Following their successful first collaboration at the Stone Quarry Park in Cazenovia, New York, the Women’s Leadership Initiative of RAMSA (Robert A.M. Stern Architects) renewed their commitment to provide substantial pro bono design, planning, and technical expertise in support of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Where Women Made History (WWMH) initiative. The National Trust is honored that RAMSA leadership and the Women’s Leadership Initiative are continuing and expanding our pilot partnership with $100,000 in professional services directed to an important site of women’s history in need.

History of the Palmer Memorial Institute

The RAMSA and WWMH team unanimously decided that the full amount of RAMSA’s gift of services will be dedicated to master planning at the Palmer Memorial Institute in Sedalia, North Carolina, a State of North Carolina Historic Site and home to the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum. Founded in 1902 by civil rights advocate, suffragist, and educator, Dr. Charlotte Hawkins Brown, the Alice Freeman Palmer Memorial Institute transformed the lives of the African American students who attended school there.

Following Dr. Brown’s death in 1961 the school struggled financially, changing ownership and then officially closing in 1971. After many years of effort and advocacy, the surviving Palmer buildings and 40 acres of the central campus were purchased by the North Carolina's Division of Archives and History as the first African American state historic site. Funding for maintenance and operation continued to be a challenge at the property, and in 2022 Palmer Memorial Institute was listed on the National Trust’s the America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places list to draw attention to the deteriorated state of the buildings at this important site of Black history and women’s history.

A Coalition of Support

Since the listing, a project team composed of predominantly women architects, designers, and planners from RAMSA, along with National Trust staff from Where Women Made History, HOPE (Hands-on Preservation Experience) Crew, and the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, have been meeting with leadership at the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum, Palmer Alumni, and the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Our goal was to understand the needs and condition of the 12 buildings and the central landscape, and their potential to be rehabilitated and reactivated to achieve the State staff’s compelling vision for the campus as a center of Black community, public events, and learning that carries on the legacy of Charlotte Hawkins Brown.

In 2024, to reinforce this work and support the future of the site, the Action Fund awarded Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum at the Historic Palmer Memorial Institute $75,000 for Endowment Project Planning.

Both the team and the project are grounded in a deep respect for the legacy and achievements of Charlotte Hawkins Brown and the many students, alumni, and heirs who shaped the campus and its history. Over the next 3-4 months the RAMSA team members will consult with the NC State staff and National Trust staff to create a master plan for the main campus, which will highlight and enhance that legacy by positioning the Palmer campus and historic site to become a vibrant center of education, research, training, and events for learners of all ages and interests.

Their work will include assessing the potential to undertake practical rehabilitation projects to achieve the desired uses in the existing buildings and landscapes. This will include written recommendations for a phasing strategy to establish near-term and long-term priority projects. They also will create compelling visuals (building plans, landscape plans, space plans, rendering, etc.) of specific projects and proposed uses that will assist the State staff, administration, alumni, donors, stakeholders, and community members in envisioning the proposed projects and their positive impact on the Palmer campus and its operations.