The Valdosta Historic Preservation Ordinance must be repealed.

It is the most embarrassing, outdated and politically incorrect piece of local legislation to hit the books in our lifetimes and a perfect example of what is meant by the term institutional racism. The 1964 Civil Rights Act was supposed to have ended segregation or Jim Crowism in America, but Valdosta’s first Local Historic District Ordinance re-segregated Valdosta in a way Jim Crow laws never could. Under the umbrella of VHPO, the Local Historic District was created, an elitist monster that serves only a few, but is subsidized by all the taxpayers in Valdosta.

This is its history according to Valdosta’s First Historic District Ordinance. In June of 1980, the Valdosta Mayor and Council adopted the Local Historic District Ordinance. It was amended twice and was replaced entirely in 1984. The current version can be found in the city of Valdosta’s Land Development Regulations (Title 2, Chapter 238).

Valdosta’s first preservationists decided the original boundary lines, and these boundary lines included nothing in south Valdosta. Back then, the area contained about 135 blocks and 2,000 properties. In 2008, the LHD boundary was expanded to “include contributing properties within the Brookwood North National Register District (Brookwood North is only an Historic District) and contracted on its northwest corner to exclude non-historic properties that do not contribute to the character of the district” (Source: city of Valdosta website).

Today, the district contains approximately 1,038 buildings and 1,113 acres that contribute to “historical and architectural character.” Phrases like those in the preceding sentence and phrases like “cultural identity” and “built heritage” are code phrases often used by early preservationists to infer Black exclusion without actually saying African-American properties are excluded. Historic property designations have been a powerful tool to protect property values in areas thus designated.

During the beginning of the Historic Preservation Movement (1978-1985), at least one sitting board member of the HPC served on the errant 1980 City Council. Black council representation was practically nil during the peak of the movement.

The city’s first Black city councilperson, Ruth K. Council, elected in 1974, served her final year in 1980. In a recent visit with the Councilwoman, I asked her to recall any discussion of African-American preservation. She could not. By the time Dr. Willie Houseal was elected to the Council (1985-1989), historic preservation policies were already entrenched. Houseal said the VHPO was not as burning of an issue for him as were other issues he thought were of more immediate concern such as voting rights atrocities, unemployment and wage disparities, housing inequities, disparity in resources between Black and white neighborhood schools. The late great Councilman Sonny Vickers arrived on the scene in 1985 as an appointee to fill one year of an unexpired term. Vickers was elected and served over 20 years until his death last year. Contrary to rumor, Vickers was not around during the city’s Historic Preservation Movement when the VHPO was adopted, accepted and entrenched.

How could a town like Valdosta, with all of its seemingly progressive trappings, most notably Moody AFB and Valdosta State University, have on its books an active Jim Crow Law? Civil Rights Activist and retired military veteran, George Boston Rhynes (Getto Free Press) is not surprised. Rhynes fought hard for months to have the city charter of 1860 removed from the walls of the Valdosta City Hall. He succeeded in 2004. It reads:

“1860 Charter- That the Mayor and Council pass all necessary laws and ordinances for the control of slaves and free persons of color in said town and suppress and abate all nuisances arriving from hogs, dogs. horses or other stock straying at large in said town, or from other causes.”

Memories associated with the Jim Crow era remain raw. Activist Rev. John Robinson, leader of the People’s Tribunal and major player in the current Injustice Movement for the repeal of the VHPO, describes in his book, Chicken Scratch, numerous accounts of racial violence from which he suffered directly and that he witnessed. These racist and violent acts he said occurred in Lowndes County.

Jim Crow was characterized by cleverly disguised KKKs, random burnings, bombings, rapes, castrations and disappearances. Deeply disturbing is the story of Mary Turner, the young eight-month pregnant wife who was lynched for defending her husband who was lynched the day before. Historic accounts place the crime scene between the Lowndes and Brooks County lines. Her death came as she swung head down from a tree. A butcher’s knife was used to rip the baby from her belly. Turner was burned alive. The crying child was crushed under the boots of the mob and finally the mob riddled Turner’s body with bullets, according to accounts of the incident.

This horrific lynching has been memorialized in VSU’s Odom Library’s Archives and Special Collections as one of its exhibits. The Mary Turner and The Lynching Rampage exhibit uses visual art and words to tell the story.

Segregation legally ended with the 1964 Civil Rights Act but only 16 years later preservationists re-introduced segregation with the adoption of the VHPO. Some argue the VHPO is worse than Jim Crow. They argue VHPO is practiced openly and is entrenched. Whereas Jim Crow itself is legally dead and its doctrines are now embedded within hard-to-understand ordinances that shield it. Forty years later, the exclusion is visible. Exclusion of African-American heritage from the National Register of Historic Places is shameful; no designation of Black churches or homes or neighborhoods as historic properties on the state level is shameful. This concern will be explored later in the Injustice Series.

