East Suffolk School Complex

Between 1926 and 1927, African Americans raised $3,300 toward the East Suffolk School, which opened with T. J. Johnson as principal. In addition to public money, the Julius Rosenwald Fund also provided $1,500 to assist the effort. Rosenwald, president of Sears, Roebuck & Company, established the fund in 1917 and helped pay for the construction of more than 5,000 schools for African Americans in 15 southern states. In 1939, at the request of the local community, the Works Progress Administration's “Pump priming” program funded the addition of the County Training School, later known as East Suffolk High School, with the first class graduating in 1940. The last class graduated in 1965.