National Park Service 

U.S. Department of the Interior 

this issue... 

Connecting Preservation 

to Community: Washington, 

D.C.'s Community Heritage 

Project 

A "big time woman" of 

the Piedmont: Unearthing 

the Story of a Community 

Matriarch 

Rehabilitating Raleigh's 

"Black Main Street" 

National Register 

Nominations 

Recognizing and Preserving 

Racial Segregation in South 

Carolina 

Two Enclaves form One 

New Historic District: The 

Chinatown and Little Italy 

Historic District 

African American 

Descendants and 

Archeology 

Connecting Preservation to Community: 

Washington, D.C. Community 

Heritage Project 

Bell Clement/ George Washington University 

W

ashington, D.C.'s Deanwood is the type of neighborhood often overlooked by 

preservationists and historians. Tucked into a corner of the city between the 

Anacostia River and the Maryland border, it is a quiet, residential community, 

built up by black, working-class Washingtonians in the early 20th century. 

Yet over the past five years, Deanwood has become a hub of preservation and local 

history activity. Residents have published a book of community history, created a 

neighborhood heritage trail, and assisted in the landmark designations of several sites. 

How did this happen? 

"The first time we came together as the Deanwood History Committee was when the 

Historic Preservation Office asked us to help with a survey of neighborhood architecture," 

says Kia Chatmon, a member of the Committee and its current chair. "We saw pretty 

quickly that we needed to assemble a neighborhood history, if the architectural survey was 

to have any context." 

"One thing we've learned," says Patsy Fletcher, Community Outreach Coordinator 

for D.C.'s Historic Preservation Office, and the staffer who first approached Deanwood 

residents about updating their survey documentation, "is that there's no way to interest 

residents in historic preservation until they're engaged with neighborhood history." The 

result was an increase in historic research on the neighborhood. 

Washington, D.C.'s effort to nurture that kind of engagement initiated the D.C. 

Community Heritage Project. Now entering its sixth year, the DCCHP is a collaborative 

of community historians supported by a partnership including the Humanities Council of 

Washington, D.C. (HCWDC), the city's Historic Preservation Office (HPO), and the D.C. 

Commission on the Arts and Humanities. 

CONTINUED » PAGE 2 

Heritage Matters 

SPRING 2010 ^ J News of the Nation's Diverse Cultural Heritage 
Mission of the 

National Park Service 

The National Park Service preserves unimpaired 

the natural and cultural resources and the values 

of the national park system for the enjoyment, 

education, and inspiration of this and future 

generations. The Park Service also cooperates 

wit h partners to extend the benefits of natural 

and cultural resource conservation and outdoor 

recreation throughout this country and the world. 

Heritage Matters, sponsored by the Cultural 

Resources Programs of the National Park Service, 

is published twice a year, and is free of charge. 

Readers are invited to submit short articles and 

notices for inclusion. (Limit submissions to fewer 

than 600 words and include author's name and 

affiliation. Photographs or digital images are 

welcome.) Please submit newsletter items in 

writing or electronically to: Brian D. Joyner, Editor, 

Heritage Matters, DOI/National Park Service, 1849 

C Street, NW (2280), Washington, DC 20240. 

Phone: 202.354.2276, 

e-mail: brian_joyner@nps.gov. 

This material is based upon wor k conducted 

under a cooperative agreement between the U.S. 

Department of the Interior, National Park Service 

and the National Conference of State Historic 

Preservation Officers. Views and conclusions in 

this material are those of the authors and should 

not be interpreted as representing the opinions or 

policies of the U.S. Government. Mention of trade 

names or commercial products does not constitute 

their endorsement by the U.S. Government. 

Jonathan B. Jarvis 

Director 

Christine S. Lehnertz 

Acting Associate Director, Cultural Resources 

Antoinette J. Lee 

Assistant Associate Director, Historic 

Documentation Programs 

J. Paul Loether 

Chief, National Register of Historic Places & 

National Historic Landmarks Programs 

Brian D. Joyner 

Heritage Matters Editor 

Washington, D.C.'s Community Heritage Project 

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 

Initiated in 2005, the DCCHP has assisted dozens of community 

heritage projects across the District's eight wards. A small group, 

including Fletcher and academic historians involved with D.C. 

neighborhoods, came together to look for ways to respond to 

the development taking place across the city that threatened 

the established heritage of the existing neighborhoods. They 

envisioned a framework that would support residents in telling 

their own stories of the communities in which they lived. The 

DCCHP supported the work of the Deanwood History. 

The DCCHP's efforts in supporting Deanwood to preserve its 

heritage have had an impact. "We have produced a record of the 

history of the community here," says Chatmon. "Now, when people 

or businesses come to Deanwood, they know they aren't dealing 

with a blank slate, but with a place that has a specific past, a specific 

heritage." • 

"Now, when people or businesses come to 

Deanwood, they know they aren't dealing 

with a blank slate, but with a place that has a 

specific past, a specific heritage." 

KIA CHATMON 

Members of the Deanwood History Committee (left to right, Barbara J. Moore, 

Alverna M. Miller, Deidre R. Gantt [standing], Elaine King Bowman, and Kia 

Chatmon) gather at the First Baptist Church of Deanwoobook, D.C.'s Deanwood. 

