Remembering John Lewis
In 1993, he defined historic preservation as a way to “understand where we are going as a people, as a nation, and as a society.”
“I believe deeply in the importance of historic preservation — so that we understand where we are going as a people, as a nation, and as a society. It is important that we all know our history — that the history of African-Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans is remembered and included. Historic preservation must represent every community,” the late Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis said at a conference hosted by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1993.
At Adventures in Preservation (AiP) we believe his 1993 speech is as relevant today as it was back then, for our history as a nation, and for the American people. This is another reason why we celebrate John Lewis as a hero.
In his speech, Lewis pointed out the importance of legislation and why he sponsored the African-American History Landmark Theme Study in Congress, later signed into law by President George H.W. Bush, “to identify key sites in the history and experience of African-Americans.”
“The study — he said — mandates that sites, buildings, and structures that illustrate or commemorate African-American history would be evaluated and nominated as National Historical Landmarks and districts.”
He continued: “I sponsored this legislation because I believe that the National Park Service lacked adequate minority representation in its programs and historic sites. I believe that we need to increase the number of sites commemorating African-American history and culture and we are making a lot of progress.”
Lewis was proud to mention how “the House and Senate passed legislation to make the Monroe Elementary School in Topeka, Kansas a national historic site to interpret the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision.”
“Brown v. Board of Education marked a turning point in the long legal struggle to end discrimination,” he said. “The Brown case turned the tide in the name of justice and fairness. This case changed the course of this country forever. When the Supreme Court issued its historic decision in 1954 — people all over America — especially those of us in the South said, ‘God Almighty has spoken from Washington’.”
He mentioned how important it was for the Mary McLeod Bethune House in Washington DC to be made a part of the National Park System and the March of Selma to Montgomery route to be included in the National Park System as a national historic trail.
“This is especially important to me because I was honored to lead the march across the Edmund Petis Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on March 7, 1965, on the day that became known as ‘Bloody Sunday’,” he said.
He continued: “That day and the events of that day inspired President Lyndon Johnson to speak before Congress and urge the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It inspired Lyndon Johnson to say, and I quote, ‘I speak tonight for the dignity of man and the destiny of democracy …. At times history and fate meet at a single time and in a single place to shape a turning point in man’s unending search for freedom’. Lyndon Johnson went on to say, ‘so it was at Lexington and Concord. So it was a century ago at Appomattox. So it was last week in Selma, Alabama’. And in that speech, over and over again, President Johnson was heard to say, ‘We shall Overcome’. Just think: The highway between Selma and Montgomery, Highway 80-fifty miles of it — will become part of a national historic trail.”
“I believe that a national trail that documents history of that march will bring alive the history of the fight for the right to vote and to participate in the democratic process.”
“My roots and the roots of the civil rights movement are humble,” the Congressman said. “It is important that generations unborn be able to see these places that inspired so many to dream. We spent much of our childhood doing back-breaking work in the hot sun and dusty fields. Life growing up in rural Alabama was hard and unforgiving. The signs of discrimination in segregation were everywhere. When I would visit the little town of Troy only about ten miles from my home I saw those signs that said ‘white waiting’, and ‘colored waiting’, ‘white men’, ‘colored men’, ‘white women’, and ‘colored women’.”
He added: “I am proud that in the district that I represent, the Fifth Congressional District of Georgia, we have the Martin Luther King, Jr.. National Historic Site and Preservation District. Almost three million people visited the site last year to learn about Dr. King and the movement he inspired. The district includes Sweet Auburn, a street that is famous for its history of black businesses and leadership. The street includes the first black daily newspaper in the country, the headquarters of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the black-owned and highly successful Atlantic Life Insurance Company, and the Royal Peacock, where Nat King Cole and Cab Calloway, among others, performed.”
And Lewis went on: “Not only is the King site the only national site dedicated to the civil rights movement, it is also unique as a living, moving, breathing neighborhood. Many of the homes along the block where Dr. King’s birthplace stands have been restored to their 1930s condition when Dr. King was growing up. These structures are rented out and the residents agree to maintain the homes. The rents are kept reasonable even after restoration.”
“Sadly, not enough people understand the importance of preserving this history. […] Not just for this generation but for the unborn generations.”
In concluding, Lewis said: “We must preserve and remember how African-Americans were educated even in the 1800s; there are such places as my old school, Fisk University Complex. It is important that we can visit the home of Frederick Douglass, and that we can learn about the Black Women Rights Movement at the headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women established by Mary McCloud Bethune.”
“Yet it is not enough to walk down Auburn Avenue, which was once known as ‘the richest Negro street in the world’, and see the birthplace of Dr. King and the Ebenezer Baptist Church where he and his father both preached,” he pointed out. “We must do more. To be able to visit the places, to see them with our own eyes, brings alive the rich and varied history of African-Americans in this country. It helps us to reflect on the distance we have come as a nation and as a people. We are one family in one house: the American house. It is not enough to learn from history or a movie, we must make sure that these precious pieces of our history are preserved.”
“I am still going to be a fighter for historic preservation.”
“There may be some setbacks; there may be some disappointments; there may be some interruptions; there may be some delays; but there will be no turning back,” Lewis concluded his 1993 speech at the National Trust. “We all realize that those of use who live in this country and all of us who live on this planet have an obligation to save it for the next generation.”
About Adventures in Preservation (AiP)
Adventures in Preservation (AiP) is a non-profit connecting people and preservation through enriching cultural heritage travel and hands-on education. AiP was founded in 2001 by two women with a great love of historic buildings and a strong desire to travel and understand the world. While perusing the travel section of the Boulder Bookstore, the Volunteer Vacation section suddenly brought everything into focus. Judith Broeker and Jamie Donahoe combined their goal of saving historic buildings with the concept of experiential travel, and created AiP’s hands-on preservation vacations.
Work started on several sites in the U.S., and as word spread, requests for help began to pour in from around the world, underscoring the great potential of using volunteers to restore historic buildings. In supporting community-based preservation initiatives, we discovered that our love of old buildings could translate into environmental and economic sustainability for communities.
AiP is picking up the pace! As our hands-on experiential travel becomes more popular, we have new projects, new partners and initiatives to keep you excited and involved.
