Atlanta's Herndon Home Museum Restored Through HOPE Crew Project
photo by: Corey Reese Photography
Crew member Ashantane Coleman paints the flaking lattice at the Herndon Home in Atlanta.
photo by: Corey Reese Photography
After photo of the freshly painted lattice.
photo by: Corey Reese Photography
Other updates included repainting elements of the front facade.
photo by: Corey Reese Photography
Crew members Brenton Parks, Dushawn Royal, Rodney Cannon, Travis Johnson, and Ashantane Coleman, with Herndon Home Director Julissa White-Smith, Development Assistant Tieara Freeman, and HOPE Crew manager Molly Baker.
On June 11, 2019, the National Trust's HOPE Crew (Hands-On Preservation Experience) wrapped up a project at The Alonzo Herndon Home Museum in Atlanta, the historic home of Atlanta's first black millionaire and founder of Atlanta Life Insurance Company.
Under the umbrella of the National Trust’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, HOPE Crew performed work on the property as part of its partnership with the Fund II Foundation to engage African American youth in learning preservation trades at sites tied to African American achievement and activism.
The crew members were provided by Greening Youth Foundation, a black-owned nonprofit youth corps based in Atlanta. Between May 30 and June 11, 2019, the all-African American team carefully repaired, scraped, and re-painted the back porch and elements of the home's front facade under the supervision of a local master crafstman.
Other past and upcoming HOPE Crew activities made possible with Fund II support include preservation projects at the Nina Simone Childhood Home in Tryon, North Carolina, the Pittsburgh home of author August Wilson, the home of John and Alice Coltrane in Long Island, Bethel Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, and six-week intensive internships for architecture students enrolled at two HBCUs—part of Fund II Foundation’s commitment to diversifying STEM fields of education.