Tenth Street receives a grant!
Tenth Street Receives a Grant from the
National Trust for Historic Preservation
The Tenth Street Residential Organization (TSRO) was just selected to receive a grant from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund of the National Trust for Historic Preservation to assist in their efforts to preserve the Tenth Street Historic District, which has suffered over the years with demolition of its historic resources in one of the most important African American neighborhoods in the city. The Tenth Street neighborhood was established by newly freed African Americans after the Civil War and has a collection of modest folk and vernacular dwellings dating from the 1890s to the 1940s that are currently under threat of development pressure and demolition. The Craftsman style house pictured above was lost just this year to demolition. Preservation Dallas placed the neighborhood on the Most Endangered Historic Places list in 2018 and just a year ago it was designated as one of the National Trust’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in the country.

More than $1.6 million in grants were given to 27 sites across the country. Brent Leggs, executive director of the Action Fund, notes, “The recipients of this funding exemplify centuries of African American resilience, activism, and achievement, some known and some yet untold, that tell the complex story of American history in the United States. With urgency and intention, the nation must value the link between architecture and racial justice, and should fund these and other cultural assets to ensure their protection and preservation.”

The Inclusive Communities Project assisted TSRO in preparing the application with help from Preservation Dallas and the National Trust Field Office staff in Houston. This grant will assist TSRO with hiring a staff person to help the neighborhood in its effort to better preserve its historic resources and be a voice for Tenth Street.

To view the other grant recipients go here. 
Letter from the new Board President
I would like to thank Will Stovall for the excellent leadership he has provided Preservation Dallas during his time as President. He has always been the thoughtful, calm voice during a period filled with unanticipated challenges. 

There is no doubt that the next year will offer challenges to Preservation Dallas; indeed, for all Dallas non-profits. The uncertainties brought on by Covid 19 and an erratic economy are not going away in just a few months. We will need to find new ways to connect with each other and with people in our community.

One goal for the coming year is to find effective ways to spread our message of historic preservation to Dallas in an environment that may not encourage large gatherings. We must also look for ways to enhance our revenue in an environment that makes fundraising difficult. We need your ideas.

And, we must find better ways to present our message to a wider audience outside the preservation community. Once again, we look forward to hearing your ideas and you can email them here.

We have a great base to build upon at Preservation Dallas. David Preziosi provides excellent leadership for our organization and extensive involvement in governmental agencies and non-profits that share our goals. He will need our help to leverage his talents.

We have a “lean and mean” staff that now includes a person whose main task is to develop new revenue sources from people and organizations that share our goals. Danelle Smith will need our help to supplement her efforts. When the Wilson House is open again, come by to meet her and offer your help.

And, perhaps most importantly, we have a dedicated, talented Board enthusiastic about historic preservation. Our new Board Members are David Griffin, Steve Lucy, Nancy Shelton, Ron Siebler, Patrick Todd and Claudia Worme. Please welcome them.

Our Committee chairs are Charles Brower for Membership and Development, Jason Harper for Preservation Issues, Vanessa Baker for Education, Norman Alston for Public Affairs and Community Relations, Morgan Harrison for PDYP, Grayson Hughes for Urban Armadillos, and Will Stovall who as Past President chairs the Board Development Committee. Please respond with a big “Yes!” if they ask you to help. 

We’re looking at a challenging year ahead, but we have a mission that is worthy and the right people to carry it out. We will all need each other’s help to make next year great. I look forward to working with you all.

John Brown, AIA
Preservation Dallas Receives Operating Grants
Recently Preservation Dallas applied for and received two emergency operating grants to help with the organization's operations, which have been greatly impacted by COVID-19 with a reduction in membership renewals and a lack of income from events that had to be cancelled or postponed.

The first grant was from The Summerlee Foundation, which provided emergency operating grants to agencies they had given grant money to before. They took their normal spring grant cycle and shifted the funding available to go to helping nonprofits who have been impacted by COVID-19 with grants to cover operational expenses.
 
The second grant was from Humanities Texas and was part of the over $1.1 million in Relief Grants which they awarded to 198 Texas cultural and educational nonprofits affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The grants were made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities received as part of the CARES Act signed into law on March 27, 2020. According to Humanities Texas, “the objective of the Relief Grants is to help Texas cultural and educational organizations remain vital to their communities in this difficult time.” The grants cover operating and programming expenses and recipients include museums, libraries, preservation organizations, and heritage and cultural centers, among many others. "This is a time of widespread hurt for the many cultural organizations in our state that provide beauty, insight, and inspiration in both good times and bad," said Chase Untermeyer of Houston, chair of the Humanities Texas board of directors.

