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109-628: Early public education in Meridian was based on the 1870 Mississippi Constitution . From 1870-1885, trustees appointed by the City Council served on the Board of School Directors, which had authority to operate the schools. The first public school for African Americans in the city was held in facilities rented from St. Paul Methodist Church. The Mississippi legislature amended the city charter in January 1888 to allow

218-503: A grain elevator , a gazebo and a bridge. Objects are usually artistic in nature, or small in scale compared to structures and buildings. Although objects may be movable, they are generally associated with a specific setting or environment. Examples of objects include monuments, sculptures and fountains. Sites are the locations of significant events, which can be prehistoric or historic in nature and represent activities or buildings (standing, ruined, or vanished). When sites are listed, it

327-542: A "great evil" as they did in the late 18th century, but rather, in the words of 19th century South Carolinian Democrat John C. Calhoun , a "positive good". As a result of this shift, laws began to be passed throughout Southern slave states that restricted the emancipation of slaves, something that was somewhat common during the late 18th century around the time of the American Revolution, where slave owners such as Edward Coles and Robert Carter freed their slaves using

436-472: A National Register nomination, although historians and historic preservation consultants often are employed for this work. The nomination consists of a standard registration form (NPS 10-900) and contains basic information about a property's physical appearance and the type of significance embodied in the building, structure, object, site, or district. The State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) receives National Register nominations and provides feedback to

545-442: A constitutional convention composed almost entirely of white Democrats created and adopted the fourth (and current) constitution to specifically disenfranchise, isolate, and marginalize the state's African American population . Unlike the 1868 constitution, the 1890 one did not go to the people of the state at large for their approval and ratification. The convention created, approved, and ratified it all on its own initiative, as

654-590: A convention to replace the 1868 constitution. On March 11, 1890, Mississippi's Democratic governor, John M. Stone , declared that on July 29 an election was to be held to select delegates to attend the constitutional convention, which would begin in August. However, as the state government was solidly controlled by the Democrats by this point, the result of the delegate election was that of the constitutional convention's 134 delegates that were elected, 133 were white, and only one

763-455: A convention. In use for 22 years, the 1868 constitution was the first in the history of the state to have been approved by popular consent, when it was sent to the people at large for their ratification. It was also the first state constitution of Mississippi to have been created by both African American and white delegates. The 1868 constitution banned slavery, which had been legal under the two previous state constitutions, extended citizenship,

872-546: A historic district are united historically or aesthetically, either by choice or by the nature of their development. There are several other different types of historic preservation associated with the properties of the National Register of Historic Places that cannot be classified as either simple buildings or historic districts. Through the National Park Service, the National Register of Historic Places publishes

981-646: A policy developed early in its history. The United States Supreme Court ruled in the 1971 case Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe that parklands could have the same protected status as " historic sites ". Listed properties are generally in one of five broad categories, although there are special considerations for other types of properties that in anyone, or into more specialized subcategories. The five general categories for National Register properties are: building, structure, site, district and object. In addition, historic districts consist of contributing and non-contributing properties. Buildings, as defined by

1090-458: A replacement of the 1890 constitution, on the grounds that it is morally repugnant due to its discriminatory history, and have noted it contains clauses detrimental to the state's monetary commerce and businesses enacted by Democrats to prevent private companies from out of state hiring African-American workers in Mississippi, one of the vestiges of the segregationist era . The 1817 constitution

1199-607: A series of bulletins designed to aid in evaluating and applying the criteria for evaluation of different types of properties. Although the criteria are always the same, the manner they are applied may differ slightly, depending upon the type of property involved. The National Register bulletins describe the application of the criteria for aids to navigation, historic battlefields, archaeological sites, aviation properties, cemeteries and burial places, historic designed landscapes , mining sites, post offices, properties associated with significant persons, properties achieving significance within

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1308-481: A state, Mississippi has had four constitutions. The first one was used until 1832, when the second constitution was created and adopted. It ended property ownership as a prerequisite for voting, which was limited to free white males at the time. The third constitution, adopted in 1868 and ratified the following year, was the only constitution to be approved and ratified by the people of Mississippi at large and bestowed state citizenship to all of Mississippi's residents, for

