A historic Monteagle building that played a role in the American labor and civil rights movements has received permanent protection through a preservation easement held by Preserve Chattanooga.
The Highlander Folk Library, part of the former Highlander Folk School campus, is the first property outside Hamilton County on which the Chattanooga-based nonprofit has accepted a preservation easement.
The easement is a legal agreement intended to protect the historic character of the property even if its ownership changes.
“Structures deemed architecturally and historically significant and recognized in the National Register of Historic Places deserve protection,” Preserve Chattanooga Executive Director Todd Morgan says. “Local landmark designations can provide some governance, but easements are, by far, the strongest preservation tool we have.”
The Highlander Folk School brought together labor organizers, educators, civil rights leaders and grassroots activists to exchange ideas and develop organizing and leadership strategies. Among those who visited Highlander were civil rights leaders Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr.
The library was constructed in 1949 and was once one of several buildings situated around Highlander Lake on the school’s Monteagle campus.
Most of the campus buildings were destroyed or significantly altered after the school was forcibly closed in 1961.
The Tennessee Preservation Trust later spent seven years restoring the library. Designed by Boston architect Carl Koch, the building was constructed using local labor, including people attending sessions at Highlander who had no previous construction experience.
Under a preservation easement, a property owner voluntarily gives a qualified organization certain rights to protect a building’s historically significant features. The restrictions remain with the property when it is sold or transferred, providing long-term protection while allowing the building to remain in use.
Preserve Chattanooga already holds easements on several prominent Chattanooga properties, including Terminal Station, the Dome Building, the Tivoli Center and the Customs House.
The Highlander easement marks an expansion of those preservation efforts beyond the Chattanooga area.
Source: Preserve Chattanooga