2 SPRING 2010 
NPS INITIATIVES 

A "big time woman" of the Piedmont: 

Unearthing the Story of a Community Matriarch 

Colette Carmouche / National Park Service 

P

rince William Forest Park, located 35 miles south 

of Washington D.C. in a small Virginia community 

called Triangle, is 15,000 acres of Piedmont forest 

interrupted only by streams, creeks, and the occasional road 

to transport visitors to campgrounds and hiking trails. The 

park has maintained its pristine landscape and served as a 

retreat for urban dwellers since it was constructed in 1936 

by the Civilian Conservation Corps, a program borne out 

of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal plan. Before 1936, 

the land was home to small agricultural communities dating 

back to tire 19th century. Batestown and Hickory Ridge were 

two African American and mixed race communities that 

developed around the mid-i8oos. 

Life in the Piedmont was simple—people grew their 

own food stock, bartered for goods and services, harvested 

and sold local resources, provided services, or worked at 

the local railroad and pyrite mine. This simple life ended 

with the birth of FDR's "Recreational Demonstration Area" 

project in the 1930s. Seeking to create recreational use 

areas out of reclaimed, sub-marginal farm lands, the RDA 

project offered fair market value to occupants to resettle 

on other, more profitable land. As in many resettlement 

stories, this was a great opportunity for some, while others 

only reluctantly left their land. Generations of land-owning 

African Americans and others in the area lost their land, and 

for some time it seemed their stories disappeared, too. 

A tributary of Quantico Creek was named "Mary Bird 

Branch" after an African American woman who lived along 

the creek. Few clues were left behind regarding her identity 

or why the branch was named after her. Many wondered, 

"Who was Mary Bird?" 

Answers began to emerge in 2000, after the park 

contracted two Howard University professors to conduct 

oral histories with former residents of Hickory Ridge and 

Batestown to uncover information on the African American 

heritage of the park. Four years and 35 interviews later, the 

professors released the first round of oral history transcripts 

with many of the surviving residents of the communities. In 

2008, the second edition of interviews was released. In the 

meantime, park staff had begun building relationships with 

local families. As a result, they have gained additional oral 

histories and donated objects, and they have strengthened 

relationships with these stakeholders. While the interviews 

centered around the general topic of life in the Piedmont 

up to the 1930s, the story of Mary Bird began to take shape. 

To close family she was known as Aunt May Byrd and was a 

well-known figure in the Hickory Ridge community during 

the early 1900s. 

Mary Byrd of Hickory Ridge (pictured with her husband Charles) was 

considered a stalwart of the community during the early 20th century. 

Courtesy of Charlie Reid. 

More detailed information was gradually unearthed 

from other interviewees. First, it became clear that her name 

was actually spelled Mary Byrd. She lived with her husband 

in the multiracial community of Hickory Ridge. Many 

remember her as a generous woman who always shared 

fruits and vegetables grown from her orchard or garden. 

Her home was a place for all to gather and feel welcomed. 

As Hilda Howard remembered, "Mary Byrd is the one who 

used to feed everybody." 

CONTINUED » PAGE 4 

HERITAGE MATTERS 3 
A "big time woman" of the Piedmont 

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 

"Many remember her 

as a generous woman 

who always shared fruits 

and vegetables grown 

from her orchard or 

garden. Her home was a 

place for all to gather 

and feel welcomed." 

COLETTE CARMOUCHE 

Born and raised in Virginia, Mary Byrd married Charles Byrd, a handsome 

"city slicker" from Pennsylvania who came to work at the local pyrite mine. Byrd 

purchased the land for Mary to have a farm. Mary proved to be a most successful 

business woman and community leader. She cut and sold wood and railroad ties to 

make money. Mary Byrd also made and sold her own wine. In addition, she served 

as a midwife in the community and often raised or took in the children of relatives 

and neighbors. As one woman reported: 

"There's a lot of that where people would help raise other people's kids. 

Circumstances were the same as now. The parents couldn't afford to take care 

of them. Usually family members took them. Aunt Mary Byrd did that. She took 

Sadie Martin's boy. He was a little fellow. I'll never forget. She bought him a new 

suit. She would never let him wear it because she was going to save that to bury 

him in." 

A recent interview completed in 2009 with one of Mary Byrd's surviving 

nephews revealed more detailed information about her life. According to Warren 

Williams, "See, Aunt Mary was what I would call a big boss. See, she had her own 

land, she paid her own helper, made her own wine, and the sheriff knowed her 

and would never bother her. So, I call her a big time woman. Aunt Mary knew who 

to associate with and who not to." 

The interviews also showed Mary Byrd's resistance to moving from the land 

in the 1930s. "A lot of people sold their land, and I think the ones that had pretty 

good land and didn't want to start over, they condemned the land. I think she was 

one of the ones they condemned. I understand she resisted. A lot of people did. 

said another nephew, Charlie Reid. 

The information about Mary Byrd and the Hickory Ridge and Batestown 

communities gained through oral histories has enriched the understanding of 

Prince William Forest Park's history. The oral histories have not only unearthed 

information about who existed here and why, but they've exposed the stories that 

were missing for so long. •> 

4 SPRING 2010 
NPS INITIATIVES 

Rehabilitating Raleigh's "Black Main Street" 

Jenny Parker/Technical Preservation Services, NPS 

L

ike many early 20th-century American cities 

and towns, Raleigh, North Carolina, became an 

increasingly segregated city. Ordinances and housing 

covenants created de facto segregated areas in many 

cities across the nation. After 1900, businesses serving 

Raleigh's black community were slowly displaced from 

more prominent downtown locations along Fayetteville 

and Wilmington Streets. During these decades, however, 

black entrepreneurship thrived in a small enclave along 

East Hargett Street, the only location that welcomed black 

businesses. This section of town was so successful that it 

became known as "Black Main Street" and it served as the 

hub of the black community until the 1960s. 