1417-493: Is a white man's country and the white men must govern it." It even referred to itself as "The White Man's Party". Due to Mississippi's large African American population, which comprised nearly 58 percent of the state's total population at the time, many Republican candidates would have been elected into office in most elections, were they free and fair and held without outside interference from white supremacist terrorists and Democrat-sponsored paramilitaries. The second reason for

1526-407: Is also two stories, the second of which is connected to the second floor of the 1894 building via a skywalk . The first and second floors of the annex were used as classrooms, while a boiler room was located in the basement. The school originally housed first through eighth grades but was expanded to twelve grades by 1921. In the 1915-16 school year, ninth and tenth grades were added; in 1919-1920,

1635-531: Is only an exception to the criteria that shape listings within the National Register of Historic Places. Of the eight "exceptions" [or criteria considerations], Consideration G, for properties that have achieved significance within the past fifty years, is probably the best-known, yet also misunderstood preservation principle in America. The National Register evaluation procedures do not use the term "exclusions". The stricter National Historic Landmarks Criteria, upon which

1744-520: Is required to "take into account the effect of the undertaking" on the National Register property, as well as to afford the ACHP a reasonable opportunity to comment. While Section 106 does not mandate explicitly that any federal agency director accept the advice of the ACHP, their advice has a practical influence, especially given the statutory obligations of the NHPA that require federal agencies to "take into account

1853-462: Is the locations themselves that are of historical interest. They possess cultural or archaeological value regardless of the value of any structures that currently exist at the locations. Examples of types of sites include shipwrecks , battlefields , campsites , natural features and rock shelters . Historic districts possess a concentration, association, or continuity of the other four types of properties. Objects, structures, buildings and sites in

1962-574: The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) has the most significant role by Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. The section requires that the director of any federal agency with direct or indirect jurisdiction of a project that may affect a property listed or determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places must first report to the Advisory Council . The director of said agency

2071-567: The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), to confront adverse effects of federal activities on historic preservation. To administer the newly created National Register of Historic Places, the National Park Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior, with director George B. Hartzog Jr. , established an administrative division named the Federal Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (OAHP). Hartzog charged OAHP with creating

2180-691: The National Historic Landmarks designated before the Register's creation, as well as any other historic sites in the National Park System. Approval of the act, which was amended in 1980 and 1992, represented the first time the United States had a broad-based historic preservation policy. The 1966 act required those agencies to work in conjunction with the SHPO and an independent federal agency ,

2289-556: The United States Department of the Interior . In February 1983, the two assistant directorates were merged to promote efficiency and recognize the interdependency of their programs. Jerry L. Rogers was selected to direct this newly merged associate directorate. He was described as a skilled administrator, who was sensitive to the need for the NPS to work with SHPOs, academia and local governments. Although not described in detail in

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2398-513: The 1838 constitution, and exist today. The 1832 constitution, like the 1817 one that preceded it, prohibited the Mississippi Legislature from passing any laws designed to set free people from slavery, unless the slave had committed a "distinguished" deed to the benefit of the state, or had the consent of the owner, who was to be monetarily compensated for the emancipation of the slave: The legislature shall have no power to pass laws for

2507-434: The 1950s and 1960s, following investigations by the United States government, these discriminatory provisions were ruled by the U.S. Supreme Court to have violated the rights guaranteed to American citizens under the tenets of the U.S. Constitution , thus rendering them legally unenforcable. However, it would take 20 years to formally remove them from the state's constitution, which was done when they were finally repealed in

2616-624: The 1966 act, SHPOs eventually became integral to the process of listing properties on the National Register. The 1980 amendments of the 1966 law further defined the responsibilities of SHPOs concerning the National Register. Several 1992 amendments of the NHPA added a category to the National Register, known as Traditional Cultural Properties: those properties associated with Native American or Hawaiian groups. The National Register of Historic Places has grown considerably from its legislative origins in 1966. In 1986, citizens and groups nominated 3,623 separate properties, sites and districts for inclusion on

