Morris Brown College to restore historic building

Morris Brown College announced it received an grant from the National Park Service (NPS) Historically Black Colleges and Universities Grant Program to commencement the restoration of the historical Fountain Hall.

The restoration besides includes 2 stained solid windows honoring Atlanta University’s Founder Reverend E. A. Ware and his woman Jane Twichwell Ware. Built successful 1882, the past Stone Hall, was the 3rd oldest gathering connected the Atlanta University campus. The precocious Black intellectual, prof and writer Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois’ bureau was successful Fountain Hall. Legend has it helium looked done the windows toward downtown Atlanta arsenic helium penned “The Souls of Black Folk (1903).” Du Bois besides wrote “A Litany of Atlanta” (October, 1906) instantly pursuing the 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre, which volition commemorate the 115th Remembrance September 22-25, 2021. 

Morris Brown College, the Friends of Fountain Hall, and the Atlanta Branch of Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) volition leverage the NPS HBCU assistance to pull matching donations from the larger firm assemblage for a afloat accreditation run and the afloat model treatment.

“Fountain Hall is an iconic awesome of Morris Brown College,” Morris Brown College president Dr. Kevin James said. “I liken it to spot and perseverance. A humanities landmark built successful the 1882 by erstwhile slaves. People who person travel done Morris Brown College are precise acquainted with Fountain Hall. They took classes there, they had chapel there, they joined fraternities and sororities successful the building. Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois’ bureau was connected the 2nd level truthful it’s historical successful quality itself

“We could not reconstruct the schoolhouse without restoring that building,” helium continued. “We’re conscionable precise very excited to beryllium moving with Dr. Tate and others raising wealth to reconstruct the building.  This adjacent acceptable of funds is to reconstruct the windows, we conscionable enactment a caller extortion connected the building. We wanted to support further deterioration from occurring truthful we enactment a caller extortion connected conscionable to seal it up. A caller clock, a caller bell, each of these things. We’re excited for the alumni to spot that we’re making advancement connected that gathering and we’re precise very excited astir it.”

Morris Brown College besides launched the Strong Tower Campaign which is designed to lucifer the NPS assistance and launched connected Labor Day and plans to tally done the extremity of Black History Month. The communicative of the timepiece operation remains a salient gathering connected the archetypal field of Atlanta University arsenic it was constructed connected a elevation betwixt Gaines Hall and South Hall, lodging module offices, classrooms and a chapel.

“We volition request the Fountain Hall for classrooms and world services arsenic we enactment toward afloat restoration,” James said successful a property release. “We volition proceed our extremity of afloat restoring Fountain Hall.” 

The gathering was transferred to Morris Brown College successful the aboriginal 1930s and was past renamed from Stone Hall to Fountain Hall successful grant of erstwhile assemblage president Bishop William A. Fountain.

According to the website fountainhallatl.org, the operation had been boarded up and unused since 2003 and has since fallen unfortunate to vandalism and intrusion of weather. Lack of upkeep has besides resulted successful a compromised operation and if it stays unattended it could autumn unfortunate to fire.

“The stained-glass windows gracing the Dr. Viola J. Hill Chapel country of Fountain Hall were a acquisition of an alumni class, and we look guardant to being capable to ‘have chapel’ services again, amusement films, and big lectures with the assemblage successful the abstraction wherever Du Bois assembled leaders annually from 1896 – 1914, arsenic helium worked to find solutions astatine the Atlanta Conference of Negro Problems,” Dr. R. Candy Tate, writer of the assistance and seat of the Hallowed Grounds Committee of the Atlanta Branch of ASALH said successful a property release.

The doorbell was planned to beryllium struck to people this signifier of restoration but Dr. Tate says that the doorbell wasn’t struck but volition beryllium during Morris Brown’s Homecoming festivities.

Tate has managed to constitute capable palmy grants to lend $1.5 cardinal to the origin with 3 grants.

“It’s the full building,” Tate said. This 3rd assistance is to regenerate the windows and the stained solid windows successful the chapel person dedicated windows to E.A. Ware and his woman Jane who were some achromatic missionaries from Yale who came to commencement Atlanta University. This is our past and advancement successful Atlanta of this metropolis excessively engaged to Hate shows whites and Blacks moving together. In the segregated south, this experimentation of acquisition happened connected these hallowed grounds.”

Fundraising for the full restoration, estimated astatine $30M, are ongoing.

“HBCUs person been an important portion of the American acquisition strategy for much than 180 years, providing high-level academics, opportunities, and assemblage for generations of students,” NPS Deputy Director Shawn Benge said successful a property release. “The National Park Service’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities Grant Program provides assistance to sphere noteworthy structures that grant the past and archer the ongoing communicative of these historical institutions.”