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Orange County <br /> HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION <br /> Approved Meeting Summary <br /> August 28th, 2019 <br /> Old Orange County Courthouse <br /> 106 W. King Street, Hillsborough <br /> MEMBERS PRESENT: Susan Ballard, Todd Dickinson, Tom Loter, Art Menius, Paul Noe, <br /> MEMBERS ABSENT: Steve Peck (excused) <br /> STAFF PRESENT: Peter Sandbeck <br /> GUESTS: Jerome Bias and East Chapel Hill High School student and parent <br /> ITEM #1: CALL TO ORDER <br /> Chair Dickinson called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm. <br /> ITEM #2: CHANGES OR ADDITIONS TO AGENDA: Dickinson asked to add a discussion about <br /> what we know about the history of the KKK in the county or Hillsborough. . <br /> ITEM #3: APPROVAL OF MINUTES for June 26th, 2019 (Attachment 1): Menius moved to <br /> approve the minutes as corrected; seconded by Ballard; motion approved. <br /> ITEM #4: ITEMS FOR DECISION: None <br /> ITEM #5: DISCUSSION ITEMS <br /> a. Preservation of Historic African American Schools: <br /> Staff presented PowerPoint program showing the surviving historic African American <br /> schools in the county. Members viewed a handsome book on this topic produced by <br /> Renee Price and Free Spirit Freedom. These included the Carr or Haith School, Ridge <br /> Road School, Jordan's Grove School and the White Oak Grove School. These deserve <br /> recognition and some may merit designation as local landmarks. In the 19th century, the <br /> county taxing structure of having over forty small school districts virtually guaranteed that <br /> no new schools were built for blacks until mandated by the state in the early 201" century. <br /> Some old white schools were moved and converted into black schools. There were four <br /> Rosenwald funded schools but none survive. The HPC can reach out to the owners to see <br /> if they would be willing to partner in a preservation project. If one of these can be <br /> landmarked, then the HPC could help with finding funding. Discussion followed. The <br /> Ridge Road School is owned by the neighboring church and is being kept in good <br /> condition. Others are great examples of a certain type. Members asked staff to contact all <br /> the owners to see who might be interested in saving some of these. <br /> b. Cemetery Preservation Case Study in Carrboro ETJ: Staff presented an overview of <br /> the issue of moved graves at the site of the former Nunn's Chapel (1946). The current <br /> owner/developer says the graves were relocated properly but there is no record of any <br /> permit or other approval from Carrboro. A citizen noted that the burials appear to have <br /> been moved but nobody knows if they followed state law. This issue has been raised with <br /> various county officials. The county needs to develop a process that dictates what must <br /> be done when someone wants to move graves, with clear rules. <br /> 1 <br />