African-American Historic Places and Culture: A Preservation Resource Guide for Georgia

Merritt, Carole

From preface: "Creating a sense of place has always been a challenge for the human mind. After many years away, the phrase "home" is used across America in reference to small towns and rural locations, in inner city neighborhoods and on unmapped roads. Embracing "place" can generate preservation action. The need to understand the importance of belonging to a place was my motivation as co-project director for "Buildings, People, Culture: African-Americans in Georgia History." This project features a series of seminars and the resource guide, African-American Historic Places and Culture: A Preservation Resource Guide for Georgia. Together, they offer perspectives and guidelines for the exciting cultural and historical work needed in preservation in Georgia today. As volunteers, the members of the Georgia Minority Historic Preservation Committee represent a collective memory and a collective belief in sharing. Our spare time is filled with projects to increase the awareness of the importance of the African-American built environment. The memories these places hold, along with a sense of history, purpose and direction for the future, is a focus of the Committee. "Buildings, People, Culture: African-Americans in Georgia History" provides the opportunity to share our passion for the preservation of buildings and the ideas of people. The Georgia Office of Historic Preservation, under which the Committee functions, provided the technical and managerial support to make the sharing of concepts of place a reality. Funding by the Georgia Humanities Council, through the National Endowment for the Humanities, made our individual efforts across the state become a unified offering to the citizens of Georgia through the series of seminars and the resource guide. Humanities scholars prepared essays that explore the philosophical and historical concepts raised by thinking about places and their relationships to people. The concept of a sense of place in the context of historic preservation is multifaceted. Therefore, in their thought-provoking perspectives, historic preservation is viewed through several humanities disciplines--literature, architecture, landscape architecture, community history, and oral history." Funding was provided in part by a Historic Preservation Fund grant administered by the Georgia State Historic Preservation Office and the State, Tribal, and Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

African-American Historic Places and Culture: A Preservation Resource Guide for Georgia

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