Invitation to Attend Presentation on African American Historic Preservation in Georgia

Thursday, May 29, 7:00 pm Hill First Baptist Church, 205 N. Pope Street Jeanne Cyriaque, The African-American Programs Coordinator for the Historic Preservation Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, will be in Athens on May 29 to present "Place Matters in the Neighborhood. The Evolution of African-American Historic Districts "The presentation will be held at 7:00 pm in the historic Hill First Baptist Church on Pope Street in the Reese Street/W. Hancock neighborhood. This neighborhood is seeking local historic designation, which would make it one of only two historically African-American neighborhoods in Athens to have such a a designation. The first neighborhood to achieve local designations was a row of shotgun houses on Rocksprings Street between Baxter and Springdale Street.

Ms. Criaque's position was the first of its kind in a state historic reservation office, and she administers a broad range of initiatives to ensure that African American history and culture in Georgia is preserved. One of here many projects is the preservations of Georgia's Rosenwald Schools. She has led the survey, documentation and listing in the National Register of Historic Places of these unique schools which provided education to rural African Americans in the early part of this century. Ms. Cyriaque also serves as a commissioner of the Gulah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, designated by Congress as a National Heritage Area.

The presentation is co-sponsored by the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation (ACHF) and the Reese Street/W. Hancock Neighborhood Association. For more information, call ACHF at 706-353-1801