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<br /> NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval No.1024-0018
<br /> (8-86)
<br /> United States Department of the Interior
<br /> National Park Service
<br /> National Register of Historic Places
<br /> Continuation Sheet
<br /> Section number 8 Page 10 Ridge Road School
<br /> Orange County, NC
<br /> educational opportunities for southern African American children,provided critical support for the
<br /> construction and operation of Orange County's Black schools. Between 1915 and 1932, the Rosenwald
<br /> Fund, in collaboration with local and state boards of education and private citizens, facilitated the
<br /> completion of 823 North Carolina buildings including schools, teachers' residences, and industrial
<br /> education shops, more than in any other state. In addition to financial contributions, the foundation
<br /> provided architectural drawings for buildings of various types and sizes. Four schools were erected in
<br /> Orange County between 1915 and 1931 utilizing contributions from the Rosenwald Fund. None are
<br /> extant. Three were one-story weatherboaded buildings: Cool Springs School north of Chapel Hill and
<br /> Gravelly Hill School southwest of Efland, both two-classroom schools competed in 1922, and Efland
<br /> School, a three-classroom school finished in 1925. The largest facility, Orange County Training School,
<br /> an expansive one- and two-story brick building containing nine classrooms and an
<br /> auditorium/gymnasium, was erected in 1924 at a cost of$23,112. African American residents raised
<br /> $500, white citizens donated$6,112, the Rosenwald Fund contributed$1,500, and the State Literary Fund
<br /> provided $15,000. The building replaced the school's campus destroyed by fire in 1922.16
<br /> Although economic challenges ensuing from the Great Depression limited facility improvements, the
<br /> OCBE replaced obsolete buildings when funds were available. Schools were built and enlarged as
<br /> consolidation continued. In June 1932, the OCBE agreed to provide funding for new buildings or
<br /> additions that would result in five one-to three-room schools—Merritts, Ridge Road, Sunnyside, White
<br /> Oak Grove, and Sartinto serve African American students. Community members were required to
<br /> supply the lumber necessary for each building. The initial OCBE allocation for the two-room Ridge Road
<br /> School was $500. However, additional funds were allotted in August 1932, when R. J. Forrest was
<br /> engaged to erect Ridge Road School and the one-room Sartin School for a total cost of$1,135. In 1933,
<br /> Black Orange County youth attended twenty-seven schools, while white children were consolidated at
<br /> twelve schools.17
<br /> The OCBE received funding from state and federal agencies for myriad education-related projects during
<br /> the 1930s. Between 1932 and 1935 the North Carolina Emergency Relief Administration, the state's first
<br /> New Deal program that created jobs for unemployed citizens, subsidized in Orange County including
<br /> painting and repairing schools and improving grounds. Chapel Hill architect H. D. Carter was appointed
<br /> supervisor of Orange County Federal Emergency Relief Administration projects in August 1934,
<br /> 16 OCBE meeting minutes,July 5, 1920,October 29, 1923,July 28, 1924,August 24, 1924;"Orange County
<br /> Schools,"Fisk University Rosenwald Fund Card File Database,Julius Rosenwald Fund Archives, 1917-1948,John Hope and
<br /> Aurelia E.Franklin Library,Special Collections,Fisk University,http://rosenwald.fisk.edu(accessed in December 2022);Kyle
<br /> Obenauer and Claudia Brown,"Rosenwald Schools in North Carolina,"National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property
<br /> Documentation Form,2015,29,41,46.
<br /> 17 OCBE meeting minutes,June 15, 1931,June 6, 1932,August 18, 1932.
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