The Restoration: The Hard Reset At Morris Brown College
By Keisha J Kelley
8/19/2020
HBCU/Morris Brown College/Fountain Hall
Friday. August 21, 2020 promises to be a memorable day for alumni, staff, and everyone who has ever walked the grounds of Morris Brown College. At 11 a.m., the Atlanta Branch of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) will kick off the event, "Crowing of Fountain (Stone) Hall" in an effort to commemorate the plans to restore Fountain Hall. Fountain Hall was built in 1882 and became a designated National Historic Landmark in 1975. The Fountain Hall Preservation Project is seeking to preserve and restore the important and storied legacy of Dr W.E.B. DuBois. According to organizers, this is the first step in historic preservation will take place at the quadrangle, which is located at 643 Martin Luther King Drive, Atlanta. This event is available through a virual experience for the public, as onsite broadcast is limited to area media outlets.
The goal of this preservation is to repurpose and modernize the interior spaces and restore the classrooms and office of Dr W.E.B. Dubois, the chapel, art studios, and gallery. The Atlanta branch is also looking to connect Morris Brown College and Atlanta to Dr Du Bois' legacy of human and civil rights and global economic and social justice impact.
With two $500,000 African American Civil Rights grants from National Park Service, the money will be used to replace the roof and preserve the clock tower as the first phase of the historic preservation plan for this National Landmark Building.
Partners on this project include: the National Park Service, ASALH office, National Trust for Historic Preservation African American Heritage Action Fund, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, the Atlanta, History Center, Historic Atlanta, and the City's office of Design: Historic Preservation.
Tune in this Friday to 102.6 The Situation, as they host their first monthly fundaiser LIVE on The Morning Machine on the yard from 7am to noon! Please join us and say hi? Have a story? We'd love to hear about it LIVE on air! (1026thsituation.com)
Image by: Morris Brown College