We are grateful to both The Summerlee Foundation and Humanities Texas for selecting Preservation Dallas for Emergency Operating Grants! 
McCree Cemetery Work Update
Work on restoring the markers in the McCree Cemetery is to start next month with work to continue through September. Rusty Brenner of Texas Cemetery Restorations will do the work which is being funded through a grant from the B.B. Owen Trust. Rusty had mapped and evaluated the markers in the cemetery as part of an earlier phase of the project.

Earlier this year drone work was done in the cemetery to get aerial images of the conditions and to collect data for 3D mapping of the site. High resolution models will be created of the site so that you can “fly” into the cemetery and see the markers. After the work is completed on the marker repair another round of drone footage will take place. This work is also helping to identify unmarked burials or those that lost their markers over time in the African American side of the cemetery. 

Below are some images from the drone work and stay tuned for images of the work as it gets started next month.
Image taken early in the year from the drone work showing the markers and family plot boundaries in the McCree Cemetery.
Low resolution 3-D image of the McCree Cemetery showing the African American side on the left and the Anglo side on the right which are separated by a fence and tree line.
Legacies Dallas History Conference Call for Proposals
Due July 30
The organizers of the 22nd Annual Legacies Dallas History Conference welcome proposals from both professional and lay historians on topics related to the theme: “Law and Disorder in Dallas Revisited.”

Throughout its history, Dallas has experienced periods when outlaws, criminals, and even law-abiding protests for change presented special challenges to the forces of order, such as:
  • The 1870s, when the coming of the railroads turned Dallas into a boomtown which brought a huge increase in saloons, gambling, and related crimes associated with those vices.
  • The early 1900s saw concern over red-light districts, with prostitution and drugs.
  • The 1920s were the era of bootleg whiskey and the KKK, while the 1930s saw Bonnie and Clyde grab the headlines.
  • Organized crime, including gambling, flourished for a time in the 1940s.
  • In the post-World War II era, civil rights protests pushed for an end to racial segregation of African Americans, fair treatment for Mexican Americans, and equality for the LGBT community.

Papers presented at the conference may focus on topics related to crime, law enforcement, legal proceedings, protests and might examine an incident, an individual or a group.

All papers must be based on original research and must not have been presented or published elsewhere. The best papers will be published in a subsequent issue of Legacies: A History Journal for Dallas and North Central Texas. Those interested in presenting papers should submit a brief summary of their proposal by JULY 31, 2020, to “Dallas History Conference, 1515 S. Harwood St., Dallas, TX 75215,” or by email to LegaciesDHC@gmail.com. Those selected will be notified by August 31, 2020.
Preservation Texas Honor Award
Nominations Due August 31
Preservation Texas is now accepting nominations for their 2021 Honor Awards. The awards recognize projects completed in the past several years that represent excellent examples of preservation, restoration, rehabilitation, or reconstruction. They give the awards to the site and recognize the owners, architects, preservation professionals, landscape architects, etc. who were involved in the project. 
     
In the past, Preservation Texas has recognized a variety of sites (commercial skyscrapers, tiny chapels, large schools, small house museums, etc.), including many in Dallas. You do not have to be a member of Preservation Texas to nominate a project. Applications will be accepted until August 31, 2020. 
PRESERVATION ISSUES
McBride House – This site associated with Bonnie and Clyde in West Dallas was initiated for the Landmark Designation process by the Landmark Commission earlier this month.  

Polar Bear – Unfortunately, the former Polar Bear restaurant in Oak Cliff has been demolished. The City of Dallas issued a demolition permit for the building last month as the Fire Marshall declared the structure an imminent safety hazard as a portion of the building collapsed and was in danger of further collapse. Earlier in the year the building suffered a fire which left a large hole in the roof. 

DART D2 – The comment period for the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) for the proposed D2 subway line closed last month. Preservation Dallas prepared and sent in comments on the SDEIS in relation to possible impacts to historic building along the D2 route. 

Historic Resources Survey – The contract with HHM & Associates, Inc. out of Austin to do the survey work and context statements has been signed. They are a well-respected firm and have done survey projects in Dallas and around the country. HHM is now working with the city to determine what to start on first with the project. 
Director's Letter
David Preziosi
Ready for more Zooming? Hope so as we have decided to move our programming into the virtual realm due to the current situation with COVID-19. Earlier in the spring we had held out hope that towards the end of summer we would be able to once again meet in person. So, we had postponed our annual Summer Sizzlers educational series to try and meet in person and we all know now that will not be possible. We have decided to do Summer Sizzlers virtually this year. Irene is busy working on finalizing the speakers and schedule for the lecture series and we will have that out soon. We are planning to start that in mid to late August.

