In the early 1900s, Kentucky schools were segregated by law, and there were very few schools for Black students—something that was true across the southern United States. Two men decided to start building schools: a Black education reformer who was born into slavery and a son of German-Jewish immigrants who made a fortune in catalog sales.

Booker T. Washington, president of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, and Julius Rosenwald, president of Sears, Roebuck and Company, teamed together to build Rosenwald schools.

Over 5,000 Rosenwald schools were built from 1917-1932 in the United States. Rosenwald put up part of the cost, and the rest came from the Black community and the state or local board of education. Schools used the curriculum established by Washington, which included vocational education.

In Kentucky, 155 schools and three support buildings were built between 1917-1932 in 64 counties, at a total cost of $1,081,710.