Located in Roseboro is the former Rosenwald School Charles E. Perry building.
Rosenwald Schools were a network of educational institutions built in the early 20th century in the American South, funded through a partnership between Julius Rosenwald, a philanthropist, and famed abolitionist and education advocate Booker T. Washington. They established a funding source to construct schools for African American communities. These schools provided crucial educational opportunities for Black children in rural areas, where public schooling was segregated and underfunded. In North Carolina alone, 817 Rosenwald Schools were erected from the 1890s to the mid-1900s, touching the lives of African Americans in 95 of the state's 100 counties.
The Charles E. Perry Rosenwald School is a significant historical landmark in our Town that was part of the Rosenwald Fund's initiative to improve education for African American children in the rural American South during the Jim Crow era. Named after Charles E. Perry, a local leader and active community member, the historic school is now repurposed as the town's Senior Center. It is meaningful that the Charles E. Perry School is now serving as a community hub while preserving its important educational and community heritage. The building stands as a reminder of the resilience and determination of the African American community in Roseboro: then, now, and in perpetuity.