User:Jkell0/Clinton J. Calloway

Clinton J. Calloway was head of the Extension Department of Tuskegee Institution in Alabama, assuming his position in 1901. He contributed to the inspiration to build numerous black schools in rural communities, improving the Hampton-Tuskegee form of education implemented by Booker T. Washington. He was in charge of seeking out funding for the schools and overseeing the changes made. Calloway soon met Julius Rosenwald who contributed to the funding of building 4,977 new black schools in the South.

Early Life (1869-1901)

 * Clinton J. Calloway was born on April 18, 1869 in Cleveland, Tennessee. He graduated from high school in 1889 after moving to Chattanooga, Tennessee. From there he was admitted to Fisk University in Nashville where he studied classics. After graduating in 1895 with a Bachelor's in Arts degree he accepted a job in the Extension Department of Tuskegee Institute. He went on to marry Josie Elizabeth Schooler in 1901.

Career

 * When Calloway was first appointed to the Department of the Extension of Tuskegee Institute. His job included working closely with those in rural communities. He began his work in a small farming community in Kowalgia, Alabama, by helping the residents build a small school to replace the old, destroyed one. Calloway established a new three-building, eleven-teacher school from the money and labor of the black residents. In 1901 Calloway became the director of extension. Soon after he published a magazine, the Messenger, to suggest better farming methods along with a campaign for improved schooling.
 * At the time, black education was of the Hampton-Tuskegee style, involving mostly laborious work (farming for boys and home economics for girls) along with basic math and literacy skills. Most schools only existed due to the financial support of outside resources that possessed control over the institutions. Calloway met Julius Rosenwald who spontaneously donated $25,000 on his birthday on August 12, 1912 to the improvement normal schools following Washington's industrial education for training teachers.

Rosenwald Schools

 * Calloway insisted that Washington put money towards the improvement of rural schoolhouses surrounding Tuskegee. Washington later wrote to Rosenwald asking if he would allow them "to make an experiment in the direction of building six schoolhouses at various points..out of the special fund you have set aside for small schools." Rosenwald agreed to support the construction which began in 1913. Residents of each county contributed money, land, and free labor towards the projects.
 * In August of 1914 Rosenwald donated another $30,000 to help build one hundred small rural schools. The only conditions were that the residents of each school district were required to raise an amount of money, matching or exceeding, the amount donated by Rosenwald which was typically $350 and they had to be ultimately approved and run by Tuskegee's Extension Department.
 * The total amount given towards the school was $103, 783 which was split in the following ways: $16,550 from public school authorities, $6,209 from white citizens, $33,821 from Julius Rosenwald, $47,203 from black citizens.