Preserving Memphis History
- by Mary K. Levie, Wednesday, July 18th, 2007
June West in the foyer of Howard Hall. A Don Newman print can be seen on the left. Photo by Mary K. Levie.
The preservation of historic buildings isn’t on the forefront of most people’s minds. Beautiful architecture is often disguised beneath a crumbling façade, becoming forgotten and eventually lost forever if no one steps in to the rescue. June West, Executive Director of Memphis Heritage, wants more people to care about what happens to the many historical treasures in our midst, and to understand their importance to the health of the entire community.
“If you’re in a well-restored, historic neighborhood, you know how that makes you feel – you’re in awe, it’s just a really positive experience,” West says. “We don’t stop and think about that everyday, but it’s our mission to make people stop and go, this is why it matters because it makes our environment a better place.”
Memphis Heritage is a 32-year-old nonprofit organization with the primary mission of education and advocacy for historic preservation. Two years ago the organization was given an amazing gift – a 7000 square foot historic mansion in midtown named Howard Hall after the generous donator, Hal Howard. Howard, previously a CEO for a large New York financial company who grew up in the East End Neighborhood where the home is located, bought the house and renovated it over several years. He called up West one day two years ago and told her was interested in donating it to Memphis Heritage.
“I came over and looked at the house,” West says. “At that point you just kind of fall backwards and go, this can’t be real.”
The beautifully restored 1912 estate is a fitting place for Memphis Heritage, and the ample space will be shared with like-minded individuals and groups in the community. The library contains valuable historical resources available for students and other interested parties to review. The large conference room is ideal for strategizing meetings, and is available for other historical and preservation organization’s use. Soon the Crawford Suite, named after Howard’s grandfather, will be available for visiting speakers to stay overnight.
“The house becomes in a sense a catalyst for us to say to the community, ‘we’re not going anywhere; we’re here permanently,’ West says. “We need to build on this great gift that Hal gave us and say we want to become a support in the community for preservation.”
Memphis Heritage works with children of all ages in both private and public schools throughout the area to accomplish their mission of historic preservation education. Echoes of Truth is a summer program coordinated with Memphis City Schools where children participate in a wide variety of arts activities. This year the group is producing a video of interviews with Memphis architects. The Youth in Architecture program, done with the Memphis chapter of the American Institute of Architects and the Art Center, is a competition between students in the community to create an image of their favorite historic building.
“I love working with the community and trying to get partners to work with us because we obviously can’t do it alone,” West says.
The advocacy portion of the mission of Memphis Heritage comes from grants for preservation projects. The organization is in the middle of a $3 million endowment campaign to grow the current foundation fund.
“It takes a lot of money for historic bricks and mortar,” West says. “Hopefully the foundation will grow larger and larger as the years come and we can be able to do more bricks and mortar and support things like the historic house museums in Victorian Village.”
Currently Memphis Heritage is supporting a committee working on updating and revising the city’s preservation plan created in 1997. The committee is evaluating every building on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and the buildings in National Historic Districts to give them ratings based on their age, cultural and historical significance, and other factors. These ratings will determine which buildings the city should work proactively in saving. Memphis has the sixth largest number of historical properties on the NRHP, surpassing many larger and older cities in the nation.
“We don’t believe that every building should be saved; you can’t,” West says. “You have to pick your battles.”
One of the ways Memphis Heritage raises money is through print sales of a collection of black and white photographs of Memphis buildings taken by photographer Don Newman during the late 1930s to 1970s. Photograph prints are sold from eight by ten inch size to mural size, and are a very popular item. Memphis Heritage produced a show called “Then and Now” in which 24 of the Newman prints were selected and a local photographer took a picture of the same building today. The juxtaposition of the pictures showcases both the successes and failures of the preservation of historic structures in the city.
“It kind of brings it home,” West says. “Those pictures and images say to people, this is what you stand for – not letting this happen, or supporting that this is happening. It kind of brings it into focus for some people and they understand it.”
Some of the biggest successes, West says, are The Peabody, the Gayoso building, and the Main Street Mall. Some of the failures are the Cossitt Library on Front Street and the old Union Station train station (which is now the bulk mail center on Third Street).
West has many plans in the pipeline for Memphis Heritage. She would like to establish a “green warehouse” where salvaged historic items could be stored and sold to the public, such as baseboards, crown molding, doors, and other building materials. She would also like to found a historic preservation trade school where students could learn the fast fading technical expertise required to restore the area’s many historic structures.
West is passionate and dedicated to the mission of Memphis Heritage. She’s held the executive director position for five years, coming from a professional career in gerontology for 25 years. She was a Memphis Heritage member and volunteered for several years. When the organization was in a transition period without a director, she talked with the board and was eventually convinced to take on the role.
“People ask me, don’t you get frustrated because it’s an uphill battle all the time,” West says. “And it doesn’t – it’s just like working with Alzheimer’s; it’s not depressing to me – it only taught me the importance of preserving memories. In some ways it’s very similar in preservation and historic stuff.”
For more information on the Memphis Heritage organization please visit their website, www.memphisheritage.org.