During its heyday in the 1920s, the area was home to 

grocery stores, clothing companies, drug stores, insurance 

companies, fraternal orders, a popular hotel, a printing 

company that served the entire state, a bank, and a 

real estate company, all located along the 100 block of 

East Hargett Street or nearby. So successful were these 

enterprises that the Raleigh Times stated in an article in 1925, 

"Whatever the Raleigh of tomorrow may be, the Negroes 

will play a part in its making." Unfortunately, the Raleigh 

of tomorrow included a period of sharp decline for this 

important commercial district. Following the exodus of the 

black population to the suburbs in the 1960s, this district 

languished with a mix of moderately successful businesses 

and vacant properties. 

Beginning in the 1980s, individual rehabilitation projects 

began to slowly revitalize this area using the Federal Historic 

Rehabilitation Tax Credit Program, which provides a tax 

credit equal to 20% of the cost of the project to historic 

commercial property owners. In combination with the 

federal credit, rehabilitations also qualify for a 20% North 

Carolina state tax credit. Since 2002, investment in this 

neighborhood has dramatically increased as five of the 

buildings along the north side of Raleigh's Black Main Street 

were rehabilitated by Empire Properties, a development 

company that specializes in the rehabilitation of historic 

commercial buildings. 

One of the premier projects was the rehabilitation of the 

1913 Odd Fellows Building located at 115-117 East Hargett. 

Historically, the upper floors of the building housed the 

CONTINUED » PAGE 6 

Not only were historic features 

preserved, such as original board 

ceilings and a vintage barber chair 

and sink, but the developers also 

retained the Capitol Barber Shop, 

one of the anchors of the community, 

as a tenant. 

Many of the buildings along the Black Main Street in Raleigh have been 

rehabilitated, breathing new life and economic growth into this part of 

North Carolina's capitol city. Courtesy of North Carolina Historic 

Preservation Office. 

The rehabilitation of the historic Odd Fellows Building included the 

retention of the Capitol Barber Shop. Even the vintage barber chair and 

sink remain. Courtesy of NPS Tax Act Program. 

HERITAGE MATTERS 5 
NPS INITIATIVES 

Since 2002, investment in this neighborhood has dramatically increased as five of 

the buildings along the north side of Raleigh's Black Main Street were rehabilitated 

by Empire Properties, a development company that specializes in the rehabilitation 

of historic commercial buildings. 

"Since 2002, investment in this neighborhood 

has dramatically increased as five of the 

buildings along the north side of Raleigh's 

Black Main Street were rehabilitated 

by Empire Properties, a development 

company that specializes in the rehabilitation 

of historic commercial buildings." 

JENNY PARKER 

Rehabilitating Raleigh's "Black Main Street" 

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 

local chapter of the Grand United Order of 

Odd Fellows, which was an African American 

fraternal organization founded both to pay for 

die proper burials of servicemen who fell during 

World War I and to care for their widows and 

children. The commercial spaces in this building 

served the black community of Raleigh as beauty 

salons and office space for law practices. One of 

the most prominent long-time tenants was Fred 

Carnage, a well-respected attorney who served 

as a member of Raleigh's school board during 

desegregation. 

In rehabilitating this building, not only were 

historic features preserved, such as original 

board ceilings and a vintage barber chair and 

sink, but the developers also retained the 

Capitol Barber Shop, one of the anchors of the 

community, as a tenant. The business has served 

generations of Raleigh's black community and 

provided a gathering place that survived the 

neighborhood's decline. The financial assistance 

provided by the Federal and state tax credits has 

been one of the primary factors in the success 

of these projects. According to Jenny Harper 

of Empire Properties, "There is absolutely no 

question that these projects would not have 

happened without the tax credits. The credits 

have not only made the retention of these 

historic resources possible, but have also allowed 

us to subsidize rents where possible." 

In subsidizing the rent in order to keep 

businesses like the Capitol Barber Shop in 

their historic location, Empire Properties 

demonstrates how preservation (and tax 

credit programs in particular) can make real 

impacts in stimulating local economies while 

maintaining a community's identity. In this case, 

the building and its connection to the historic 

African American community are preserved and 

provide valuable services to the community. The 

incentive of the state and federal tax credits has 

translated to S16.5 million in investment in this 

neighborhood over the years. 

The Federal Historic Rehabilitation Tax 

Credit Program is jointly administered by State 

Historic Preservation Offices, the National Park 

Service, and the Internal Revenue Service. •> 

\\) For more information about this program, 

please visit www.nps.gov/hps/tps/tax. 

6 SPRING 2010 
STATF INITIATIVFS 

National Register Nominations 

Rustin Quaide / National Park Service / Caridad de la Vega / National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers 

Snoqualmie Falls 

Snoqualmie Falls, a 268-foot waterfall located 

in eastern King County, Washington, figures 

prominently in the Snoqualmie Indians origin myth. 

In this story, Moon the Transformer created the 

falls from a fishing weir (a fish trap which allows 

water to run through) and shaped the natural 

environment and the Indian people. Snoqualmie 

Falls has also been identified by some contemporary 

tribal members as the location of both a powerful 

waterfall spirit and a traditional venue for acquiring 

spirit power. Although the site of a hydroelectric 

facility for nearly a century, the Falls retain significant 

integrity of physical character and associative values, 

as an important place in the cultural continuation of 

the Snoqualmie people. 

