NPS Grants $1.55 Million to Restore Two Montgomery Civil Rights Landmarks: Ben Moore Hotel and St. Jude Hospital
The city of Montgomery, Alabama, has received multiple federal grants through the National Park Service totaling $1.55 million to preserve and repair two civil rights landmarks: the Ben Moore Hotel and the St. Jude Hospital building. The funding comes through the Historic Preservation Fund's African American Civil Rights program and is administered by the National Park Service, with the city and local media releasing details on October 15 and 16.
The Ben Moore Hotel received two grants totaling $800,000: $750,000 to support phase one of its rehabilitation, and $50,000 to fund preparation of a National Register of Historic Places nomination and documentation. Opened in 1951 by Montgomery businessman Matthew Franklin Moore, the Black-owned hotel offered lodging to Black travelers during segregation and was listed in the Negro Motorist Green Book. It also housed the Majestic Café and the Malden Brothers Barber Shop, along with the rooftop Afro Club, which welcomed musicians to perform.
The St. Jude Hospital building received $750,000, which the city said will fund a broad range of preservation activities, including architectural services, historic structure reports, preservation plans and physical preservation, in keeping with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation. The City of St. Jude campus was founded in 1930 by Catholic priest Father Harold Purcell and provided health, education and social services to Black residents during segregation; when the hospital opened in 1951, it was the first integrated hospital in the Southeast.
St. Jude also holds a place in civil rights history. During the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery Voting Rights March, marchers reached the St. Jude campus on March 24 after four days of walking from Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma, and camped there before the final leg to the state Capitol; the Stars for Freedom rally organized by Harry Belafonte was held on the campus that night. Mayor Steven L. Reed said St. Jude gave marchers shelter on the final night before they walked to the Capitol, and that the grant will help the city stabilize and rehabilitate the historic hospital building and preserve an important part of that story.
According to the city, the former hospital building was previously converted into apartments, but deteriorating conditions forced residents to vacate a few years ago; city leaders are now making a renewed push to rehabilitate the building for affordable housing while honoring its character.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 1965年塞尔玛至蒙哥马利投票权游行队伍前列的历史照片；游行队伍曾在蒙哥马利圣裘德园区扎营过夜（资料图）· Abernathy Family 照片，公共领域（维基共享资源） / The front line of the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march; marchers camped at Montgomery's City of St. Jude campus on the march's final night (file photo) · Abernathy Family Photos, public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
