ATLANTA — The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation presented a historic African American church in Atlanta with a $20,000 grant for historic preservation on Monday.
According to the organization, the inaugural Wade and Mary Lu Mitchell African American Heritage Preservation Grant was awarded to St. Mark AME Church in Atlanta, marking the first annual award for African American preservation projects in the city.
The grant was made by the Mitchell Family Fund at the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta. The fund was established by the Mitchell’s children, Catherine Mitchell Jaxon and W. Wright Mitchell, the president and CEO of the Georgia Trust.
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“My sister and I are excited to establish this grant to honor our parents’ legacy,” Wright Mitchell said. “Both of our parents worked tirelessly to advance African American causes in the city of Atlanta, and this grant is a perfect way to continue their important work by providing funds directly to minority historic preservation projects in the city that they both loved.”
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The inaugural recipient, St. Mark’s AME Church in Atlanta, is located in the English Avenue neighborhood and was originally built in 1920 as Western Heights Baptist Church.
Throughout the church’s history, it became a “focal point of Atlanta’s African American community after the St. Mark AME Church congregation moved into the building in 1948.”
The church became a community hub over the years, but became vacant in 1976. In 1995, current owner, Pastor Winston Taylor, purchased the church and the roof and interior were removed due to damage.
“African American historic resources are vital to understanding the full story of Atlanta’s history, yet many remain significantly underfunded and unprotected,” Wright Mitchell said of the church’s importance and reason for its being awarded the grant. “We hope that this grant will contribute to the preservation of these irreplaceable resources and contribute to a more inclusive telling of Atlanta’s collective history for future generations.”
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