Mount Zion School

Mount Zion School

Lauderdale County, Alabama; Florence, Alabama; Rosenwald School; Mount Zion; African American History; Anita Cobb

Mount Zion was a Rosenwald school located in Florence, Alabama. The local community was provided a grant from Julius Rosenwald to build a school for the African American community. Like other Rosenwald schools the local community had to provide additional funds to buy the land for and funds for the school building. The school was a small one-room structure that served grades one through six. The classes were divided into two rooms separated by sliding doors. Each classroom had its own entrance. The building also had a cloakroom where the school children could hang their clothes and leave their lunches. There was also a small kitchen that provided heating for the school through the use of stoves. Two of the stoves were used to heat the building while the other one was used for cooking. The chimney also came down into the kitchen. The older girls at the school would cook all the food for the other children. They would arrive at school and begin cooking the food. Before lunch began, they would be dismissed from class early in order to finish cooking the food. The school was located off of Highway 189.

Sam Keiser, University of North Alabama

Cobb, Anita interview by Sam Keiser. Florence Alabama, November 18, 2015.

Alabama Cultural Resource Survey

November 30, 2015