ing in the United States associated · African-American buildings also were invisible. Usually located outside the offi-cial community, in unincorporated hamlets or crossroads communities,

African-American buildings also wereinvisible. Usually located outside the offi-cial community, in unincorporated hamletsor crossroads communities, or isolated insmall enclaves in less desirable portions oftowns or cities, these buildings usuallywere on the fringes of industrial or com-mercial areas.

"Our state is the legacy of a diversearray of peoples, from prehistoric NativeAmericans to the Euro-Americans of morerecent history," said David A. Shorr, (for-mer) director of the Department of NaturalResources (DNR) and State HistoricPreservation Officer. "The department iscommitted to recognizing and encouragingthe preservation of those reminders of the

An important day inParkville history was cap-tured on film in 1907 whenmembers of the African-American community dedi-cated the WashingtonChapel C.M.E. Church.

{1 n 1952, Ralph Ellison, in "Invisible1 Man," wrote of the dilemma of the

post World War II African-American: "Iam invisible, understand, simply becausepeople refuse to see me. ..When they ap-proach me they see only my surroundings ,themselves, or figments of their imagina-tion -indeed, everything and anything butme. .." For most white Americans, ac-cording to Ellison, African-Americans didnot exist as a part of their world, but com-prised an invisible community, with itsown customs, hierarchy and commerce.

White and black existed in separateworlds, each with its own institutions andculture, often side by side, but legally for-bidden to interact.

(Above and cover) Recent photographs of the Wash-ington Chapel C.M.E. church in Parkville reveal asuccessful restoration effort. (Right) Lucille Dou-glass helped earn the chapel national recognitionand prominence .

ing in the United States associatedwith the internationally renownedragtime composer and entertainerScott Joplin; in addition, the JoplinHouse is a state historic site operatedby DNR. The Mutual MusiciansUnion Building in the l8th and Vinearea of Kansas City is associated withthe development of the Kansas City

style ofjazz.Other resources identified in his-

toric surveys and in many cases listed~ in the National Register are of more~ modest importance, but still represent.Q essential aspects of black heritage.t Most buildings listed in the National~ Register, the essential first step in

receiving consideration for fund-ing for restoration grants, were as-sociated with social or educationalinstitutions; the Shelley and Joplinhouses and the Columbia home ofJohn W. "Blind" Boone, also inter-nationally renowned as a pianistand composer, are the only Mis-souri residences in the state listedfor their association with signifi-cant African-Americans.

Santa Fe Place Historic Districtin Kansas City is the only African-American residential district listed inthe state and is significant as the firstarea in the city where middle- andupper-class African-Americans werepermitted to settle following theSupreme Court's decision in theShelley housing case.

Most surviving buildings associat-ed with African-American history inMissouri date from the post-CivilWar period. With the end of slavery,Missouri and most other states enact-ed a series of laws designed to le-galize existing practices and prin-ciples of segregation. Theseso-called Jim Crow laws often im-posed a more rigid system of be-havior and penalties than had ex-isted prior to emancipation.However, the buildings that wereconstructed in the following 90years when separation was consid-ered equality also symbolize thetriumph of the human spirit overthis country's segregated society.

The majority of buildings listedfrom this period in Missouri arechurches and schools. Most

preservation programs by the Nation-al Park Service. The grants may beused to identify historic properties;nominate significant properties to theNational Register of Historic Places,the nation 's honor roll of buildingsand sites significant in American cul-ture and history; and to restore andrehabilitate properties listed in theNational Register.

Although their numbers continueto decline, a rich variety of buildingsor sites associated with the history ofMissouri' s African -Americans andtheir culture remain. Three buildingshave received the special distinctionof being designated National HistoricLandmarks by the National Park Ser-vice, an honor reserved for those re-sources that are important to the her-itage of the nation: the Shelley Houseand the Scott Joplin House in St.Louis, and the Mutual MusiciansUnion Building in Kansas City. TheShelley House was the focus of aU.S. Supreme Court case that estab-lished equal housing opportunity asthe law of the land, while the JoplinHouse is the only building still stand-

accomplishments of all the citizens ofMissouri. The cultural legacy ofAfrican-American Missourians andtheir example of perseverance andcourage has enriched the history ofour state immeasurably.

The buildings and sites that areoften the only physical reminders ofthe history of AfricaJ:1-Americans inthe state have been identified byDNR 's Historic Preservation Pro-gram as endangered resources. Asearly as 1979-1980, a statewide sur-vey funded in part by DNR and con-ducted by Lincoln University in Jef-ferson City identified hundreds ofbuildings associated with African-American history and culture, manyof them neglected and unrecognized.

a A ore recently, to encourage..I V 1 the preservation of these re-sources, properties associated withthe state's African-American heritagehave been identified by DNR as pri-orities for its Historic PreservationFund grants. These matching grantsare awarded annually from federalfunds distributed to state historic

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( Above) Visitors can soon tour Parkville 's 110- year-old Benjamin Banneker school.