2725-433: The 1970s and 1980s by the state government, nearly a century after they were enacted. There have been legislative efforts to replace the Mississippi constitution that was adopted in 1890 (which has since had over 100 subsequent modifications and amendments) with a new one - notably in the 1930s and 1950s - but ultimately, such efforts have been unsuccessful as of 2021. Several Mississippi politicians have opined in favor of

2834-466: The American Enlightenment principles of the colonial revolutionaries as their inspiration. Abraham Lincoln noticed this shift in ideology, writing in an 1855 letter to a friend that: ... Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid. As a nation, we began by declaring that 'all men are created equal'. We now practically read it 'all men are created equal, except negroes'. When

2943-622: The Christian Holy Bible . National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places ( NRHP ) is the United States federal government 's official list of sites, buildings, structures, districts , and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic value". The enactment of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) in 1966 established

3052-466: The Interior . Its goals are to help property owners and interest groups, such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation , and coordinate, identify and protect historic sites in the United States. While National Register listings are mostly symbolic, their recognition of significance provides some financial incentive to owners of listed properties. Protection of the property is not guaranteed. During

3161-467: The Know-Nothings get control, it will read 'all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and catholics'. When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretence of loving liberty — to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be take pure, and without the base alloy of hypocracy. ... This shift in opinion hardened Southerners' and Democrats' actions in

3270-572: The Meridian-State Normal for Teachers moved to the school, allowing under-educated teachers to renew their teaching licenses. In 1929, fifty teachers graduated from the Normal at Wechsler. The highest number of student graduates from Wechsler was eighty-seven in the 1935-36 school year. The high school (grades 9-12) moved to T.J. Harris High School in 1937, after which Wechsler served as an elementary and junior high school until 1971. Another addition

3379-567: The NPS history programs affiliated with both the U.S. National Park system and the National Register were categorized formally into two "Assistant Directorates". Established were the Assistant Directorate for Archeology and Historic Preservation and the Assistant Directorate for Park Historic Preservation. From 1978 until 1981, the main agency for the National Register was the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service (HCRS) of

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3488-625: The National Park Service, including National Historic Sites (NHS), National Historical Parks , National Military Parks /Battlefields, National Memorials and some National Monuments . There are also 35 listed sites in the three island countries with a Compact of Free Association with the United States, as well as one site in Morocco, the American Legation in Tangier . Listing in the National Register does not restrict private property owners from

3597-469: The National Register and the process for adding properties to it. Of the more than one and a half million properties on the National Register, 95,000 are listed individually. The remainder are contributing resources within historic districts . For most of its history, the National Register has been administered by the National Park Service (NPS), an agency within the United States Department of

3706-448: The National Register criteria are based, do specify exclusions, along with corresponding "exceptions to the exclusions", which are supposed to apply more narrowly. A multiple property submission (MPS) is a thematic group listing of the National Register of Historic Places that consists of related properties that share a common theme and can be submitted as a group. Multiple property submissions must satisfy certain basic criteria for

3815-655: The National Register program mandated by the 1966 law. Ernest Connally was the Office's first director. Within OAHP new divisions were created to deal with the National Register. The division administered several existing programs, including the Historic Sites Survey and the Historic American Buildings Survey , as well as the new National Register and Historic Preservation Fund . The first official Keeper of

3924-558: The National Register when they become administered by the National Park Service. These include National Historic Landmarks (NHL), National Historic Sites (NHS), National Historical Parks , National Military Parks , National Memorials , and some National Monuments . On October 15, 1966, the Historic Preservation Act created the National Register of Historic Places and the corresponding State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPO). The National Register initially consisted of

4033-591: The National Register, a total of 75,000 separate properties. Of the more than one and a half million properties on the National Register, 95,000 are listed individually. Others are listed as contributing members within historic districts . It is hereby declared to be the policy of the United States Government that special effort should be made to preserve the natural beauty of the countryside and public park and recreation lands, wildlife and waterfowl refuges, and historic sites. Any individual can prepare

4142-530: The National Register, are distinguished in the traditional sense. Examples include a house, barn, hotel, church, or similar construction. They are created primarily to shelter human activity. The term building, as in outbuilding, can be used to refer to historically and functionally related units, such as a courthouse and a jail or a barn and a house. Structures differ from buildings in that they are functional constructions meant to be used for purposes other than sheltering human activity. Examples include an aircraft,

