With a Special Presentation about the KenGar School Building

At the Leonard D. Jackson Community Center
4111 Plyers Mill Rd in KenGar

Ralph Buglass, local historian with Montgomery History, will share the history of school
segregation in Montgomery County. The county did not provide public education to African
American children until a decade after it was instituted for white children, and then only
in segregated schools until integration began in 1955. A number of the segregated school
buildings for African American children still exist in the county, including several erected
through a partnership between Booker T. Washington and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald
that helped improve black education all over the South.
One of the former Rosenwald schools is located in KenGar, a historically black community
between Kensington and Garrett Park. The building is now the Leonard D. Jackson
Community Center, and it has a rich history of providing education and bringing people
together. Karen Jackson-Knight, the daughter of the Center’s namesake, will speak about
the history of this important building to the community.
Join us to learn about our local history. A special invitation is extended to anyone with stories
or memories of the KenGar school building. The presentations will last about 90 mins with
time for questions and sharing. Light refreshments will be served.