As a resident of Coachella Valley, I look forward to February each year when Modernism Week is in full force. Okay, I know it is only 10 days, but hey, I’m keeping the party line on the name for now.
In addition to our normal winter visitors, the town has swelled by approximately 100,000 people. The official report is that 352 events are scheduled. That’s why it is important to understand that Modernism Week is not just about walking through a home and then stopping to eat at one of our many fine restaurants.
On holiday, at 9:00 a.m., I found myself at the Palm Springs Art Museum Annenberg Theatre, settling into my front-row seat to hear a lecture entitled Stories Untold: Preserving Sites of African American Resilience, Activism, Achievement, and Architecture.
Introduction of Brent Leggs for Lecture During Palm Springs Modernism Week
Brett Leggs is the Executive Director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. Brett began by saying that the Action Fund was developed to help document our diverse history. The project's mission is to uplift and tell stories about resilience, activism, and the power of people so that the United States’ complete history is told.
When working on his Master’s Degree thesis, he discovered Kentucky had 158 schools built for black people. He went about finding those schools.
It is believed that 5,000 schools were built for blacks in the United States, but today, only 10% are still standing; most are demolished, and very few are repurposed. He noted that we had lost physical evidence of the memories we made in those buildings.
He said, "There is the power of place, for it holds the stories of both the challenges and the joys." I couldn’t help but think of many historic physical places I have visited. Tours of those places reveal so much I never knew about our history—for example, a tour of Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s estate, where I learned about the man and people who served him.
Development of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund
He went on to explain that a crisis sometimes becomes an opportunity. In 2017, horrific actions happened in Charlotteville, where white nationalists gathered when a Confederate statue was to be removed. Counter-protesters arrived, causing the Governor of Virginia to declare a state of emergency.
In November 2017, the National Trust for Historic Preservation established the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. This fund aims to preserve sites that highlight African American achievements and resilience.
Today, the fund has 350 preservation partners. These partners realize that all stories matter to have an informed society. These preservation efforts honor the importance of family, empathy, and everyone as part of humanity on this earth.
The Getty Conservation Institute, in partnership with the city of Los Angeles, hosted the first community event for African American Historic places on June 24, 2024. The goal was to identify, preserve, and celebrate African American heritage.
You can find a list of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund completed and sites in progress here: https://savingplaces.org/action-fund-projects
I walked out of the lecture, thankful for Modernism's placing it on the calendar of events, the Art Museum's hosting it, and Room&Board Home Furnishings' sponsoring it. I learned so much about the effort to preserve this part of our history.
Now, I wish I had stopped more often to listen to the stories of the African American people I lived with and thrived within St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands.
The moral of this blog: Get yourself out in the world, for there is so much to learn. Please turn off the news and learn firsthand about what affects our world.
Finally, I am now more convinced than ever that Modernism Week in Palm Springs, held in February each year and in a smaller version at the end of October, is much more than touring homes. It is a time to gather your friends and meet people from all over the world, learn something new, and appreciate more the people who turn challenges into places where memories are made.
Kathy Condon is a travel writer and award-winning author. Her niche is luxury experiences and communities living in the shadows of large cities. kathy@kathycondon.net
www.PalmSpringsInsiderGuide.com 760-902-3094
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