About the Website Developer/Historian/Author:
Rebekah Dobrasko spent 10 years researching and surveying equalization schools in South Carolina. Although she is now in Texas, she remains committed to maintaining this website and her interest in equalization schools. This research began as part of her Public History masters' program at the University of South Carolina. Researching these schools led to a comprehensive survey of Charleston County's equalization schools, a thesis, and ultimately a Multiple Property Submission on the schools for the National Register of Historic Places. Dobrasko's time in South Carolina led to great opportunities to increase awareness of these schools and their history on a statewide scale. Now, these schools are being listed in the National Register of Historic Places, recognized with historical markers, and visited by history tours. Dobrasko recently collaborated with the College of Charleston's Lowcountry Digital History Institute to publish the digital exhibit, Equalization Schools: South Carolina's History of Unequal Education.
She is continually looking for more schools to add to the database. She is also interested in the condition of many of the schools listed on this webpage. If you have any information, fill out the form below or send her an e-mail!
Presentations on Equalization Schools:
"South Carolina's Equalization Schools," for Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, USC--Beaufort, virtual, 21 July 2020.
"L.C. Anderson High School Stadium: Segregated Landscape in the Capital City," for Texas Cultural Landscapes Symposium, Waco, TX, 25 February 2020.
"From Rosenwald to Equalization: African American Public Schools in Texas," for Aya Symposium, Prairie View, TX, 19 June 2019.
"Equalization Schools Across the South," for National Alliance of Preservation Commission's FORUM, Mobile, AL, 29 July 2016.
"Digital Media and South Carolina's Equalization Schools," for 2015 National Rosenwald Schools Conference, Durham. NC, 19 June 2015.
"South Carolina's Equalization Schools, 1951-1960," for Piedmont Technical College's One Book, Once College Speaker Series, via Skype, 9 October 2014.
"Lowcountry African American Public Schools, 1920-1970," for Heritage Library Foundation's 2014 Speaker Series, Hilton Head Island, SC, 23 September 2014.
"South Carolina's Equalization Schools, 1951-1960," for Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at University of South Carolina--Beaufort, Beaufort, SC, 22 September 2014.
"South Carolina's Equalization Schools," poster presentation for ADC 50 Committee on Historic and Archaeological Preservation in Transportation, San Antonio, TX,
14 July 2014.
"Separate but Equal?: South Carolina's African American Public Schools, 1920-1970," for Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at University of South Carolina--Beaufort,
Beaufort, SC, 25 October 2013.
"Digital Media and South Carolina's Equalization Schools," for Charles Towne Landing Archaeology Conference, Charleston, SC, 16 February 2013.
"Separate but not Equal: Public Schools in South Carolina History," for Seneca Middle School, Blue Ridge Elementary School, and Northside Elementary School,
Seneca, SC, 7-8 February 2013.
"Separate but Equal? South Carolina's Fight over School Segregation," for Black History Month Luncheon, Seneca, SC, 7 February 2013.
"Charleston County's Equalization Schools," for Between the Tracks at Twenty-Five, Charleston, SC, 23 October 2012.
"Institutional Discrimination and the History of School Equalization," for Sociology Class, Dutch Fork High School, Irmo, SC, 10 October 2012.
"Equalization Schools," for the National Council on History Education South Carolina and the Civil Rights Struggle Conference, Orangeburg, SC, 23-24 February 2012.
"South Carolina's Equalization School Program," for Separate is not Always Equal: The Other Side of Segregation at Nashville Public Library, Nashville, TN, 11
February 2012.
"The Intersection of Segregation and Modernism: South Carolina’s Equalization Schools,” for the Southeastern Society of Architectural Historians 2011 Conference,
Charleston, SC, 27 October 2011.
"South Carolina's Equalization Schools," for the Current Issues class at Dutch Fork High School, Irmo, SC, 22 September 2011.
"Searching for South Carolina's 'Separate but Equal' Schools," for the Lake Murray Rotary Club, Irmo, SC, 6 April 2011.
"The History of Benson Elementary School," for the University of South Carolina Center for Child and Family Studies, Columbia, SC, 19 February 2011 .
"Tracing the History of South Carolina's 'Separate but Equal' Schools," for the South Carolina Archives and History Foundation's Lunch and Learn series, Columbia,
SC, 15 February 2011.
"South Carolina's Equalization Schools," for the Current Issues class at Dutch Fork High School, Irmo, SC, 8 November 2010.
"Searching for South Carolina's 'Separate but Equal' Schools," for the Archaeological Society of South Carolina's Fall Field Day, Charleston, SC, 9 October 2010.
"South Carolina's Equalization Schools Project" for the South Carolina African American Heritage Commission Annual Meeting, Columbia, SC, 29 January 2010.
“What if the Past Wasn't Harmonious?" for the National Trust for Historic Preservation Annual Conference, Nashville, TN, 14 October 2009.
"Equalization Schools in South Carolina and the Florence C. Benson Elementary School,” for the South Carolina State Review Board, Columbia, SC, 3 April 2009.
“Learning Your Three R’s: Reuse, Rehabilitation, and Recycling Historic Schools” and “The Fourth R:Resources,” sessions organized for the 2009 Landmark and
Preservation Conference, Columbia, SC, 27 March 2009.
“Beyond Rosenwald Schools: Assessing the History and Preservation of South Carolina’s African American Schools,” poster presented to the National Council on
Public History 2008 Annual Meeting, Louisville, KY, 11 April 2008.
“Beyond Rosenwald Schools: South Carolina’s Equalization Schools,” delivered to the 2008 Landmark and Preservation Conference, Greenville, SC, 28 March 2008.
“Upholding ‘Separate but Equal:’ South Carolina’s School Equalization Program, 1951-1955,” delivered to the Southeastern Society of Architectural Historians Annual
Conference, Ft. Worth, TX, 13 October 2005.
Please fill out the form below or e-mail if you would like to learn more!