The HBCU Cultural Heritage Stewardship Initiative derived from a need to cultivate and uplift historic Black colleges and universities across the nation. This work is in tandem with the standard set by the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund to protect and restore places where significant Black history happened and highlight the key roles they have played in American society.

This year, eight HBCUs were awarded more than $650,000 in funding to develop cultural heritage stewardship plans for their campuses and historic sites. The sole goal of this initiative is to partner with HBCUs to empower and preserve the legacies of the campuses and ensure that the stories of their foundations are upheld to educate and inspire future generations of students to pay it forward. As part of this work, we conducted a Q&A with each grant recipient to learn about the history and work at each of these significant institutions.

Spelman College, a historically Black college for women located in Atlanta, was founded in 1881 and moved to its present site in 1884. It is America’s oldest private historically Black liberal arts college for women. Sophia Packard and Harriet Giles originally named the school Atlanta Baptist Seminary and were introduced to John D. Rockefeller, who pledged $250 to the school. In 1886, they dedicated Rockefeller Hall as the first permanent building on the campus. The campus now consists of 25 buildings on 39 acres and is part of the Atlanta University Center Historic District.

The John D. Rockefeller Fine Arts Building (RFA) opened in 1964 as the first Modernist building on Spelman’s campus. In 1961, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund gifted $1 million to Spelman in memory of John D. Rockefeller Jr. $750,000 of the gift was specifically earmarked for a new fine arts building allowing the art, drama, and music departments to be housed in one location for the first time. Although contemporary in appearance, the red brick building’s facade replicates the tripartite design of the college's 19th-century buildings. The building has been in continuous use since its opening and has not undergone a major rehabilitation since its construction. Arthur E. Frazier III, AIA, director of facilities management and services, speaks below on why it is important to preserve the Rockefeller Fine Arts Building.

How is the Rockefeller Fine Arts Building inspiring current students and alumnae at Spelman?

It was at Spelman that alumna and actress LaTanya Richardson Jackson fully cultivated her love of the arts and developed her talents to forge an extraordinary career both on the stage and screen. This career includes a starring role in the Tony-nominated Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, a Tony-nominated performance in A Raisin in the Sun, and the critically-acclaimed For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf. It was also at RFA where she first crossed paths with the artist who would become her husband of 41 years, Samuel L. Jackson, a student at Morehouse College, whom she met in drama club. Day in and day out, Richardson Jackson lived to be at the Rockefeller Fine Arts Building, where she was afforded the opportunity to learn from older student actors.

What are the preservation goals for the Rockefeller Fine Arts Building?

I have been at Spelman for 16 years, and we always talked about rehabilitating the Rockefeller Fine Arts Building. The fine arts building is definitely in need of a major refresh, which was done to a number of Spelman’s historic buildings such as Rockefeller Hall, Packard Hall, and Sisters Chapel. For the Rockefeller Fine Arts Building, the preservation goals include updating the building's electrical and mechanical systems, ensuring its structural integrity, and modernizing its performance, creative, and rehearsal spaces to meet the current needs of our artistic community. Projects such as this are how we are improving the campus community while preserving Spelman’s history, especially for current and future students.

How important is student involvement in the renovation of the Rockefeller Fine Arts Building?

The building is for the students, so having their input and faculty input will position us to provide spaces that will support their needs. It will also allow us to engage students with the preservation of Spelman’s campus and the ongoing need to preserve its cultural and built history. It is not enough to just preserve these buildings. We want to make sure they are relevant to how our students live and learn at Spelman in the 21st century. It is our intent that having students at the table participating in the development of these preservation plans will create future advocates for not only the preservation of Spelman but of all HBCUs.