Snoqualmie Falls lies within the historic territory 

of two Snoqualmie Indians groups. The upper 

and lower bands of Snoqualmie people conferred 

land use privileges from one to the other: Upper 

Snoqualmie people (who lived on the prairies above 

the Falls) received salmon fishing privileges from the Lower 

Snoqualmie people, who received prairie resources such as 

deer in return. According to several tribal elders, the Falls 

divides the spirits of the Snoqualmie into prairie and valley 

spirits, which meet at the Falls making Snoqualmie Falls a site 

of special spiritual power. Snoqualmie Falls was listed in the 

National Register of Historic Places on October 2, 2009. 

Meadowbrook Country Club 

Country Club, located outside the city limits of Garner, North 

Carolina, near Raleigh, was founded and developed in 1959 for 

African Americans who were unable to gain membership to white 

country clubs due to segregation laws. The property consists of a 

nine-hole golf course, lake, picnic grounds, clubhouse, swimming 

pool, tennis courts, and a miniature golf course. It extends 120 acres 

and is buffeted on all sides by woods and residential lots. 

Meadowbrook Created by the local black business community with 

45 charter members, Meadowbrook Country Club was a center 

of social life and a place of pride for the local African American 

community. From 1959 to 1971, membership grew from 45 to 186. 

The 1960s were the heyday for Meadowbrook. Following the Civil 

Rights Act of 1964, once racially-exclusive private clubs opened to 

African Americans and membership in Meadowbrook declined. 

In 2007 the remaining members and officers sold the club to St. 

Augustine's College so that its legacy as a traditionally black country 

club would be preserved. The Meadowbrook Country Club was listed 

in the National Register of Historic Places on December 16, 2009. 

The Meadowbrook Country Club offered a recreational and social meeting place 

for Raleigh's African American community for nearly 50 years. Courtesy of Sybil H. 

Argintar, North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office. 

Snoqualmie Falls represents the power of both the prairie and valley spirits, both 

sacred to the Upper and Lower Snoqualmie Indians, Courtesy of Washington State 

Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation. 

E 
National Register Nominations 

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 

O Ocean Parkway Jewish Center 

The Ocean Parkway Jewish Center in Brooklyn, New York, was 

built in 1924-1926. The Jewish community in Brooklyn was 

established in the mid 19th century and grew through a wave 

of eastern European Jewish immigration during the late 19th 

and early 20th centuries. The congregation of Ocean Parkway 

was founded in 1907 by Harry Falk and a small group. It grew 

rapidly from the original location at 205 Dennis Avenue. The 

Ocean Parkway Jewish Center was designed by architects 

Samuel Lewis Malkind and Martyn N. Weinstein. They used a 

neo-classical design embellished with Judaic symbols. Built as 

a three-story-and-attic building (with a two-story addition to 

the south), the original building is faced in Indiana limestone, 

granite and marble, with the second and third stories organized as a temple front. The central area, directly above the 

three arched entranceways, is organized as three bays by six 

fluted Ionic pilasters-supporting an entablature and triangular 

pediment rising into the attic level. 

Combining facilities for both religious and general community 

needs, the building has classrooms, meeting rooms, a 

gymnasium, and a swimming pool. The Ocean Parkway Jewish 

Center offered adult education classes, as well as forums 

and lectures, making it a place of intellectual development 

in the community. Over the years the Jewish population of 

the neighborhood became more traditional in its religious 

observance and the Jewish Center, originally affiliated with 

the Conservative movement, is now Modern Orthodox. The 

Ocean Parkway Jewish Center was listed in the National 

Register of Historic Places on December 12, 2009. 

The Ocean Parkway Jewish Center has served Long Island since 1924. 

Courtesy of Tony Robins, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and 

Historic Preservation. 

O Winston-Salem Tobacco Historic District 

The Winston-Salem Tobacco Historic District in downtown 

Winston-Salem, North Carolina, boasts the area's largest 

extant industrial section. It was once a prominent area for 

the production of tobacco, and the remaining buildings 

are from an African American and wholesale commercial 

business district that served the R. J. Reynolds Company 

and its employees. The tobacco factories employees 

were almost exclusively African American. R. J. Reynolds 

produced Camel cigarettes, the first recognizably American 

cigarette brand. 

Listed in the National Register of Historic Places on August 

5, 2009, the district consists of factory buildings, storage 

warehouses, power stations, railroad bridges, and railroad 

right of ways. The R. J. Reynolds buildings are a few of 

the surviving industrial buildings that once stood within the 

eastern section of downtown Winston-Salem during the 

early part of the twentieth century. Most notable among the 

district's buildings are the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, 

the S. J. Nissen Building, and the Piedmont Leaf Tobacco 

Company. The district encompasses 20 buildings, with 

13 historically associated with the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco 

Company. 

The S. J. Nissen Company manufactured and repaired wagons and 

served as a carriage repository supporting the need for transporting 

leaf tobacco from the auction sale houses to the manufacturing plants. 

Courtesy of Jennifer F. Hembree. 

8 SPRING 2010 
5 Wakamatsu Tea and Silk 

Colony Farm 

The Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Colony Farm was 

listed in the National Register of Historic Places 

on October 9, 2009. It was one of the oldest 

permanent Japanese settlements in the United 

States. Located in El Dorado County, California, 

the farm was originally purchased by agent John 

Henry Schnell on behalf of Matsudaira Katamori, 

and included a house, barn, and fields. Twentytwo Japanese immigrants planted mulberry trees, 

cultivated 140,000 tea plants, and built a pond 

for the breeding of fish. The mulberry trees and 

tea leaves were from Japan. Tea and oil plants 

and silk cocoons from their colony experiment 

were displayed at the 1869 California State 

Agricultural Fair in Sacramento. 

The Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Colony Farm 

experienced limited success in its time (1869-

1871). A drought in 1871, along with competition 

for water, poor management, and the loss of 

financial support from Katamori, contributed to 

the rapid demise of the colony. 

The German community of Munichberg Historic District in Jefferson City, MO. 

dates back to the late 19th century. Courtesy of Missouri State Historic 

Preservation Office. 

The colonists at the Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Colony Farm 

had tea leaves sent to them from Japan for cultivation at 

their newly established farm in 1869. Courtesy of R. Allen. 

0 Munichburg Commercial Historic District 

The Munichburg Commercial Historic District in Jefferson City, 

Missouri, developed by German immigrants in the late 19th and 

early 20th centuries, and includes nine properties located around 

the intersection of East Dunklin and Madison Streets. Settled by 

German Protestants, the original local name for the neighborhood 

was Muenchberg, after the village in Germany of the same name. 

The German immigrants developed their own shopping district, fire 

department, churches, and hotels and the neighborhood was soon 

known as Munichburg. In the post-World War I years, possibly due to 

anti-German sentiment, the area adopted the name of Southside. 

Eight of the nine buildings in the district were built by German 

Americans. The oldest building in the district, the John Nieghom 

House, dates to 1892. The Busch family operated a business in 

Munichburg for over a hundred years. The Milo Walz family operated 

a new and used furniture shop in a building built in 1923, which was 

expanded and reached a peak employment of 125 people in the 

1970s. In recent years, the Old Munichburg Association has promoted 

and preserved Munichburg and its German heritage. The Association 

holds an annual Oktoberfest, which has raised thousands of dollars 

over the years to improve streetscapes and encourage economic 

development. The Munichburg Historic District was listed in the 

National Register of Historic Places on July 1, 2009. 

CONTINUED »PAGE 10 

HERITAGE MATTERS 

STATE INITIATIVES 

9 
National Register Nominations 

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9 

Mount Peace Cemetery and Funeral Directing 

Company Cemetery 

Located in Camden County, New Jersey, the Mount Peace Cemetery and 

Funeral Directing Company Cemetery was listed in the National Register of 

Historic Place on July 29, 2009. The cemetery has been serving the African 

American community since 1902 and stands as the largest non-sectarian 

African American cemetery in the state of New Jersey. The cemetery is also 

the final resting place of 108 African American Civil War soldiers, most 

notably John Lawson, who received the Medal of Honor for his valiant 

service in the U.S. Navy during the Battle of Mobile Bay in August 1864. 

Other notable internments are located on the slope of Snow Hill, which 

is also the former name of the unincorporated historic African American 

community. These include 15 Spanish-American War veterans, and 

approximately 104 World War I veterans and 30 World War II veterans. 

The grave markers vary in type and include homemade concrete markers, 

hand-inscribed headstones, plot enclosures, ornate granite stones, and 

marble obelisks. This still-active cemetery covers a little less than twelve 

acres; the total number of burials is unknown. 

The Mount Peace Cemetery and Funeral Directing Company Cemetery is the largest 

non-sectarian African American cemetery in New Jersey. Courtesy of Paul W. Schopp. 

0 Komensky School 

The Komensky School, constructed in 1912, served a 

prominently Czech farm community in McLeod County, 

Minnesota. It was a center of community life, from 1912 to 

1959, when the rural district consolidated with Hutchinson 

Township and the building was sold to the Lodge Lumir. 

Czechs from Central Europe began arriving in Minnesota in 

the 1850s, and by 1858 a significant number had settled in 

McLeod County as farmers. Like other ethnic groups, Czech 

farmers settling northeast of Hutchinson, joined together 

in forming societies and clubs, and in 1876 local residents 

formed the Bohemian Reading and Educational Society, or 

Cesky Cternarsky Vzdelanecke Spolek. The society sought 

to increase educational opportunities for the community 

and their children while retaining the culture and folklore 

of their ancestors. 

The Bohemian Reading and Educational Society group 

became the nucleus of the Komensky School. The school 

was named after Jan Komensky (1592-1670), a noted Czech 

teacher, philosopher, and writer and one of the earliest 

champions of universal education. Influenced by former 

student, teacher, and physics professor at the University 

of Minnesota, Anthony Zeleny and built by local builder/ 

architect Paul Magdanz, Komensky School taught students 

from grades 1 to 8. From 1912 to 1959, more than 150 

pupils graduated from Komensky School. The school's 

well-preserved exterior displays a one-story rectangular building, 

including a basement. The Komensky School, located on a halfacre parcel of land, was listed in the National Register of Historic 

Places on August 20, 2009 for ethnic heritage and education. 

The Komensky School was an off-shoot of the Bohemian Reading and 

Educational Society, formed for children of the Czech immigrants in McLeod 

County, Minnesota. Courtesy of Donald J. Hosington and the Minnesota SHPO. 

10 SPRING 2010 

E 
STATE INITIATIVES 

O Berkley Square 

The Berkley Square subdivision, which is located in the 

Las Vegas area historically known as Westside, consists 

of 148 Contemporary Ranch-style homes designed by 

internationally-known African American architect Paul 

R. Williams of Los Angeles (1894-1980) between 1954 

and 1955. This was the first minority (African American) 

built subdivision in Nevada. Berkley Square, bounded 

by Byrnes Ave, D Street, Leonard Ave and G Street, was 

built to provide adequate housing for a growing African 

American community before the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

The development was financed in part by Thomas L. Berkley, 

a prominent African American attorney, media owner, 

developer, and civil rights advocate in Oakland, California. 