(Right) Gaylon Hoskins'father attended school in Banneker's one classroom. Hoskins is

now president of the Banneker School Chapter. ( Bottom) Workers found Banneker

School's original blackboard during restoration.

promise of emancipation. On Ian. 11,1865, the Missouri constitutionalconvention passed an ordinance thatrequired the immediate emancipationof the state's remaining slaves. In thespring of 1865, the General Assem-bly rescinded an 1847 constitutionalamendment that forbade the educa-tion of Missouri's blacks. The fol-lowing year the assembly enacted aseries of measures intended to estab-lish and fund black schools in eachtownship or city. In 1875, separatefacilities for the education of whitesand blacks were established, a sepa-ration that was further defined in1889 when it was made illegal forAfrican-American children to attendwhite schools.

tT he Benjamin Banneker School

-lin Parkville is one of the earli-est remaining segregated schools inthe state. Constructed in 1885 withthe assistance of students and staff ofPark College, the one-room brickbuilding served the community untilabout 1902, when a larger facilitywas constructed. Later used as a resi-dence, the building was eventuallyabandoned until local citizens decid-ed to restore and preserve it as a mu-seum. Listed in 1995 in the NationalRegister as a cooperative effort be-tween the Benjamin Banneker Chap-ter of the Platte County HistoricalSociety and DNR, the building sub-sequently received preservation

African-American churches representa general movement for separationthat blacks favored after the CivilWar. Few independent black churchesof any denomination existed in thestate before the Civil War. In fact, aslate as 1856, few had yet to be estab-lished west of St. Louis.

A separate church permitted a de-gree of independence and self-deter-mination not permissible in an inte-grated body and represented.iQ~ manyblacks a natural extension of theirfreedom. The black church alsoserved beyond its religious purposesas a community center. Usually locat-ed in the heart of the community, thebuilding was typically used for townmeetings and for recreational and so-cial activities.

For example, the Free Will BaptistChurch of Penny town in Saline

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County was constructed in 1925 toserve a community of freedmenfounded near Marshall in 1871 by JoePenny, a black farmer. Although thedecline of the community mirroredthe dissolution of American agricul-ture in the 1930s and 1940s, thechurch remained as a remembranceof the community and as a symbol ofthe founders. The late Josephine R.Lawrence of Marshall began effortsto recognize and preserve the FreeWill church in 1987.

Lawrence envisioned the church as"a place in Saline County whereblack history is shared." When sheinitially wrote DNR, Lawrence stat-ed, "There is just a few of us to workbut there is a lot of memories." Withthe assistance of DNR staff, thechurch at Penny town was listed in theNational Register the following year.In 1996, with the aid of a HistoricPreservation Fund grant, restorationwas completed and Lawrence's nine-year-old dream was realized. Herdaughter, Virginia Houston, has car-ried on the legacy: "I say to everyonewe meet, we all need to preserve ourhistory -especially our buildings.Now the Penny town church says toeveryone who sees it that we stillhave roots there, and we are proud of

~ our heritage."z:t While black churches represented-§ a deliberate effort to seek autonomy,J::~ the struggle for education mirrored5 the long defeat of equality after the

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expressions of older students and thecommunity combined to motivate usto always strive to do our best aca-demically," Price said.

{1 isting in the National RegisterLis primarily a tool for the pro-

motion of the preservation of thebuilding or site and provides a focusfor larger goals; it is often only thefirst step in what may be a prolongedprocess in preserving the building.

For Alice Williams and other for-mer students, listing of the C.C. Hub-bard School in Sedalia is a means toinspire alumni of the school acrossthe state and the nation to support

named in his honor. For about 30years, the Carver School remained asegregated facility, serving the city'sAfrican-American children throughthe eighth grade. Following desegre-gation, the school housed all of Ful-ton's sixth-grade children until 1982,when it was closed. In 1989, thebuilding was transferred to theGeorge Washington Carver MemorialCorp., which planned a museum ofAfrican-American history and culturein the ground floor classrooms .

More recently, the building hashoused the Fulton Family ResourceCenter, a community service organi-zation, on its upper floor. According

preservation of the building as a mu-seum and learning center. Listing inthe National Register is validation ofthe importance of their own historyand confirmation that they have aplace in history .Williams acknowl-edges the errors of the past and advo-cates learning from them. "If peopleforget their history , they are destinedto repeat it. By taking a multi-culturalapproach to our past, we want toteach all persons and thereby avoidmaking the same mistakes," she said.

In 1937, African-American scien-tist George Washington Carver trav-eled to Fulton from Tuskegee Insti-tute in Alabama to dedicate a school

grants from the National Trust forHistoric Preservation and DNR 's His-toric Preservation Program. As withmost African-American buildings inthe state, the original impetus to pre-serve the Banneker School was local.Lucille Douglass led efforts to saveboth the school and the WashingtonChapel C.M.E. Church in Parkville,listed in the National Registerthrough a grant from DNR. Accord-ing to Douglass, the school, namedfor a freedman who helped surveyand design the nation 's Capitol, "rep-resents the visible roots of black peo-ple in the community." GaylonHoskins, current president of theBanneker School Chapter, observedthat the listing of the school "stirredup a lot of interest" in black historyin Parkville, and he has been contact-ed by a number of groups interestedin touring some of the historic sites inPlatte County.

