Honoring African Descent Lutheran Women

by Jennifer Hockenbery

by Jennifer Hockenbery

Rosa Young (1890-1971) was a bold, brilliant woman whose efforts led to the creation of 30 parochial schools for African American children in Alabama in the early 1900’s. Thousands of children attended these schools; many became leaders in ministry, education, and law. Significantly, Young built the Lutheran College for African Americans at Selma, which became in 1922, Concordia College Alabama, the United States’ only Historically Black Lutheran College. The story of Young’s life and work has recently been told in a documentary created by the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, The First Rosa  in 2017.

James R. Thomas highlighted her story in his recently published,  A Rumor of Black Lutherans: The formation of black leadership in early American Lutheranism (Fortress, 2024) It is in reading Thomas’ book where I first learned about Rosa Young. It is an honor to share a little about her during our celebration of Black History Month. I encourage interested readers to check out Thomas’ book and the documentary to learn more about her story.

Rosa Young was born in rural Alabama, one of ten children born to Grant and Nancy Young.  Her father was an ordained African Methodist Episcopal pastor and a farmer. Schools in rural Alabama were few and far between, often only having a four month academic year.  Young attended primary school in bits and starts, her mother homeschooling her and her siblings to fill in the gaps. At age twelve, Rosa Young’s parents sent her to study at Payne University in Selma, a school affiliated with the AME. She was an exceptional student, graduating at age 18 with a teaching degree. She was the valedictorian and urged her fellow graduates to go forward to live lives of service to others.

What followed next is a story marked by incredible vision and tenacity as Young strove to make education accessible for African American children in rural Alabama. Working with the African Methodist Episcopals, the Baptists, and then the Lutherans, she did the fundraising and negotiating to get schools in churches and then to get land for new school buildings and then to get the schools built.

As a key example, at the age of 22, she managed the building and conducting of the Rosebud School,  a school in Rosebud, Alabama that would provide a long term schooling option for rural children. Young worked with the public school fund, created a board of trustees, created a tuition plan, planned a curricula that was in line with the board of education in Alabama, conducted the meetings of the directors, and canvassed for funds.  In October of the same year she began the project, the doors opened on the Rosebud School. She and two other women (Lorene Smith and Viola Young) taught and served as the school’s administration. The first academic session lasted six months.  During the six month break, Young went on a fundraising tour enabling the second academic year to begin on schedule in October of 1913. The Rosebud School had 215 students that second academic year.

In 1914, a devastating invasion of insects decimated farms; families could not pay tuition. But unwilling to close the school, Young kept working, networking, and fundraising.  She asked for help from Booker T. Washington at the Tuskagee Institute.  He encouraged her to write to the head of the Board of Colored Missions of the Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America. They agreed to fund the school. Young renamed the school Christ Lutheran Church and School in Rosebud and from there created a Lutheran Educational System in Alabama.

There is so much more to Rosa Young’s story.  She faced racism (inside and outside of the Lutheran church), the Ku Klux Klan, and enormous odds.  Her dedication to education for young people never faltered.  Her faith, her hope, her audacity is inspiring. She was given an honorary doctorate of literary letters by Concordia Theological Seminary in Illinois in 1961. She deserves to have her story told.

Dr. Jennifer Hockenbery is interim executive director for Women of the ELCA and editor of the Journal of Lutheran Ethics.