Prior to the 1930s, racism was not a problem in Las Vegas 

simply because there were so few African American 

residents, but as the African American presence grew, 

segregation set in. Housing conditions on the Westside, 

where the African American population was located, were 

substandard, but planning between the City of Las Vegas 

and the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) began to build a 

community of affordable modern housing in 1947, which 

resulted in the creation of Berkley Square. The houses of 

Berkley Square are contemporary Ranch-style houses—onestory houses with low-pitched, gabled, or hipped roofs and 

wide eaves. 

The project architect Paul R. Williams was the first African 

American to become a member of the American Institute of 

Architects; he had studied at the Los Angles School of Art 

and the Los Angeles Beaux-Arts Institute of Design and the 

engineering school at the University of Southern California. 

Williams designed homes in California for movie industry 

leaders and movie stars. In Las Vegas, he designed the Royal 

Nevada (1951), remolded the Flamingo Hotel (1959), and, 

among other projects, designed the Las Vegas Hotel Casino 

& Shopping Center (1957). He was the author of two books: 

The Small House of Tomorrow published in 1945 and New 

Houses for Today published in 1946. 

Berkley Square represents the strides made by the AfricanAmerican community in the period of activism leading up to 

the Civil Rights Act. It provided quality housing and services 

to Las Vegas' historically neglected Westside. It is still a predominately African American community, and many homes 

have been kept within the families that originally purchased 

them when they were constructed in the 1950s. Berkley 

Square was listed in the National Register of Historic Places 

on October 23, 2009. 

An African American community designed by Paul R. Williams, Berkley 

Square was the first planned community designed by a minority architect 

in the state of Nevada. Courtesy of Diana Painter, Nevada SHPO. 

HERITAGE MATTERS 11 

Cl) For more information about the 

National Register visit http://www.nps.gov/nr 
JSIATE INITIATIVES 

Recognizing and 

Preserving Racial 

Segregation in South Carolina 

Rebekah Dobrasko / South Carolina State Historic Preservation Office 

S

tudents in the Introduction to Historic Preservation 

class in the University of South Carolina's graduatelevel Public History program embarked on a threeyear project to research and identify sites associated with 

racial segregation in Columbia, South Carolina. This project 

resulted in the "Segregation in Columbia, SC 1880-1960" 

Multiple Property Submission (MPS) to the National 

Register of Historic Places, the listing of six properties in the 

National Register, a spin-off Multiple Property Submission, 

and increased awareness and recognition of segregationrelated sites in the capitol city. 

The students, led by Dr. Robert Weyeneth, Director of 

the Public History program, conducted extensive archival 

research and oral history interviews to develop the MPS. The 

historic context focuses on two "snapshots" of Columbia: 

segregation in 1919 and the early 1950s. Using city directories 

that segregated residences and businesses by race, students 

created a list of properties that could meet the criteria for 

listing in the National Register. Properties would fit into four 

categories that defined segregated space: an exclusive space, 

a partitioned space, a duplicative space, or an alternative 

space. Exclusive spaces reflect those that were dedicated to 

one race or the other; partitioned spaces had some sort of 

partition to separate the races, such as railroad passenger 

stations; duplicative spaces represented a system of double 

building to maintain segregation, such as black and white 

schools; while alternative spaces represented African 

American responses to white-only spaces. 

After the acceptance of the "Segregation in Columbia" 

MPS and initial listing of six properties, more buildings in 

Columbia were nominated as part of the MPS. The African 

American community became aware of the National Register 

as a way to acknowledge segregation-related sites, and 

Historic Columbia Foundation began an intensive effort to 

place historical markers at African American related sites 

across the city. Additional research into another segregated 

property in Columbia, the Florence Benson Elementary 

School, led to the development of another MPS that 

examined a different aspect of duplicative segregated places 

in South Carolina's public school system. 

In 1950, African American parents in Clarendon County, 

sued the local school district for the desegregation of 

its public schools. This case, Briggs v. Elliott, eventually 

made its way to the United States Supreme Court and was 

decided along with three other cases that struck down 

racial segregation in public schools, in Brown v. Board 

of Education. In response to the suit, the South Carolina 

government decided to demonstrate that its black schools 

were "equal" to its white schools. The General Assembly 

passed the state's first sales tax of 3% and dedicated the 

money to black school construction. Over the next four 

years, South Carolina spent almost S125 million to build 

close to 775 schools. 

All schools constructed under this "equalization" 

program were architect-designed and reflected Modern 

architecture and modern building materials. These schools 

have flat or low-pitched roofs, banks of windows, covered 

walkways, articulated entrances, brick veneer or concrete 

block walls, and classrooms that opened to the outside. 

Only two other states, Georgia and Mississippi, had a similar 

statewide school equalization building program. South 

Carolina is the first state to develop a historic context on 

these schools for the National Register. Mississippi and 

Georgia are beginning to recognize and list their equalization 

schools. 

The MPS, "South Carolina's Equalization School 

Program, 1951-1960" was accepted by the National Park 

Service in 2009. These documents were prepared by 

Rebekah Dobrasko of the State Historic Preservation Office 

as a result of research conducted for her master's thesis. 