4251-456: The National Register. After the nomination is recommended for listing in the National Register by the SHPO, the nomination is sent to the National Park Service, which approves or denies the nomination. If approved, the property is entered officially by the Keeper of the National Register into the National Register of Historic Places. Property owners are notified of the nomination during the review by

4360-518: The National Register: religious properties (e.g., churches); buildings that have been moved; birthplaces or graves of important persons; cemeteries; reconstructed properties; commemorative properties (e.g., statues); and "properties that have achieved significance within the last fifty years". However, if they meet particular "Criteria Considerations" for their category in addition to the overall criteria, they are, in fact, eligible. Hence, despite

4469-537: The Register was William J. Murtagh , an architectural historian . During the Register's earliest years in the late 1960s and early 1970s, organization was lax and SHPOs were small, understaffed and underfunded. However, funds were still being supplied for the Historic Preservation Fund to provide matching grants-in-aid to listed property owners, first for house museums and institutional buildings, but later for commercial structures as well. In 1979,

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4578-426: The Register, as well as those located in and contributing to the period of significance of National Register Historic Districts, became eligible for the federal tax benefits. Owners of income-producing properties listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places or of properties that are contributing resources within a National Register Historic District may be eligible for a 20% investment tax credit for

4687-527: The SHPO and state's historic review commission. If an owner objects to a nomination of private property, or in the case of a historic district, a majority of owners, then the property cannot be listed in the National Register of Historic Places. For a property to be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, it must meet at least one of its four main criteria. Information about architectural styles , association with various aspects of social history and commerce and ownership are all integral parts of

4796-679: The State of Mississippi. With the defeat of the Confederacy at the hands of the Union in the American Civil War, the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified to outlaw slavery throughout the United States. As a result, the 1868 constitution of Mississippi was the state's first one to ban slavery throughout the state: There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in this State, otherwise than in

4905-509: The United States . While the state constitution adopted in 1890 is still in effect today, many of its original tenets and sections have since been modified or repealed; most of these were in response to U.S. Supreme Court rulings such as Harper v. Virginia , that declared most of these sections to have violated the United States Constitution. In the decades since its adoption, several Mississippi governors have advocated replacing

5014-470: The United States Bill of Rights, it specified the rights that all residents of the state held. The 1868 constitution's preamble stated the purpose of the constitution's creation and adoption, which was given as, the establishment and perpetuation of "justice", "public order", "right", "liberty" and "freedom": To the end that justice be established, public order maintained, and liberty perpetuated, we,

5123-579: The United States and joined the newly formed Confederacy , and it subsequently lost its representation in the U.S. Congress. Four years later, with the victory of Union forces at the end of the American Civil War , slavery was abolished via the newly enacted Thirteenth Amendment . Mississippi held a constitutional convention in 1865. A new Mississippi constitution was created in May 1868 that bestowed citizenship and civil rights upon newly freed slaves in

5232-591: The bottom of the Universe. ... We came here to exclude the Negro . Nothing short of this will answer. Another delegate, a Bolivar County planter by the name of George P. Melchior, reiterated this view, stating: ... It is the manifest intention of this Convention to secure to the State of Mississippi, 'white supremacy'. ... One opposing delegate, a former Confederate general and lawyer from Adams County named William T. Martin , continued this train of thought of

5341-499: The city to maintain its own municipal school district, and in March of the same year $ 30,000 in bonds was approved for the city to build new public schools. In 1894 when Wechsler was built, 30% of the children in the city were African American. Because of this growing number, $ 15,000 was used to purchase the grounds on which the building now stands. After the bond was approved in February 1894,

5450-535: The constitution, however, despite heated debates in the legislature in the 1930s and 1950s, such attempts to replace the constitution have so far proved unsuccessful. Mississippi held constitutional conventions in 1851 and 1861 about secession. A few months before the start of the American Civil War in April 1861, Mississippi, a slave state located in the Southern United States, declared that it had seceded from

