Isaac Chapel Rosenwald Historical Museum and Educational Center

• 3752 Mississippi Highway 309
• Byhalia, MS 38611

The Isaac Chapel Rosenwald Historical Museum and Educational Center began in July 2022 because of a group of restoration committee members. In attendance at the ribbon-cutting ceremony were city officials and a few state representatives, along with the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. They were there because the community cared about preserving the old Rosenwald School, which served as an education center for black children during the segregation in the early 1900s.

   The impetus behind the committee members’ decision to create a museum in the small town of Byhalia, population 1,367, was to honor the teachers and staff who worked diligently to educate black children during a time when the students’ education would have been compromised by child labor, working on farms, and seasonal closing of schools for black children during harvest season.

   The Isaac Chapel Rosenwald School, situated south of Byhalia in Marshall County, holds a significant place in the history of African American education. The Marshall County public school system initially did not prioritize this school, which was established in the early 1920s with support from the Rosenwald Fund. This fund was a collaboration between Julius Rosenwald, the president and CEO of Sears, Roebuck & Company, and Booker T. Washington, the President of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. The first Rosenwald schools were established in Alabama in 1912, and their model soon spread across the South and to Mississippi. By the early 1920s, there were one hundred and forty-one Rosenwald schools in Mississippi. 

   The Rosenwald Fund provided construction plans and a percentage of starting funds for establishing schools. The floor and grounds plan required for all Rosenwald schools was to build each school with three classrooms, an industrial room and two closets. They were to be oriented north to south, with windows in the east and west of the building to maximize the natural light. The original Isaac Chapel Rosenwald School deviated slightly from the orientation of most Rosenwald school buildings. The school educated students for approximately forty-two years and closed in 1964. The site later became a Head Start school, managed by the Child Development Group of Mississippi, and the building school closed again in 1972. The building has undergone various restoration efforts to become what it is today. The site received Landmark Status (the highest form of historical protection a structure can receive in Mississippi) from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in 2017.

   The Isaac Chapel Rosenwald Historical Museum and Educational Center is not just a museum but a testament to the resilience and determination of a people who understood the value of education for all. Its mission is to preserve the historic education of African Americans in Mississippi and provide modern-day educational activities for those in need. The museum offers a diverse range of exhibits, including pictures of teachers and staff from the school’s earliest days and engaging video presentations.

   How fortuitous it must have been to have Booker T. Washington partnering with Rosenwald to assure the development of schools for needy Black children. How proud their ancestors must have been to see this museum open. A proper education is something that should be afforded to everyone. Marshall County can expect great things from this school’s revival.