Eugene Robinson, Pulitzer Prize–winning columnist and Rosenwald Schools alumnus, will moderate a panel discussion on the Rosenwald Schools at Westminster Church, 400 I St. SW, in Washington, D.C. The event is Thursday, February 19 at 7p.

While there were schools for Blacks before the Rosenwald schools opened, they were often built by underfunded Black churches and civic organizations. Black educator Booker T. Washington and Jewish businessman and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald forged the Rosenwald School program that build 4,978 better-funded schools that changed America. At its peak, Rosenwald Schools educated nearly one in three Black children in the United States.

Vyllorya Evans and Doris Dearing Johnson will join Robinson. Evans’ parents were Rosenwald teachers in Mississippi and as co-chair of the Rosenwald School Initiative of Monroe County, Mississippi, is memorializing the schools. Doris Dearing Johnson, a Rosenwald Schools alumna, parents were also Rosenwald educators. They will offer firsthand insight into the schools’ impact on families and communities.

The panel also includes Aviva Kempner, award-winning filmmaker and director of Rosenwald, and Stephanie Deutsch, author of You Need a Schoolhouse. Together, they will provide historical and documentary context for the extraordinary collaboration behind the schools.

This event is part of Stories That Resist Erasure, a four-part series organized by The Pearl Escape Project. Best known for its annual commemoration of the 1848 Pearl escape attempt, the organization uses history as a lens to educate, engage, and inspire dialogue around stories of resistance, resilience, and justice.

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Westminster Church has limited on-site parking, a small lot behind or adjacent to the church that fills quickly during events. Street parking is available, and there are nearby paid garages and lots.

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