Rowe's Corner Monument

The Rowe’s Corner Monument, located in Manchester, commemorates the first elementary school for black children in Jamaica. The school, originally called Sommerset, was established in 1823, which was around the same time when the Amelioration Act was passed.  The act was aimed at improving the lives of the enslaved people and also encouraged the education of African people, especially reading and understanding the bible.

Until 1826, the institution received a donation from the Moravians, which allowed it to expand and relocate. Following its relocation, it was renamed Lititz All Age School, naming it after where it was located.

Today, the school still stands, and a monument now marks the original site where the school was erected.  The monument is a tetrahedron (three-sided triangle). There are symbols engraved on all three sides of the monument. A torch, which represents enlightenment and hope, is on all three sides. Three other symbols, one on each side of the monument, are also engraved. There is the Moravian Church seal and motto. The seal portrays a Lamb with a banner of victory and proclaims “Vicit Agnus Noster, Eum Sequamur, which means, “Our Lamb Has Conquered,

Let Us Follow Him.” There is the cross, which is the principal symbol of the Christian religion, and there is the infinity symbol, which signifies the concept of limitlessness and eternity. (Remember to cite.)