5559-507: The convention's delegates. The words "in Convention assembled" appear after "the people of Mississippi", to represent the fact that the constitution was not sent to the people of the state at large for their approval and ratification, whereas the 1868 one was: We, the people of Mississippi, in Convention assembled, grateful to Almighty God, and invoking His blessing on our work, do ordain and establish this Constitution. The very first section of

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5668-502: The convention's members, stating: ... What are you here for, if not to maintain white supremacy ? ... The primary reasoning behind the desire of white Democrats in Mississippi, and the Democrats in other Southern U.S. states, to disenfranchise their black voting populations was due to their voting overwhelmingly for Republican candidates and installing them into office, a result which Democrats referred to pejoratively as "the menace of Negro domination" or "Negro supremacy". During

5777-412: The defense of the institution of slavery, ultimately culminating in the American Civil War, which would end slavery in the United States forever. The 1868 constitution was adopted on May 15, 1868, and approved and ratified by the people of the state a year later on December 1, 1869. This was unlike the 1890 constitution that replaced it 22 years, for that constitution was completely created and approved by

5886-428: The desire of the Democrats to disfranchise and marginalize black Mississippians was due to the profound ideology of virulent bigotry and prejudice that the Democrats held towards African Americans, whom they looked upon in contempt and held in low regard. The Democrats justified their bigoted views regarding African Americans using a mixture of pseudo-scientific racism and a discredited alternative misinterpretation of

5995-474: The duties of their respective offices, to take the following oath or affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm, as they case may be) that I have not been engaged in a duel, by sending or accepting a challenge to fight a duel, or by fighting a duel since the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, nor will I be so engaged during my continuance in office. So help me God. Term limits were set for elected offices under

6104-538: The effect of the undertaking". In cases where the ACHP determines federal action will have an "adverse effect" on historic properties, mitigation is sought. Typically, a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) is created by which the involved parties agree to a particular plan. Many states have laws similar to Section 106. In contrast to conditions relating to a federally designated historic district, municipal ordinances governing local historic districts often restrict certain kinds of changes to properties. Thus, they may protect

6213-487: The eleventh grade was added; and in 1921-22 the twelfth grade was added with six students graduating that spring. Though several private schools such as the Meridian Baptist Seminary had been offering high school diplomas to black students before 1921, Wechsler School was the first public school in east central Mississippi to do so, and it remained the only one until 1937, when Meridian's black high school program

6322-491: The emancipation of slaves without the consent of their owners, unless where the slave shall have rendered to the state some distinguished service, in which case the owner shall be paid a full equivalent for the slave so emancipated. ... This retaining of this clause from the 1817 to the 1832 constitution reflected the course of Southern popular opinion at the time, in which laws that restricted state legislatures from ending slavery in their states, by making it impossible without

6431-475: The enactment of the 1868 constitution on the proviso that the U.S. Army's occupation of Mississippi, which prevented a violent Democratic takeover of the state, would end following a Democrat ascending to the U.S. presidency later in the year. However, this deal fell through as the Republican candidate, Ulysses S. Grant , won the U.S. presidential election of 1868 and was re-elected in 1872 . When Mississippi

6540-474: The first principal was selected to manage the planning for the school. The former principals of the school include: Mississippi Constitution The Constitution of Mississippi is the primary organizing law for the U.S. state of Mississippi delineating the duties, powers, structures, and functions of the state government . Mississippi's original constitution was adopted at a constitutional convention held at Washington, Mississippi in advance of

6649-470: The first time including newly-freed slaves. The fourth constitution was adopted on November 1, 1890, and was created by a convention consisting mostly of Democrats in order to prevent the state's African-American citizens from voting. The provisions preventing them from voting were repealed in 1975, after the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1960s had ruled them to have violated the tenets of the Constitution of

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6758-511: The forbidding language, these kinds of places are not actually excluded as a rule. For example, the Register lists thousands of churches. There is a misconception that there is a strict rule that a property must be at least 50 years old to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places. In reality, there is no hard rule. John H. Sprinkle Jr., deputy director of the Federal Preservation Institute, stated: [T]his "rule"

