipients of Julius Rosenwald Fellowships—Lawrence in 1940–41 and Catlett in 1945–46—which supported their creative development at pivotal moments and affirmed the importance of Black artists telling their own stories.

Catlett, a seminal sculptor and printmaker, addressed Black womanhood, social justice, and political resistance through works that blended modernist form with advocacy. Lawrence, a prolific painter and visual storyteller, is perhaps best known for narrative series chronicling African American history, including The Migration Series.

Working within modernist principles of simplification, abstraction, and emphasis on form, both artists oriented modernism toward Black history, labor, and collective experience. Scholars such as Dalila Scruggs situate Catlett within a Black modernist or social modernist lineage. Through innovative approaches to form, texture, and composition, their work demonstrates how aesthetic experimentation and cultural expression moved in tandem, producing new visual languages grounded in collectivity, historical storytelling, and political purpose.

Are you ready to paint THIS THURSDAY?? We’re ready for you! Our new date for the event is this Thursday. All painting materials will be provided.

Join us THURSDAY, February 12th, in room 321 of the Franklin Library, 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Rosenwald valued dignity in design. What value would shape your design for a schoolhouse if you were to receive a School Fund grant today?

All skill levels are welcome! And, we have some prompts to help you start imagining your schoolhouse:

What shapes will you use for its foundation? Why?
What colors or materials will your school be? Are the materials locally accessible or imported?
How many students and teachers will fit inside? What will class sizes be?
What is the name of your school?
What surrounds your school? Where is it built?

Hope to see you there!

Marian Anderson lifted her voice at a time when doing so demanded extraordinary courage. When Marian sang, walls came down.

Tonight, experience the force of her story live.
Nashville Opera presents When Marian Sang — a dramatic reading of Pam Muñoz Ryan’s celebrated book, interwoven with musical excerpts that illuminate the beauty, courage, and groundbreaking artistry of Anderson’s career.

Join us for an evening that honors a legacy and lets her voice rise again..
Thursday, February 5
5:30pm at the Fisk Franklin Library, 2nd floor
FREE Admission
Find more info at: http://bit.ly/4qjiHho

As a Rosenwald Fellow, Anderson received vital support to study abroad during a pivotal moment in her career. That investment helped shape the artistry that would one day move the world.

With resilience, persistence, and a voice that reshaped what was possible, she opened doors for generations of Black opera singers.

In 1939, after being barred from performing at Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution, Anderson sang instead on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial before a crowd of 75,000. Her performance became a defining moment in American civil rights history — a voice rising against exclusion with dignity and power.

MLK Day Special: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in His Own Words Today is the federal holiday that honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was born January 15, 1929. He was assassinated April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was just 39 years old. While Dr. King is primarily remembered as a civil rights leader, he also championed the cause of...

Come join us for an evening of watercolor painting in the Franklin Library on January 23rd! We have everything you’ll need and 15 spots available. In the spirit of the Rosenwald School Fund, which matched the funds of Black communities from 1912 to 1932 to build over 5,000 schools across the rural South, we invite you to imagine a schoolhouse you would design if you were given a Rosenwald grant today.
Rosenwald highly valued the concept of “Dignity in design” within the School Fund Program. What value would you express in design for a Rosenwald schoolhouse today? How would you design it?

All skill levels are welcome! What would you design in 2026? Visit rosenwald.fisk.edu and explore the School Fund for inspiration, and come bring it to life.

Join us on Friday, January 30th, in room 321 in the Franklin Library, 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
RSVP: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfF74Mm86i_W-psFDtaEdV3k9t_EVLXK9e8PzrUgt_oxBJ01Q/viewform

Supplies will be provided