Hoskins, whose father attendedBanneker and whose son, Robert, ateacher, lived in the school after itwas converted to a house, views thelegacy of segregation represented bythe school pragmatically: "It's justpart of history ...We want to pre-serve it because that's just the wayit was ."

From 1936 to 1943, Forest W.Price attended Lincoln School inVandalia; in 1947, he graduatedvaledictorian at Mexico's GarfieldHigh School.

In 1996, the Lincoln School waslisted in the National Registerthrough the efforts of Joyce Holman,the Rev. William Givens, and othermembers of the Concerned Citizensto Save Lincoln School.

For Price and other alumni, the op-portunities provided by the LincolnSchool -and the courage and dedica-tion of all the members of Vandalia 'sAfrican-American community -tran-scended the negative aspects of seg-regation: "I cannot express the grati-tude I feel for the education andsocial growth experiences LincolnSchool, the instructional staff, andthe community provided me. Thehigh expectations of the staff and ad-ministration were clearly and consis-tently demonstrated and the caring

(Top) For many alumni, the LincolnSchool in Vandalia represents thecourage and determination of African-Americans to transcend the negative

aspects of segregation. (Above) JoyceHolman was instrumental in the Lin-coln school being named to the Na-tional Register of Historic Places .

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The George Washington Carver school in Fulton has inspired a coalition ofAfrican-American alumni and Caucasian students, who attended the school dur-ing desegregation, to preserve the building and its rich community history.

archaeology at the site and has beenawarded a second grant for an addi-tional year. With the second year,Johnson's painting of life on a 19th-century Missouri plantation will bevisible on the Internet.

C ince 1990, DNR's HistoriccJ Preservation Program hasworked with a number of localgroups interested in recognizing theircommunity's black heritage. In thepast seven years, 15 buildings thathad formerly stood at the center oftheir communities have been listed inthe National Register of HistoricPlaces, and for many of those build-ings the listing has engendered a re-birth. More than $41,000 in grantmoney has been awarded to restorethe Free Will Baptist Church at Pen-nytown and $4,000 has been awardedto the Benjamin Banneker School atParkville to prepare plans to begin itsrestoration. In Liberty, more than 150African-American properties havebeen identified and a potential his-toric district has been nominated forinclusion in the National Register.

For most properties, being listed inthe National Register of HistoricPlaces remains the essential first stepin preservation of the property. Anto-nio Holland, a professor of history atLincoln University and a member ofthe Missouri Advisory Council onHistoric Preservation, agrees that theNational Register plays an importantrole in helping to preserve the state'sAfrican-American heritage, and thatlisting institutional buildings, such aschurches and schools, is especiallyimportant. "More people in the blackcommunity are affected by churchesand schools, so when they are listedin the register it has a greater impact.It can help unify the community ,"Holland said.

Holland also believes that effortsto educate the general public are ex-tremely important because "some ofthese buildings may not be much tolook at, but they are more than bricksand mortar. They have an intrinsicvalue to our history."

to Robert Hickem, director of thecenter, the Carver School "holds somuch historic value to the community...The community owns the schooland wants to be able to teach youngerchildren what [the community] had togo through." The George WashingtonCarver School was listed in the Na-tional Register in 1996. Hickem ad-mits that in addition to the distinctionafforded by recognition by the Na-tional Register, the goal of listingwas to restore the former school.

Preservation of the building hasinspired an interracial coalition. Inaddition to support from African-American alumni, which alwaysviewed the building as the center oftheir community, former white stu-dents who attended the school duringits second life as a desegregated fa-cility have provided support and en-couragement. Hickem also has beenheartened by a city resolution ac-knowledging the significance of theschool and by assistance to the Fami-ly Resource Center from Westminsterand William Woods colleges.

Archaeologist James S. JohnsonIII is dealing with the past both on aprofessional and personal level.Under a grant awarded by DNR to theHeart of America Boy Scouts Coun-cil, he is leading a team of scouts on

Steven E. Mitchell is assistant director ofDNR's Historic Preservation Program.

a journey into the past, an archaeo-logical survey of the Miller Planta-tion Site in Kansas City. Part of theCouncil's Urban Scouting Program,the five inner-city youths are learningarchival research and doing archaeo-logical field work under Johnson.

For Johnson, the project also is apersonal odyssey. His great-grandfa-ther was a slave on the Miller Planta-tion until escaping to Kansas, wherehe enlisted with the First Kansas Col-ored Volunteers, the first African-American regiment to see battle inthe Civil War. Johnson uses the les-sons learned at Miller to instruct hisstudents in the value of differencesand as a guide to understanding them.To Johnson, the past represented bythe Miller Plantation is only "a pointin time that happened. ..I'm not madat anybody because of whathap-pened, we can't be ashamed of thepast and can't turn back the hands oftime. If we don't recognize thatwhich was, we can't know the presentor what will be."

Johnson enjoys presenting hisfindings in lay terms, in "producing ahistoric painting of 140 or 150 yearsago," he said. Projects that explorethe past will, he hopes, inspire chil-dren to trace their own ancestry.Johnson has completed one year of

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