Discover Delmarva: The Germantown School

In Worcester County, over 10 schools were built as part of a nationwide effort to give African Americans a good education right in the heart of their own communities.

But only one is still standing, in Berlin.

The Germantown School on Trappe Road was funded with a $700 grant from CEO Julius Rosenwald along with contributions from residents according to local historian Gregory Purnell.

“The community worked hand in hand, brick by brick, board by board to build this facility for itself. So it was kind of like a matching grant I would think,” says Purnell.

In the early part of the 20th century many blacks were living under the oppressive Jim Crow laws and weren’t being given a fair shake, especially in the south.

So Julius Rosenwald teamed up with Booker T Washington to fill that gap in the black community.

Rosenwald was a Jewish immigrant who didn’t have much of an education but understood how important it was.

“He being rich and privileged, he still had a heart. he could see that while he had much… so many had little. And the reason they had little was basically because of education,” says local historian Gregory Purnell.

Rosenwald was CEO of Sears and Roebuck, which was the Amazon of its day.

The business magnate set up a fund to open schools and to support black artists, writers and great thinkers of the time.

And he did it in a big way.

“He gave seed money to the different communities to start schools. In the south he funded over 5300,” according to Mrs. Purnell.

When the Germantown school opened its doors in 1923 about 100 kids came to learn.

Former student, Barbara Purnell fondly remembers her time in the two room schoolhouse.

“We had three classes in a room. So we were able to learn alot because whatever class you were in you could pick up lessons from the next grade,” says former pupil Barbara Purnell.

For 32 years the Germantown School educated hundreds of students but shuttered its doors in the 50’s.

After being unused for years, the building was sold for just $10 to the county and used as a warehouse.

In 2002, the community campaigned to re-open and restore it.

Today, its used as a community center and meeting place.

“We let the community use the school to have meetings and church functions.”, says school association vice president, Victor Smack.

Although the Germantown School isn’t educating kids on a daily basis, the community is still benefiting from its enduring legacy.

Its an experience Barbara Purnell says is unmatched in her life.

“The teachers were very interested in helping us to learn. Encouraging us to learn. We got a great education here,” says Barbara Purnell.