As historians, politicians, educators, and the press become 

more aware of the "hidden" history of segregation in South 

Carolina's historic buildings, it is the SHPO's hope that more 

discussion, research, and recognition of sites associated with 

segregation will be documented in the state. •> 

12 SPRING 2010 
STATE INITIATIVES 

African American Descendants and Archeology 

Kristin M. Montaperto / Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission 

N

orthampton Slave Quarters and Archaeological 

Park is a half-acre, open-air park containing the 

foundations of two former slave quarters. It is 

located in the middle of a townhouse community outside 

the eastern border of Washington, D.C., in Prince George's 

County, Maryland. Owned by the Maryland-National 

Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), the 

park is managed by its Archaeology Program and open year 

round with self guided tours. 

In 1673, Charles Calvert, the third Lord Baltimore of 

Maryland, granted the 1,000-acre plot of land to Thomas 

Sprigg who named the property Northampton. It was a 

prominent plantation home to the Sprigg family and their 

enslaved African Americans and servants for nearly 200 

years. Today, six clans link their families to a common 

ancestor, Elizabeth Hawkins, who lived at Northampton 

during the 1800s. Elizabeth and other members of the 

Hawkins family are recorded in the 1870 U.S. Census as living 

at Northampton. 

Interpretative signage guides the public through the 

history of slavery in Prince George's County, Maryland, by 

discussing the plantation owners, slaves seeking freedom, 

tenant farming, archeology, and the important role of 

descendants. For example, some enslaved African American 

residents sought emancipation through escape. In 2008, 

Northampton was accepted into the National Park Service's 

National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom 

Program. Contemporary newspaper accounts cite multiple 

Northampton residents as runaways between 1800 and 1836. 

The site also features the reconstructed foundations of 

the two slave quarters. The smaller of the two structures 

(25 feet by 27 feet) was wooden framed and stood on a 

stone foundation in the late 1790s. Divided by a wall and 

chimney, the house provided living space for two families. 

Descendants of tire enslaved resided there until the 1930s. 

Through historic documents, archeologists have been able 

to compare the dimensions of the excavated wooden frame 

quarters with a list of buildings in the 1798 Federal Direct 

Tax. Osborn Sprigg, Jr.'s (the fourth owner), Federal Direct 

Tax lists "...1 Overseers House 20 by 16, one Negro House 26 

by 24, Corn House 40 by 12, with 10 foot Shed on each Side, 

Barn & Stable 60 by 30, Three [Tobacco] Houses 60 by 24 

each..." MNCPPC believes the "Negro House 26 by 24" may 

be the structure uncovered during excavations. 

The second structure was constructed in the 1840s and 

also housed two families. It was built entirely of brick (22 feet 

by 40 feet) and divided into two living areas by a central wall 

CONTINUED » PAGE 14 

Northampton Slave Quarters and Archaeological Park, Courtesy 

of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, 

Archaeology Program. 

Reconstructed Wooden Frame and Brick Quarters Foundations, 

Courtesy of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning 

Commission, Archaeology Program 

HERITAGE MATTERS 13 
Two Enclaves form One New 

Historic District: The Chinatown 

and Little Italy Historic District 

Brian Joyner / National Park Service 

In every large urban area, immigrant enclaves tend to 

bump up against one another, with sliding boundaries. 

Sometimes the neighborhoods change hands-for example, 

in Los Angeles, Little Tokyo became Bronzeville, an 

African American neighborhood, due to relocation, to 

and then became Little Tokyo again. Often, groups move 

on to other areas or the enclaves become incorporated 

into the larger society. But in New York City, two famous 

neighborhoods, Chinatown and Little Italy, have become 

one historic district. On September 15, 2009 the New 

York State Historic Preservation Office designated the 

Chinatown and Little Italy Historic District at the state 

level. The new district was listed in the National Register 

on February 12, 2010. 

Both communities were established in Lower Manhattan 

in the mid-1800s, and overlap within a 45-block 

area. However development pressures in recent 

years threatened the continued existence of both 

neighborhoods. The Two Bridges Neighborhood Council, 

a non-profit low-income housing developer, worked 

with the two communities to develop the historic district 

nomination. Meetings with representatives from both 

communities identified goals and sought to avoid the 

superficial development that has occurred in other 

neighborhoods around the city and the nation. Victor 

Papa, president of Two Bridges, said that the council 

sought the designation to provide protection for the 

tenement architecture. 

Along with the new historic district, Two Bridges helped 

plan the Marco Polo Day celebration that took place on 

October 18, 2009. The celebration embodies the spirit of 

the district and the shared histories of the two groups, 

dating back 700 years to the arrival of the Venetian 

merchant at the court of Kubla Khan. The celebration 

further emphasized how the two communities could work 

together in preserving their heritages. The communities 

plan to make Marco Polo Day an annual event. 

African American Descendants and Archeology 

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13 

and chimney. There was a door and fire place for each 

side with a loft above the main floor reached by ladder. 

Later, a shed was added to the side of the building. Susie 

Smith, daughter of Elizabeth Hawkins, lived in the brick 

quarters in the 1920s and 1930s. Smith's grandchildren 

remember visiting her on the property and have shared 

their experiences and through oral histories, which 

have helped archeologists learn more about life at 

Northampton during the 1900s. 

In addition to providing oral histories on life at 

Northampton, Hawkins descendants participated in 

excavations at the slave quarters during Hawkins' Family 

Dig Days. The family worked alongside archeologists 

and other volunteers, digging and sifting through the 

past of their ancestors. A familiar object would spark 

a memory and stories were told of its significance. 

