This week a group of nine Senators, led by Sen. Richard Durbin(D-IL), sent a letter to President Biden urging him to use his authority under the Antiquities Act to establish a Julius Rosenwald and Rosenwald Schools National Monument. The letter specifically lists three sites for potential inclusion in a National Monument, the San Domingo Rosenwald School in Maryland; Julius Rosenwald's boyhood home in Springfield, IL; and an easement on the Nicholas Tower in the former Sears, Roebuck and Company merchandising plant in the North Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago. Members of the House are expected to send a similar letter in support of the National Monument, led by Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL).

The proposed monument would recognize the life and legacy of American businessman and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald and his work with Booker T. Washington to establish Rosenwald schools throughout the segregated South. In 2021 Congress passed legislation authorizing the National Park Service to complete a special resource study to consider the establishment of a Julius Rosenwald and Rosenwald School National Park. The National Park Service is expected to conclude that study this spring. Advocates, led by the Julius Rosenwald and Rosenwald Schools National Park Campaign, hope to establish a National Monument and then work with Congress on passing legislation to create a larger, more encompassing National Park. 

The Antiquities Act has been used more 100 times by Democrat and Republican Presidents to establish National Monuments from federal lands to preserve and protect places of natural, cultural, and historic significance.