The University of South Carolina announced Sept. 15 it received a $500,000 grant from the National Park Service to support the rehabilitation and preservation of its historic Booker T. Washington Auditorium building.
The facility was built in 1956 and named to the National Register of Historic Places in 2018. The auditorium is also the only surviving building from the original four-acre Booker T. Washington High School complex and was one of Columbia’s first public high schools for African American students.
In addition, civil rights leaders J. Andrew Simmons, Septima Clark and Modjeska Simkins taught at the school in the 1920s and 1930s, and NAACP attorneys Matthew Perry and Lincoln Jenkins attended as students.
“The continued support of the National Park Service fortifies our efforts to preserve, document and reconstruct the extraordinary histories of the Booker T. Washington High School and the surrounding African American neighborhoods that were uprooted and displaced in the wake of urban renewal and university expansion,” said Bobby Donaldson, professor of history and director of UofSC’s Center for Civil Rights History and Research.
The grant will fund phase two of a multiphase project to fully rehabilitate the auditorium. The planned work includes:
- Improvements to the Fannie Phelps Adams Room to serve as a venue for programs and community meetings
- Additional renovations to promote the history of the Booker T. Washington High School within the context of civil rights in Columbia
- Installation of fire sprinklers
- Improved heating, ventilation and air conditioning
- Lighting and acoustics upgrades in the auditorium
UofSC previously received a 2020 NPS grant, which is being used primarily for restoration of the historic windows, foundation repairs and installation of a permanent home for the civil rights center’s popular exhibit, “Justice for All: South Carolina and the American Civil Rights Movement.” The exhibit discusses the turning points in South Carolina’s civil rights history that influenced nationwide change and showcased historic items from more than 60 university library collections.
The Booker T. Washington High School Auditorium Building was acquired by UofSC after the school closed in the 1970s.
The facility previously underwent physical updates in 2013 and a space was created for permanent displays to highlight the school’s six-decade history, 1916 to 1974, of educating students and future leaders.
