Cobb Landmarks Announces Lecture

In the early years of the 20th century, Julius Rosenwald, president of Sears Roebuck & Co., worked with famed Black educator Booker T. Washington and grassroots leaders across the South to build more than 5,000 schools for Black children. Acworth’s Rosenwald School was built in 1924 and served students until 1947. Saved from demolition in 1948, it was rebuilt on its current site and now operates as a community center. Join us as we explore the history and legacy of this Cobb County landmark. Presenters include Rosenwald school expert Dr. Becky Ryckeley, Marti Rosner and Frye Gaillard, authors of the book Ezra Wants to Know: The True Story of the Rosenwald Schools, and Acworth Alderman Tim Houston.
 
Admission is $10 per person. Tickets must be purchased online in advance. Space is limited. Admission includes a signed copy of the book “Ezra Wants to Know: The True Story of the Rosenwald Schools," a tour of the historic Acworth Rosenwald School and Doyal Hill Park, and entry into a raffle for a door prize awarded at the end of the night. Additional copies of the book will be available for purchase as well as an opportunity to have them signed by the authors.
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WHAT: A Nearer Approach to Justice: Rosenwald Schools in the Jim Crow South
WHEN: February 17, 2022    7:00pm
WHERE: Acworth Rosenwald School, 4410 Cherokee Street Acworth, GA 30101

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​ABOUT OUR GUEST SPEAKERS​

Becky Ryckeley, Ph.D. currently works as the Coordinator for Social Studies, Gifted, and Advanced Placement for Fayette County Public Schools. She has served as a county coordinator in two metro counties, and prior to that taught 5th grade, middle school, and high school social studies. In 2015, Becky successfully defended her dissertation, The Rural School Project of the Rosenwald Fund. Becky has been married to Rick and is the doting grandmother to Kendall and Caroline.

Marti S. Rosner has been an educator for forty-three years. She has worked as a classroom teacher, a District Academic Coach serving Title I schools in Cobb County, GA, and recently, taught Writing Workshop to teachers and students in her granddaughter’s elementary school. Now she serves as a school reading tutor. Through the years, Marti has enjoyed teaching a variety of professional development classes, presenting at state conferences, serving as a Teacher Consultant for the National Writing Project, and training teachers across the country as a curriculum consultant for Sundance Newbridge, an educational publishing company. With Frye Gaillard she is co-author of two children’s books, The Slave Who Went to Congress and Ezra Wants to Know: The True Story of the Rosenwald Schools. Her dog and two grandchildren keep her hopping, as they love spending time outdoors. She keeps herself hopping by reading, writing, and traveling. When she sits still, she enjoys her home in Marietta, GA.
 
Frye Gaillard was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, coming of age during the civil rights movement in the South. Those historic events compelled a lifelong reckoning with the issue of race and its effects on the life of our country. Along the way, he became fascinated by the heroes of that struggle, not only the icons like John Lewis, Rosa Parks, or Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., but by the thousands of lesser-known people who committed their lives to the cause of justice. His award-winning works include Cradle of Freedom: Alabama and the Movement That Changed America, winner of the Lillian Smith Book Award; A Hard Rain: America in the 1960s, chosen by NPR as one of the best books of 2018, and the historical novel for young readers, Go South to Freedom, a Jefferson Cup Honor Book. With Marti Rosner, he is co-author of two other children’s books, The Slave Who Went to Congress and Ezra Wants to Know: The True Story of the Rosenwald Schools.
 
Tim Houston, a native of Acworth, is married to Janice. They have one son, two daughters and six grandchildren, whom they adore. Tim retired from Cobb EMC in Marietta, GA after 25 years of service. He currently serves on the Electric Cities of Georgia (ECG) Board of Directors as Chairman and serves as a member on the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG) Power Board. Tim is an avid supporter of the Acworth Football and Baseball Association and is a committed supporter of the Expanded Horizon and Achiever Program. Tim is an ordained Baptist Minister and has a Bachelor’s Degree in Christian Ministry. He is an alumnus of North Cobb High School and a graduate of North Metro Technical College. Tim was elected to the Acworth Board of Aldermen in 2004 and is currently serving his fourth term.