Memories were passed from great-grandparent to 

great-grandchild. Archeology continues to provide 

descendants with more information about their 

ancestors, while descendants provide archeologists with 

insight into their history and memory. 

The archeology and accompanying oral histories, 

combined with documentary research provide 

preservation efforts at Northampton Plantation with 

valuable information on African American home life 

during and following slavery. •> 

Family Memorial Service, Courtesy of the Maryland-National Capital 

Park and Planning Commission, Archaeology Program 

Information for this article came from The Villager and Downtown 

Express newspapers. 

14 SPRING 2010 
Conferences 

April 2010 

Society of Architectural Historians, Chicago, IL 

The 63rd Annual Meeting of the Society of Architectural 

Historians (SAH) will be held in Chicago on April 21-25, 2010. 

Sweet Home Chicago celebrates the society's 70th anniversary 

in the city known as "Rome for Americanists." Featured sessions 

include a day-long Landscape History Symposium, organized 

by Susan Herrington and Thaisa Way; the annual Historic 

Preservation Colloquium, organized by James Peters; and a 

round-table session entitled "In Between: Histories Informed by 

Contemporary Art and Architecture," organized by Sharon Irish. 

For more information and registration details of the SAH's Annual 

Meeting, visit the 2010 Meeting website, http://www.sah.org/ 

index.php?src=gendocs&ref=AnnualMeetingChicago&category=A 

nnualMeetingChicago. 

October 2010 

National Trust for Historic Preservation, 

Austin, TX 

The theme of the National Trust's National Preservation Conference 

in 2010 is The Next American City, The Next American Landscape. 

The conference will take place in Austin, Texas. Sessions will focus 

on Smart Growth and Diversity. 

For more information, visit the National Trust's conference website, 

http://www.preservationnation.org/resources/training/npc/. 

Events 

M a y 2010 

American Association of Museums, 

Los Angeles, CA 

The American Association of Museums will host its annual 

conference, Museums Without Borders, on May 23-27. Los 

Angeles was the first and largest "majority-minority" city in the 

United States, and a leader in technology, entertainment and 

innovative response to environmental issues. The host city and 

the conference will have over 170 sessions, with a 10-session 

international track on global issues affecting the museum field. 

For more information, visit AAM Conference webpage, 

http://www.aam-us.org/am10/theme.cfm. 

June 2010 

National Asian Pacific Islander American Historic 

Preservation Forum, San Francisco, CA 

"Preserving Asian Pacific Islander America: Mobilizing our Communities" is an initial meeting for Asian Pacific Islander communities to come together with preservation organizations. The 

conference will take place at the Hotel Kabuki in San Francisco, 

CA on June 24 to 26, 2010. Featured speakers include Dr. Sue 

Fawn Chung of University of Nevada, Las Vegas. 

For registration information, visit the Forum's website, 

http://www.apinhpforum.org/register-online.html. 

Asian American/Pacific Islander Heritage Month / April 

Historic Preservation Month / May 

Hispanic Heritage Month / September/October 

Announcements 

New CRDP Publication, Hispanic Reflections on 

the American Landscape 

The history of North America is tied to the Spanish settlement 

of the Western Hemisphere. The melding of Spanish, European, 

indigenous American, and African cultures are at the root of 

Hispanic heritage throughout the region. This heritage influences 

aspects of American culture from our architectural lexicon, to food 

to music and dance. 

The National Park Service has published 

Hiipanic Reflections on the American 

Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting 

Hispanic Heritage, the third in the series of 

guides to the diverse heritage of the nation. 

This guide uses properties documented by 

NPS cultural resource programs to provide 

examples of how to identify and interpret 

Hispanic heritage within American culture 

for preservationists, interpreters, 

and the general public. 

Hispanic Reflections, published as a single volume in English and 

Spanish, is available to the public through NPS. For copies, please 

contact WASO_CRDP_INFO@nps.gov. 

Hispanic Reflections on the American Landscape provides preservationists 

and interpreters with a guide to understanding Hispanic heritage within 

American culture. Courtesy of National Park Service. 

Conferences, Events, and Announcements 
National Park Service 

1849 C Street, NW 

Washington, DC 20240 

SPRIN G 201 0 

Heritage Matters 

News of the Nation's Diverse Cultural Heritage 

Connecting Preservation 

to Community: 

Washington, D.C.'s 

Community Heritage 

Project 

A "big time woman" of 

the Piedmont: Unearthing 

the Story of a Community 

Matriarch 

Two Enclaves form One 

New Historic District: The 

Chinatown and Little 

Italy Historic District 

African American 

Descendants and 

Archeology 

Presort 

FIRST CLASS MAIL 

Postage & Fees Paid 

U.S. Department 

of the Interior 

Permit # G-83 

About 

Heritage Matters 

Heritage Matters, sponsored by the Cultural 

Resources Programs of the National Park 

Service, is published twice a year, and is free 

of charge. Readers are invited to submit 

short articles and notices for inclusion. 

(Limit submissions to fewer than 600 words 

and include author's name and affiliation. 

Photographs or slides are welcome.) Please 

submit newsletter items in writing or 

electronically to: 

Brian D. Joyner, Editor, Heritage Matters 

DOI/National Park Service, 1849 C Street 

NW (2280), Washington, DC 20240 

phone: 202.354.2276 

e-mail: brian_joyner@nps.gov. 

Rehabilitating Raleigh's 

"Black Main Street" 

National Register 

Nominations 

Recognizing and 

Preserving Racial 

Segregation in South 

Carolina