| History |
 The
Unity Grove School is located in the old Tussahaw Militia District.
Unity Grove settlement was a Black community that developed after
the War Between the States. The institutions of the community were
the church and school serving the farm families of this area. We know
Unity Grove School existed as early as 1891 because of its connection
with American civil rights leader James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938)
one of the founders of the NAACP.
In 1931 the State Department of Education approved $400.00 in Rosenwald Aid for the construction of a two-teacher Rosenwald School at Unity Grove to replace the old schoolhouse, which had fallen into a state of dilapidation. Rosenwald Schools are an important part of our educational heritage. Julius Rosenwald (1862-1932) was a philanthropist who made his fortune as President and Chairman of Sears, Roebuck and Company. From 1917 to 1932, the Rosenwald Fund contributed $4.4 million for the construction of 5,357 Black schools in the rural South. To receive Rosenwald money the local Black and White communities had to contribute to the construction. The last official record on Unity Grove School was September 7, 1954, when the Board of Education established an extra bus route "in order to consolidate the Unity Grove School with Shoal Creek School" at Locust Grove. Unity Grove has played an important role in history. (History of Unity Grove courtesy of Gene E. Morris, Jr., Henry County Historian) |
