Jeanes Foundation

The Jeanes Foundation (also known as the Negro Rural School Fund) was founded by philanthropist Anna T. Jeanes of Philadelphia who was a Quaker. Ms. Jeanes inherited money from her father and brother's estates and was the sole owner because she was single. She wanted to assist in the African-American school system so she donated $1,000,000 and in 1907, created the Jeanes Foundation, which trained and taught teachers in the south who had very little education and experience in the education field. Among its projects, the Jeanes Foundation provided funds to employ African-American supervisors of teachers who were dedicated to upgrading vocational training programs for teachers of black students.

In 1908, Jackson T. Davis, the superintendent of Henrico County Public Schools near Richmond, Virginia named Virginia Estelle Randolph to become the United States' first "Jeanes Supervising Industrial Teacher." She created the model program for legions of Jeanes teachers who worked toward improving the communities of schools.

As the overseer of 23 elementary schools in Henrico County, Randolph developed the first in-service training program for black teachers and worked on improving the curriculum of the schools. With the freedom to design her own agenda, she shaped industrial work and community self-help programs to meet specific needs of schools. She chronicled her progress by becoming the author of the Henrico Plan, which became a reference book for southern schools receiving assistance from the Jeanes Foundation, which became known as the Negro Rural School Fund.

Randolph's teaching techniques and philosophy were later adopted in Great Britain's African colonies.

The teachers were trained in schools such as Hampton University, Tuskegee University, and many other historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The teachers often had to teach students in one big schoolhouse or churches. The establishment also encouraged and raised money to fund field trips and graduation.

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