February E-News 2009
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Stimulus That Makes Sense: Rebuild Main Street, Create Jobs, Protect Our Heritage
On Monday night, in his address to the nation, President Obama called for Congress to pass a stimulus package that repairs our aging bridges and roads, modernizes schools, retrofits existing government buildings and helps homeowners weatherize their homes.
We couldn't agree more! Learn more about how the proposals in Congress could use proven preservation programs to stimulate the economy and follow the latest developments using our online Economic Stimulus Tracker.
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Shining Through: The Black Middle Class Of The Late 19th Century
Preservationists know that over time, buildings come to mean so much more than the sum of their architectural parts. Such is the case with the John Gilmore Riley House / Museum of African American History and Culture in Tallahassee, Florida. A community and educational center today, the Riley House speaks to the accomplishments of an entire group of people, the black middle class, which emerged there in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Programming includes an intercultural and multicultural outreach program achieved through workshops, lectures, walking tours, special exhibits and cultural events as well as an instructional program focusing on genealogical studies and architectural surveys.
This February 21st, Riley House is hosting the rededication of the Old Hickory Hill Cemetery which is significant for its numerous grave markers fashioned in the African burial tradition of randomly arranged words used to confuse evil spirits. It is also the final resting place for many tenant farm families that worked for generations on the Welaunee Plantation, where the cemetery resides.
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An Oakland Star Is Reborn
After more than $70 million in investment and nearly a decade of planning and hard work, the spotlight has returned to center stage at the Fox Oakland Theater, in Oakland, California. Originally opened in 1928, the Fox Oakland began a slow decline in the 1950s. The stage went dark in 1970 and the theater was abandoned along with other downtown Oakland commerical buildings.
The renaissance of the Fox Theater began with the refurbishment of the marquee and sign in 2001 and efforts expanded to include classrooms and rehearsal space for the Oakland School for the Arts, a charter school that operates offices surrounding the main theater. Work on the interior of the theater included restoration of the Moorish, Alhambra-style interior walls and other Indian and Hindu artistic motifs. Last week, the Fox Oakland raised the curtain on its newest act as a live music venue.
The Fox Oakland Theater was a 2006 Partners in Preservation grant recipient. The National Trust Community Investment Corporation partnered with its investor, Bank of America, to bring $11.4 million in historic rehabilitation and New Markets Tax Credit equity to the project. This infusion filled a gap in financing that enabled the project's completion.
Looking For Lincoln
February 12 marks the bicentennial of the birth of our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln. Explore our President Lincoln Bicentennial page and learn more about about a special bicentennial exhibit at the National Gallery of Art in the nation's capital, how your Lincoln pennies can help a good cause, celebration events planned by his birth state of Kentucky and what other communities claim a link to one of America's most popular presidents. You can also learn about two of our own Lincoln historic sites, President Lincoln's Cottage, where he lived during a vital time of his presidency, and Chesterwood, home and studio of the artist that created the famous "Seated Lincoln," the centerpiece of this president's memorial in Washington, DC.
Need To Get Away?
Travelling with National Trust Tours has never been more inviting!
A stronger dollar overseas and special incentives on many of our popular tours makes this a perfect time to discover our world. More than half of our 2009 tours offer significant savings, from the waiving of supplemental charges for single travelers to discounts for early booking.
Visit us online or call our staff at 800-944-6847 to learn more about why this should be your year to take that trip you've always dreamed about.
