Phillip's Chapel CME Church Preservation
Phillips Chapel is a symbol of community preservation in action. It is being restored by private donations with volunteer and student labor. People of all backgrounds are helping restore the old chapel one handful of adobe mud at a time.
It was listed on both the State and National Registers in 2003 and documented in a traveling exhibit on the Las Cruces African American Community by Mr. Clarence Fielder and then NMSU graduate student, Terry Moody. It was structurally assessed and found to be deteriorating at an alarming rate when in 2009 volunteers from the church with adobe restoration professionals created a preservation plan to restore it.
The adobe had been covered with cement plaster and then painted, the adobe bricks underneath it were crumbling, the floor joists had rotted and there was severe structural cracking. For the last three semesters labor was provided by students enrolled in the Adobe Preservation Class at Dona Ana Community College, but this course is not being renewed and all labor is now from a dedicated group of volunteers. The preservation work has just reached the halfway mark.
The history of blacks in New Mexico is little known, and this church remains both a symbol of their earliest presence in southern New Mexico and the work of dedicated hands in its preservation. Mr. Fielder's mother was the first black child born in Las Cruces and was christened at the church. The church symbolizes the persistence of the early African American community and has been a gathering place for community events like Hobo parties and socials. Today it serves as a focal point for the preservation of the multi-cultural heritage of Las Cruces. While it served as a school from 1925 - 1934, part of the time when the public schools were segregated, the neighborhoods were not divided and African Americans and Hispanics lived and worked together throughout the historic period. This continues with its ongoing preservation. In 2010, a film,"A Walk with Clarence Fielder" was made by three students (James Lopez, Ramon Sanchez and Nader Ayadi ) at New Mexico State University. Nader is a Tunisian Fulbright scholar and the film forms the basis of his MA degree in Anthropology. Three fund raising events and volunteer work days have brought together the congregation, minister and musicians to celebrate the revitalization of this old church. The gospel hymn, "Farther Along," has been adopted as the preservation team's theme song. At 82, Mr. Fielder is awaiting that glorious day when he will walk into the completely restored church.
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