The Original Players: Summary of Architectural Review Board Meetings

Records of the original meetings for historic preservation in Valdosta do not show a single thought, reference, or concern for African-American preservation. The records begin in 1980 and end in 1987. Below is a summary for a few of those meetings.

March 1980 – One of the first meetings if not the first: Its members were Sandra Fletcher, Ken Ricket, Harold Bennett, John Holcombe and Mike Dover. Harold Bennett and Ken Ricket were elected as Chair and Vice Chair, respectively.

HPC March 1981 : The group’s purpose was established to protect properties within the LHD. Atty Mike Dover was asked to prepare the introduction letter that explains the scope of the city’s first Review/Design Guidelines. In other words, the Guidelines represent only a fraction of the city’s historic houses, buildings, sites and structures and for the past four decades taxpayers — of all ethnicities — have funded and maintained other people’s property located in the LHD. HPC- March-1981: It took four months, but the work of the group is fascinating as they started the original LHD surveys and completed them. They first began evaluating the following properties: The Crescent, Barber-Pittman House, Roberts House (Wells Street), Autry House (Hill Avenue), Valdosta Primitive Baptist, Monroe-Sutton House, Converse-Dalton House, City Hall, The Courthouse, the Rose House and the Lily House.

HPC- March-July minutes- Evaluated as either exceptional, valuable or notable, added were many homes on Williams Street, Slater Street, Mary Street and Ann Street. During the July meeting, the group adopted several properties on Wells Street; several on W. Central Avenue, Jackson Street, Floyd Street, One house on Varnedoe. Added also in July were homes on North Williams Street, East Force, N. Slater, East Maryand East Ann.

These designations continue with either exceptional, valuable or notable until every property on a street within the LHD is designated. Their work was meticulous.

The Liberty Theatre: Again on the chopping block?

One of Valdosta’s last remaining African-American landmarks, located in its original location at 115 E. Florida Avenue is facing demolition again. The same rumor circulated two years ago and it turned out to be only a rumor although the news came at the end of an HPC meeting attended a couple of years ago..

The Liberty Theatre was a sure stop on the Chitllin’ Circuit where Jazz greats like Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Louie Armstrong and others often performed. The Liberty Theater is housed in what is now known as the QUOLA building. QUOLA is an acronym for Quality of Life Association. Ella Fitzgerald was indeed a regular fixture at The Liberty Theatre (Club). According to renowned author James Edward Alexander, Fitzgerald and others were regular guests at The Little Red House known on the Chitllin’ Circuit as one of the best Airbnbs of the day. The historic house still stands — unprotected.

According to a recent lecture given by Architectural Historian, Dr. Alfred Willis, that took place in the QUOLA building, The Liberty Theatre and the white ‘Dosta Theatre share similar historic backgrounds. How could the segregated all white ‘Dosta Theatre be restored and preserved and not its segregated counterpart, The Liberty Theatre? If the QUOLA building were inside the LHD as it should have been 40 years ago, it would not be a candidate for demolition today.

As a young boy, brilliant visual artist and musician John Clark McCall of Palmetto, Georgia was introduced to Jazz music. His mom was a huge fan. McCall was exposed to this culture and fortunately captured its essence in this image he graciously gave (VBHG) permission to use.

McCall wrote on July 20, 2021: “Gwen, I am most honored that you would use this on your website. An article on this painting was done for Valdosta Scene Magazine (“The Liberty Club: Imagining an Image of the Past”) by Dean Poling in the February, 2014 edition. You may want to get a copy. I would send you one, but alas, I have but only one.

“I have attached a high resolution of the watercolor image for your use. The importance of our Black artists and their impact on American music can never be underestimated. What a legacy! I hope our young people will embrace it and appreciate it. Warmest Regards, John.

Conclusion

We seek unanimous vote from the Valdosta City Council for repeal of the VHPO. In the next part, we examine in detail the creation of the Historic Preservation Commission and the Valdosta Heritage Foundation; the city’s “tools of preservation” as cited in the original Review/Design Guidelines. We will examine the guidelines.

What are the roles of the HPC and the VHF and how do they fit into the system that they help maintain? All the people of Valdosta need to work together to end our embarrassingly racist historical preservation designations and to protect all of historical Valdosta. Let’s start by saving the historic Liberty Theater. Please do not let this amazing piece of Valdosta history be destroyed forever.

Gwen Sommers Redwine is the founder of the Valdosta Black Heritage Group.