‘Preservation as justice.’ How historic preservation is now turning to neglected history | Opinion
For decades, historic preservation in places like Kentucky was the province of white culture, part of Lost Cause mythology that focused on the sites and structures that upheld the rich and powerful.
That has slowly changed in Lexington and elsewhere as people realized that entire swaths of our history were ignored and neglected. Here in Lexington, folks like Yvonne Giles and others have uncovered Black cemeteries, Black hamlets and other crucial sites in Black history, and they are finally being celebrated for doing so.
Part of that national transformation is due to a native Kentuckian: Brent Leggs, who is from Paducah and graduated from the University of Kentucky. He’s a senior vice president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the founder and executive director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. Founded in 2020, that fund has now raised more than $95 million.
Leggs will be speaking in Lexington on Thursday, Oct. 12 at the Blue Grass Trust at 7 p.m. at the Dr. Thomas Hunt Morgan House at 210 North Broadway. The Hopemont Lecture will be on “Preservation as Community, Preservation as Justice.”
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“The U.S. historic preservation profession at this moment is centering equity, diversity and inclusion at the core of the industry culture,” Leggs said in a telephone interview. “I want to advocate for equity driven outcomes for diverse, and how we can create a bigger tent to establish equity.”
Leggs had the idea for the action fund in 2017 after protests over Confederate monuments brought white supremacists to Charlottesville, Va., where a woman was killed. So far, the fund has supported 242 grantee projects and 300 preservation groups.
“Our ethos is that we can harness the power of place to build a truly national identity that reflects America’s diversity, expanding the American story and creating reverence for the full contributions of Americans toward our nation,” he said. “We use old buildings and cultural landscapes to uplift overlooked historical events or the stories of the everyday and extraordinary.”
For example, he said one project in Kentucky that has received help from the fund is the St. James AME Church in Mayfield, partially destroyed by tornadoes in 2021.
“We’re making great progress there, but we still have $800,000 of fundraising left,” Leggs said. “It would be a beautiful affirmation to secure public and private investment to this project and return a 150-year-old congregation back to their house of worship. Given the scale of erasure and loss, it’s even more urgent that the state of Kentucky helps rescue this historic resource.”
Closer to home, the Blue Grass Trust raised $100,000 to renovate the Palmer Pharmacy in Lexington’s East End. Half that money came through the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund.
While in Lexington, Leggs will tour Lexington’s historic Black hamlets and be part of the inaugural Hopemont Lecture Preservation Workshop on Friday, Oct. 13 from 9am to 12pm. The half-day, interactive workshop will allow participants to work with national and local preservationists who are trying to save Kentucky’s African-American historic spaces.
That afternoon, the Blue Grass Trust is also hosting another inaugural event — a Community Action Event at African Cemetery No. 2. at 1:30 p.m.
Leggs is a prestigious pick for the Blue Grass Trust, but he was a natural choice, said director Jonathan Coleman.
“Brent, with his Kentucky roots, exemplifies what it means to be a national visionary at the forefront of historic preservation,” Coleman said. “Bringing his thought leadership to Central Kentucky and encouraging innovative ideas and methods to circulate and germinate right here, the Blue Grass Trust is fulfilling our mission to be a resource that benefits every Kentuckian with an interest in preserving our historic places and stories.”
This event is free and open to the public. Capacity is limited, RSVP required to attend. For more information, go to https://www.bluegrasstrust.org/hopemont.
This story was originally published October 10, 2023 at 2:05 PM.
