DLR Group has had the honor of helping to elevate some of those stories through our work with some of our nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities through a grant program with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The HBCU Cultural Heritage Stewardship Initiative “seeks to empower HBCUs with the resources to protect, preserve and leverage their historic campuses, buildings, and landscapes, ensuring these academic institutions and symbols of African American pride are preserved to inspire and educate future generations.” Through this program, DLR Group has developed preservation plans for the Sherman E. Tate Recreation Center at Philander Smith University in Little Rock, Arkansas; J.K. Daniels Hall at Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee; district plans for Morris College in Sumter, South Carolina; and Talladega College in Talladega, Alabama.

The first HBCUs began in the 1800s with a mission to provide higher educational opportunities to Black students at a time when they were rarely accepted at existing public and private institutions. While some HBCUs were founded earlier, the majority were established in the years following the Civil War and provided more opportunities for formerly enslaved individuals and their children through education. Today, there are more than 100 HBCUs that carry forward a mission of providing access to affordable higher education for an increasingly diverse population, including many low-income and first-generation college students.

The historic buildings and landscapes on HBCU campuses reflect an important legacy of the Black educational experience. The preservation plans developed by DLR Group provide a critical framework for the stewardship of campus historic resources to ensure long-term preservation. Our plans provide a deep understanding of HBCU campus history, paired with thorough evaluation of physical building conditions and prioritization of the most pressing needs. This holistic understanding presents the most promising opportunities to guide phasing and packaging of future maintenance and renovation projects. These plans give institutions the information needed to allocate resources for regular maintenance and the vision to fundraise for more ambitious plans to make the most of their historic buildings while preserving their legacies.

A portion of each of the National Trust grants is a dedicated stipend for 1-2 students to help the team and gain exposure to historic preservation. Their contributions have included assisting with research and documentation, searching local archives for information, and collecting oral histories from staff and alumni. This work has been key to rounding out complex stories that span generations, and it has been a joy to see these students form new connections to their colleges through a deeper understanding and appreciation of this history.

Preservation Month is an opportunity to highlight the ways that historic preservation contributes to the health and vitality of our communities and offers us all an opportunity to connect with and deepen our understanding of the past as a foundation to build a brighter future. I am grateful for the opportunity these HBCU projects have given me to learn more about these vital institutions and to help preserve resources that contribute to a more complete and inclusive representation of U.S. history.

Learn more about DLR Group’s historic preservation work.