Tulane researchers receive grant to repurpose abandoned "separate but equal" schools in Louisiana
Laura Blokker, interim director of the Tulane University School of Architecture's Preservation Studies program, and Andrew Liles, assistant professor of architecture at the school, have won the Richard L. Blinder Award, a $15,000 grant from the Trustees of the James Marston Fitch Charitable Foundation that will aid the researchers in their efforts to repurpose abandoned school facilities originally built to enforce Jim Crow-era racial segregation in education. The schools, built as part a last-ditch attempt to establish "separate but equal" educational facilities in the state, were abandoned as racial integration began to take hold in 1970, and have sat empty for many years. The grant award will allow researchers to work with alumni of the schools in designing reuse strategies for the buildings, Tulane News reports. The research project will include identifying the surviving schools across the state so that the research team can "assess and categorize the overall design, plans and...
Laura Blokker, interim director of the Tulane University School of Architecture's Preservation Studies program, and Andrew Liles, assistant professor of architecture at the school, have won the Richard L. Blinder Award, a $15,000 grant from the Trustees of the James Marston Fitch Charitable Foundation that will aid the researchers in their efforts to repurpose abandoned school facilities originally built to enforce Jim Crow-era racial segregation in education.
The schools, built as part a last-ditch attempt to establish "separate but equal" educational facilities in the state, were abandoned as racial integration began to take hold in 1970, and have sat empty for many years. The grant award will allow researchers to work with alumni of the schools in designing reuse strategies for the buildings, Tulane News reports.
The research project will include identifying the surviving schools across the state so that the research team can "assess and categorize the overall design, plans and...