6867-560: The full consent of slave-owners, were passed or retained, or laws that made it more difficult for slave-owners to set their slaves free were also passed. As noted by future Republican U.S. president Abraham Lincoln in an 1857 speech regarding the Dred Scott decision: In those days, as I understand, masters could, at their own pleasure, emancipate their slaves; but since then, such legal restraints have been made upon emancipation, as to amount almost to prohibition. In those days, Legislatures held

6976-401: The future. Thus, additions to an MPS can occur over time. The nomination of individual properties in an MPS is accomplished in the same manner as other nominations. The name of the "thematic group" denotes the historical theme of the properties. It is considered the "multiple property listing". Once an individual property or a group of properties is nominated and listed in the National Register,

7085-481: The governorship and state legislature of Mississippi. In 1890, the 1868 constitution was replaced by a new constitution by a convention consisting overwhelmingly of white Democrats, which effectively disenfranchised African-American voters in the State of Mississippi for the next eight decades. The very first article of the post-war 1868 constitution was Article 1, also known as the Bill of Rights. Borrowing many tenets from

7194-543: The group of properties to be included in the National Register. The process begins with the multiple property documentation form which acts as a cover document rather than the nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. The purpose of the documentation form is to establish the basis of eligibility for related properties. The information of the multiple property documentation form can be used to nominate and register related historic properties simultaneously, or to establish criteria for properties that may be nominated in

7303-475: The last fifty years, rural historic landscapes, traditional cultural properties and vessels and shipwrecks. Properties are not protected in any strict sense by the Federal listing. States and local zoning bodies may or may not choose to protect listed historic places. Indirect protection is possible, by state and local regulations on the development of National Register properties and by tax incentives. By contrast,

7412-783: The multiple property documentation form, combined with the individual National Register of Historic Places nomination forms, constitute a multiple property submission. Examples of MPS include the Lee County Multiple Property Submission , the Warehouses in Omaha , the Boundary Markers of the Original District of Columbia and the Illinois Carnegie Libraries . Before the term "Multiple Property Submission"

7521-764: The nine buildings included in the University of Connecticut Historic District in Storrs, Connecticut (listed in 1989, demolished in 2017), and the Terrell Jacobs Circus Winter Quarters in Peru, Indiana (listed in 2012, demolished in 2021). In France , designation of monument historique is similar to NRHP listing. In the French program, however, permanent restrictions are imposed upon designated monuments, for example requiring advance approval for any renovation of

7630-535: The nominating individual or group. After preliminary review, the SHPO sends each nomination to the state's historic review commission, which then recommends whether the State Historic Preservation Officer should send the nomination to the Keeper of the National Register . For any non-Federally owned property, only the State Historic Preservation Officer may officially nominate a property for inclusion in

7739-436: The nomination process, the property is evaluated in terms of the four criteria for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. The application of those criteria has been the subject of criticism by academics of history and preservation, as well as the public and politicians. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District , may qualify for tax incentives derived from

7848-639: The nomination. Each nomination contains a narrative section that provides a detailed physical description of the property and justifies why it is significant historically with regard either to local, state, or national history. The four National Register of Historic Places criteria are the following: The criteria are applied differently for different types of properties; for instance, maritime properties have application guidelines different from those of buildings. The National Park Service names seven categories of properties that "are not usually considered for" and "ordinarily ... shall not be considered eligible for"

7957-403: The now-defunct Save America's Treasures grants, which apply specifically to properties entered in the Register with national significance or designated as National Historic Landmarks . The NHPA did not distinguish between properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places and those designated as National Historic Landmarks concerning qualification for tax incentives or grants. This

8066-399: The people of the State of Mississippi, grateful to Almighty God for the free exercise of the right to choose our own form of government, do ordain this Constitution. This differed from the wording of the 1890 state constitution that replaced it, in which any and all references to "justice", "public order", "liberty", "right" and "freedom" were completely and utterly removed from the preamble by

8175-458: The preservation of income-producing historic properties. The National Park Service was given the responsibility to ensure that only rehabilitations that preserved the historic character of a building would qualify for federal tax incentives. A qualifying rehabilitation is one that the NPS deems consistent with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation. Properties and sites listed in