To start our venture into virtual educational programming, we will host a special lecture on July 30th on the Art Deco architecture of Fair Park by the authors of Fair Park Deco, David Bush and Jim Parsons. If you haven’t heard them present on Fair Park you won’t want to miss it! They do an incredible job of highlighting the architecture of the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition and including fun tidbits and colorful stories about the Exposition including the one about Mademoiselle Corrine known as the "Apple Dancer," whose performances were legendary. Even if you have heard the talk before you’ll want to hear them again as they are continually updating and improving their talk, which they have taken around the country over the past few years. Plus, they have amazing images of buildings during the Exposition and today, along with actual movie footage from 1936. Go to the events section right below my letter to find out more and register for the event so you don’t miss it!   

I hope that everyone saw the release on the new Most Endangered Places list, if not go here. You may have also seen some press about it this week in various media outlets. It is quite a list this year and one that will keep us busy with advocacy efforts. In fact, watch your email next week for a special Advocacy Alert about the DISD schools on the chopping block in the proposed 2020 Bond program. We had some sad news for one of the previous sites with the recent demolition of the Polar Bear. However, there also has been some good news with the grant for Tenth Street and finding out today about redevelopment efforts underway for one of the 2020 sites, more to come on that we can announce it. The Endangered list is a great educational and advocacy tool in calling attention to sites that are threatened, and there a lot of them, especially with the intense development pressure many of our historic buildings and neighborhoods face. Hopefully with the lists we can make a difference in saving threatened sites for future generations! 

I hope everyone stays safe out there, cool in this heat, and can enjoy a little bit of this most unusual summer!
EVENTS
The Art Deco Architecture of
Fair Park
July 30, 6 p.m.
Join us July 30th at 6:00 for our first virtual programming! The program will feature a presentation by David Bush and Jim Parsons on the Art Deco Architecture of Fair Park. Bush and Parson, the authors of Fair Park Deco, will tell the story of the Centennial Exposition's design and construction through historic and current photos and archival newsreel footage. Along the way they'll also introduce some of the fair's most colorful stories and people, including Mademoiselle Corrine, the "Apple Dancer," whose performances were the talk of Dallas.
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Please Welcome our New Members!
Sustainer
Christina Hayes
Peter Darby
John Chrisman
Alexis & Chris McKinney

Individual
Jennifer Adams
Deborah Stovall

Young Professionals
Del Mixon

Student
Adele Malpert
Thank you to the following members for renewing!
Vanessa Baker
Lea Bauman & Dan Shipley
Christopher Bowers
Elizabeth Boyer & Betty Jo Hardman
Colleen Brainerd
Charles Briner
Charles Brower
Deborah & Nigel Brown
John Brown
Michael Callac
Penny Castillo
Scott Chase
Bill & Judy Cummings
Sheniqua Cummings
Dallas County Medical Society Alliance Foundation/Aldredge House
Angela Downes
Harryette Ehrhardt
Cody Farris
Elizabeth Gunby
Christopher Haley
Joanna & John Hampton
Morgan Harrison
RuLan Hebeler
Erika Huddleston
Daniel Huerta
Grayson Hughes
David Klempin
Rhonda Kraft
Michael Lalonde
Steve Lucy
Kelly Mitchell & Sean Garman
Evelyn Montgomery
Greg Nieberding
Mia Ovcina
Fred & Ashley Pena
Alfonse Preisser
Colby Register
Leigh & Paul Richter
Carol Roark
Lisa Ricci Rofsky
Nancy Shelton
Diane Sherman
Eileen Shibata
Jamie Slagel
Gary & Suzanne Smith
Sarah Speck
Caroline Thrift
Amy Walton
Trent & Laura Williams
John Wimberley
Claudia Worme
This newsletter is sent to all current and past members, and those interested in preservation in Dallas. To become a member or to renew or upgrade your membership, please click below.
CORPORATE PARTNERS
Joe M. and Doris R. Dealey Family Foundation
Funding has been provided to Preservation Dallas from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed by Preservation Dallas does not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Preservation Dallas | 2922 Swiss Avenue | Dallas TX 752518