Rosa Young

Rosa Jinsey Young (born May 14, 1890 in Rosebud , Alabama , † June 30, 1971 ) was an American educator . Teaching children in rural areas was very important to her and Young is known as the "mother of Black Lutheranism in Central Alabama". She was instrumental in founding and promoting Lutheran schools in the Alabama Black Belt .

Life

Rosa Young was born in the rural township of Rosebud, Wilcox County . She was the fourth of 10 children. Her parents were Grant Young, an African-American pastor of the Episcopal Church and his wife Nancy. According to her autobiography, Light in the Dark Belt , Rosa Young always wanted to learn and teach others. Her parents recognized and encouraged her talents. After completing elementary school (6th grade), her parents sent her to Payne University , a school of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Selma that had opened its doors to students a few years earlier. Young won numerous academic awards over the next six years, became the editor of the university newspaper, and top of her senior class in 1909.

Establishes a school in Rosebud

A few weeks after graduation, Young received her teaching license and passed her state exam . She then taught in African American schools in different parts of Alabama. The practice of commuting back and forth between several schools was widespread at the time, as there was a lack of teachers in the schools and there was no funding if lessons were canceled. Well-trained black teachers were very scarce. Young's interest in promoting the education of rural children and giving them religious instruction finally brought her back to Rosebud in 1912. She decided to set up a private school. Both black and white residents supported them in their project. Young took care of hiring the teachers and oversaw the construction of the school, which opened under the name Rosebud Literary and Industrial School in October of that year. The school was well received and with 115 pupils in the first year and 215 pupils in the second year it was very popular.

In 1914, the Mexican cotton boll beetle invaded Wilcox County and devastated numerous cotton fields. This was a severe blow to the region's economy, which was largely dependent on cotton production. Many parents became unemployed and had little or no income to raise the school fees , so the school struggled to survive with a reduced number of students and teachers. Young tried to find private donors but was unsuccessful. In the fall of 1915, as the school was on the verge of closure, she wrote a letter to Booker T. Washington , the influential founder of the Tuskegee Institute , asking for help. Washington's personal secretary, Emmett Scott , replied that Tuskegee could not provide financial assistance, but advised her to contact the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod , headquartered in St. Louis . This church, founded by German immigrants, had established numerous black Lutheran missions in the rural south in the 1880s and 1890s.

Working with Lutherans

Young wrote to church leaders in October 1915, who inquired about her circumstances and offered her the opportunity to establish a mission in Rosebud. Young in turn assured their support and cooperation, whereupon the Synodical Conference Mission Board (a separate unit of the Synod for the care of African-Americans and other non-whites) sent the experienced missionary pastor Nils J. Baake in January 1916 to investigate the situation more closely. His report to the committee was positive and he was appointed superintendent to oversee the development of the school. Young handed the school into the hands of the Lutherans and limited herself to her work as teacher and speaker. In order to keep the school going, the Lutheran Church procured the necessary money, teaching materials and other resources. Baake put Lutheran religious education on the curriculum and kept student parents and others informed of developments. The work reached its climax on Palm Sunday 1916, when 58 people were baptized and 70 (including Young) were confirmed . These people formed the nucleus of the first black Lutheran church and school in Wilcox County and the Black Belt .

Due to the success of the school, other congregations became interested in the establishment of Lutheran churches and schools. Following inquiries, Young and Baake established schools in Buena Vista , Tilden , Tinela, and Midway, all of Wilcox Counties , in 1916 and in Ingomar, in Dallas County in 1919 , which became centers of new Lutheran congregations. Baake had to leave Alabama in 1920 for health reasons. Rosa Young continued her work as a teacher, missionary, lecturer, and fundraiser. She traveled a lot telling other Lutherans about the African American mission in Alabama. From 1946 to 1961 she taught at the Alabama Lutheran Academy and College , after which her activities were restricted due to deteriorating health. Now known as Concordia College , this school was founded in 1922, thanks to her influence, to teach and train future Black Lutheran pastors and teachers for the Alabama Mission and elsewhere. In 1930 Young published her first autobiography , which was reissued as a paperback in 1950.

Award and death

During the civil rights movement in the mid-1960s, the Synodical Conference churches in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana were dissolved and integrated into the synod's former white southern district. In 1961, Young was awarded an honorary doctorate (LL.D.) from Concordia Theological Seminary by the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod for her dedication . After her death, she was buried as requested at the Christian Lutheran Church in Rosebud.

literature

• Rosa Young: Light in the Dark Belt. Concordia Publishing House, Saint Louis 1950.

Web links

• Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod website with historical photos and other resources
• The First Rosa Documentary

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Thomas R. Noon: Rosa Young . In: Encyclopedia of Alabama . March 29, 2013. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
2. ↑ Tombstone in Rosebud