Raleigh Historic Sites Commission Records, ORG.144
Abstract
Formed in 1961 as a mayor-appointed citizen commission, the Raleigh Historic Sites Commission, (known today as the Raleigh Historic District Commission), has for almost fifty years been serving the historical preservation needs of North Carolina's capitol city. The first organization of its kind in the state of North Carolina, the Raleigh Historic Sites Commission, (RHSC), was incorporated in 1962, and immediately began to take action to preserve, protect, and raise awareness about a variety of historically significant buildings and districts in the Raleigh area.
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Raleigh Historic Sites Commission Records
- Call Number
- ORG.144
- Creator
- Raleigh Historic Sites Commission
- Date
- 1961-1973
- Language
- English
- Repository
- State Archives of North Carolina
Collection Overview
This collection has been divided into six series, including minutes, correspondence,
publications, general records, projects and miscellaneous. Although the collection
includes documents from 1961 - 1973, the bulk of the collection is from 1962 - 1966.
Arrangement Note
Finding Aid prepared by: Catherine Jackson on 23 January 1979; revised by Kim McCray in April 2010.
Biographical/Historical
With a founding mission challenge of "assuming a role of leadership and responsibility in preserving historic sites and structures in the City", the RHSC began under the leadership of Chairwoman Mrs. Edward Waugh. The original commission was made up of the following founding members:
Mrs. Edward Waugh, Chairwoman
W.H. Deitrick, Co-Chairman
Beth Crabtree, Secretary
Mrs. Bruce Carter
Dr. Christopher Crittenden
Jonathan Daniels
Alfred Haskins
Henry Haywood
Arnold Hoffman
Allen Hunt
Armistead Maupin
Ed. S. Preston, Jr.
Mrs. Raymond L. Murray
Ben Williams
The earliest years of the commission's work were primarily concerned with two objectives. The first was a focus on raising awareness in the Raleigh area about the necessity of preserving historically noteworthy properties. To reach such an end, the commission invited local clubs and organizations of all kinds to send members to serve as representatives on the commission's liaison committee. The commission also produced pamphlets, held lectures, and led walking tours of historically significant districts, engaging in a variety of public outreach projects in order to educate the community about remaining historic sites in Raleigh. The commission understood that by engaging Raleigh's residents in its work, the group would be much more successful in the long run.
The commission's second major priority in its formative years was educating itself. Leaders of the organization realized early on that in order to pursue preservation projects on a large scale, the group had to obtain the confidence and support of the state legislature. In order to prove to the General Assembly that the commission could be trusted with not only its funds but its city landscape, the commission had to first learn how to successfully manage its operations and meet its goals. To meet these ends, information was sought from historic preservation organizations throughout the country regarding how to raise funds, gain community support, and analyze historical structures. In June of 1966, the commission went so far as to fly in an historical preservation and urban landscape expert from Boston in order to have an authority examine the condition of the commission and provide it with a plan of improvement. In order to create internal experts within the organization, members of the commission also attended regional and national historic preservation conferences. All such RHSC efforts came to fruition, when nearly five years after its inception 1967, the commission achieved the authority from the state legislature "to hold, manage, preserve, restore, improve and operate historic properties."
With its supporting legislation in place, the commission was permitted in 1967 to pursue its first major preservation project, protecting the endangered Mordecai House, a project that had been a focus of the organization almost since its founding. Having been purchased by the city earlier in the year, Mordecai was turned over to the commission, which was taxed with the responsibility of first, preventing its destruction, and second, turning the property into a historic park.
For more than two years the commission worked with the City Council to plan for the preservation of the Mordecai House. The major initiative included applying for a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, for which the commission was approved and gratefully accepted in May of 1970. By April of 1972, the project was finally complete and Mordecai was opened to the public.
Following the successful preservation of the Mordecai House, several other notable projects were pursued by the commission. Among other accomplishments, the Joel Lane House was saved from demolition, Oakwood, the city's first historic overlay district, was created, and Raleigh's first comprehensive architectural survey was completed. Today, the Raleigh Historic Districts Commission administers ordinances over five historic districts and more than 125 Raleigh Historic Landmarks. The city also boasts 19 National Register historic districts and more than 80 individual listings. In perpetuating and acting on a concern for the preservation of Raleigh's historic sites, the organization continues to play an indispensable role in protecting Raleigh's heritage.
Contents of the Collection
1. Correspondence, 1961-1968
Scope and Content:
This series includes general correspondence of the Commission as well as a letter from the mayor acknowledging his creation and support of the RHSC, a variety of letters to and from members and potential members, letters to legislators regarding bills relating to historic preservation, meeting reminders, and thank you notes.
2. Minutes, 1961-1973
Scope and Content:
This series includes minutes and agendas of the meetings of the Raleigh Historic Sites
Commission, (RHSC), as well as the minutes of a few sub-committees. Many of the minutes
include both drafts and final versions. Stenographers pads are included at the end
of the series.
3. Publications, 1961-1967
Scope and Content:
This series has eleven subseries and includes a variety of publications relating to
the historic preservation field. Almost all of the publications are produced by organizations
other than the RHSC, the majority coming from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The only included publications that are creations of the RHSC are two brochures aimed
at explaining the RHSC's goals and projects.
4. General Records
Scope and Content:
This series includes fifteen subseries of records relating to the general organization
and day-to-day operation of the RHSC. Notable are the statements of objectives of
the founding commission, papers of several of the RHSC's working committees, membership
lists, survey forms used to analyze historic structures, and papers relating to the
Raleigh Historic Sites Foundation, a temporary auxiliary organization of the RHSC
tasked with raising funds for the commission's work.
5. Projects
Scope and Content:
This series includes six subseries highlighting four major historic preservation projects.
Documentation of the efforts of the RHSC to save from destruction and open to the
public two of today's most well-known Raleigh landmarks, Mordecai House and the Joel
Lane House, are included. Also found in this series is a list of criteria used by
the RHSC to determine whether or not to endorse a historical property for sponsorship.
Lists of proposed projects are also included.
6. Miscellaneous
Scope and Content:
This series includes materials that do not properly fit into any other series, such as newspaper clippings highlighting the RHSC's work, and other related materials. Also included in this series is ORG.144.4-OS which is an over-size volume: Historic Buildings:Raleigh Wake County North Carolina, Measured Drawings by Students in Historic Architecture Research, North Carolina State University, School of Design, Prepared by the Office of R. Carter Williams, Architects, Raleigh, NC, May 1, 1966.