Rosetta C. Baldwin

Young Rosetta

Graduation

Fannie Mae Baldwin-Thomas

Warren J. Baldwin

Loving Sisters

Sharing Christmas

Pathfinder

Order of the Long Leaf Pine

Rosetta Cora Baldwin was born on February 14, 1902 in Chatham County, North Carolina to John and Mary Baldwin

1920s- Photograph of Rosetta when she was in her early 20s

After graduating from the High Point Normal Institute in 1921, Rosetta attended Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, where she studied education

Born December 7, 1906, Fannie Mae was Rosetta's only sister. She served 48 years in the teaching profession, retiring in 1969. During her life she was the Superintendent of the BUDS OF PROMISE for St. Stephen A.M.E. Zion Church and a member of the Burns Hill Community Sympathy Club. Fannie Mae passed away in the early 1980s.

Born May 5, 1908, Warren was Rosetta's younger brother. He began his teaching career in 1930 and served in the educational field for 39 years as both a teacher and principal. He passed away in 1969, leaving Rosetta an inheiritance of $3000, which she used to build the Kindergarten Building.

Rosetta (standing) with her sister, Fannie Mae (seated)

1983- Rosetta (left) and her sisterr, Fannie Mae (right)exchanging gifts under the Christmas tree

Pathfinders are a co-ed group out of the church, similar to Boy and Girl Scouts. For a number of years, Rosetta led the group from High Point.

Duing the course of her life, Rosetta received many awards, including the Order of the Long Leaf Pine in 1996, which was awarded to her by North Carolina Governor, James B. Hunt. This award is the highest award a citizen can receive for service to the state.

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Rosetta C. Baldwin

Rosetta Cora Baldwin was born on February 14, 1902 in Chatham County, North Carolina to John and Mary Baldwin

(1902-2000)

Her motto is taken from Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child in the way he should go; when he is old he will not depart from it."

Rosetta Cora Baldwin was born on February 14, 1902 in Chatham County, North Carolina to John and Mary Baldwin.  She was the oldest of three children, followed by Warren and Fannie Mae. Her father, John, was known as a religious man. He founded the Long Chapel AME Church in Graham, North Carolina in the late 1800s.  He is also recognized as the founder of the first Seventh-Day Adventist Church in High Point, North Carolina, built in 1914, along with his wife, Mary, and daughter, Rosetta.

    Rosetta graduated in 1921 from an early class at the High Point Normal Institute, which later became William Penn High School in 1923.  She later attended Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, studying education.  Her first school assignment was at Leonard Street Elementary. After one year, she decided that public school was not what she wanted to do.  She wanted to teach in a church school setting.  She went to LaGrange, North Carolina, where she began teaching Christian education.  After traveling around North Carolina to Durham, Raleigh, Fayetteville, and Wilmington, she moved to Louisville, Kentucky.

    Upon returning to High Point, Rosetta Baldwin opened a Christian school in 1942 in the living room of the family home with 25 neighborhood children.  The school's original name was the Rose Bee Seventh-Day Adventist School before it was shortened to Baldwin's Chapel School.  She believed that children needed to learn to obey their elders, to pray, to do the right thing, and to learn their letters and numbers. She taught kindergarten through eighth grade.  In the early 1950s, Baldwin Chapel Church added a one-room classroom, which was later expanded in 1959. Baldwin's Chapel School, as it is known today, was and continues to be the only African American Christian School run by a committee of African Americans in High Point.

    In 1972, with an inheritance left to her by her brother, Warren, and a donation of land by her sister, Fannie Mae, Rosetta had the Kindergarten Building erected.  Located next to the family home on Olga Street, this is where she spent the majority of her final years teaching.  More than two decades later, in 1998, at the age of 96, Rosetta was able to see the completion of her life's work, the building of The Rosetta C. Baldwin Educational Center.  Located on Leonard Avenue next to the newer Baldwin Chapel Church, the facility is the home of Baldwin's Chapel Seventh-Day Adventist Church School, and it serves as a community center.

    Over the course of her career, Rosetta received numerous awards for her service to the community.  Among those received was the Order of the Long Leaf Pine in 1996, which was awarded to her by North Carolina Governor, James B. Hunt.  This award is the highest award a citizen can receive for service to the state.  In 1999, the High Point chapter of the NAACP recognized her as the Citizen of the Year.

    Rosetta Baldwin died on November 25, 2000, at the age of 98.  On August 5, 2002, Olga St. was renamed R. C. Baldwin Avenue  in her honor.