8284-421: The president of the 1890 constitutional convention, Sol S. Calhoon , a judge from Hinds County , the convention was called specifically to disenfranchise the state's African American voters, restrict their rights and isolate and segregate them from the rest of society. He unabashedly stated that a constitution not doing this was unacceptable to the convention's members: ... Let's tell the truth if it bursts

8393-413: The primary cause, catalyst and reasoning for why the convention had been called into being in the first place, were the implementation of " literacy tests " and " poll taxes " as prerequisites for voting, the intended subjective enforcement of which would disenfranchise virtually nearly every African American in the state for decades. This was something that did not exist under the 1868 constitution. Although

8502-758: The properties that were demolished or otherwise destroyed after their listing are the Jobbers Canyon Historic District in Omaha, Nebraska (listed in 1979, demolished in 1989), Pan-Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles, California (listed in 1978, destroyed in a fire in 1989), Palace Amusements in Asbury Park, New Jersey (listed in 2000, demolished in 2004), The Balinese Room in Galveston, Texas (listed in 1997, destroyed by Hurricane Ike in 2008), seven of

8611-498: The property more than a National Register listing does. The Department of Transportation Act , passed on October 15, 1966, the same day as the National Historic Preservation Act, included provisions that addressed historic preservation. The DOT Act is much more general than Section 106 NHPA in that it refers to properties other than those listed in the Register. The more general language has allowed more properties and parklands to enjoy status as protected areas by this legislation,

8720-503: The punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted. The current constitution of Mississippi was adopted on November 1, 1890, having replaced the 1868 constitution that had been adopted and ratified following the end of the American Civil War to bestow freedoms and civil rights upon newly freed slaves. On February 5, 1890, the Democratic-dominated Mississippi Legislature voted to call

8829-828: The purpose of disenfranchising their African American voters; other ones did as well, South Carolina followed suit in December 1895 under its Democratic governor in replacing its 1868 state constitution . As with Mississippi's current 1890 constitution, the 1895 South Carolinian constitution is still in use today. The 1890 constitution effectively granted the Democrat-controlled Mississippi government free rein to prevent almost all African Americans from voting and casting ballots, in addition to forcing them to attend separate schools (almost always deliberately of substandard quality), forbidding them to marry people of other ethnic groups, or bear arms for self-defense. In

8938-588: The rehabilitation of the historic structure. The rehabilitation may be of a commercial, industrial, or residential property, for rentals. The tax incentives program is operated by the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives program, which is managed jointly by the National Park Service, individual State Historic Preservation Offices and the Internal Revenue Service . Some property owners may also qualify for grants, like

9047-622: The right of voting and bearing arms to black men, established public schools for all children in the state for the first time in its history, prohibited double jeopardy in legal proceedings, and protected the rights of property ownership for married women. Despite this, Southern Democrats, supported by the Northern Democratic Party, were vehemently opposed to any basic civil rights for black Mississippians (indeed, for black Southerners in general) regardless of their level of education or professional credentials. However, they acquiesced to

9156-472: The school was named after Rabbi Judah Wechsler, formerly of Congregation Beth Israel , who had helped raise interest in building the school. Though the first brick school for African Americans in the state of Mississippi was Union School in Natchez, Mississippi built in 1872, Wechsler School became the first brick public school built for African Americans in Mississippi with public funding. The original building

9265-447: The southwest side of the main building to store the coal. When the building was updated to have steam heating in 1914, the coal house was no longer needed. Also in 1914, a bond issue for almost $ 75,000 was approved for improvements and additions to all the city's schools. From this bond, the school built a brick annex south of the original building to accommodate a rise in the number of students in Meridian's public school system. The annex

9374-409: The state constitution's Bill of Rights section determined who was a citizen of the state. The section declared that "all persons" who lived within the borders of the State of Mississippi were its citizens. This extended citizenship to all persons who lived in the state, regardless of their gender or color: All persons resident in this State, citizens of the United States, are hereby declared citizens of

9483-413: The state of Colorado, for example, does not set any limits on owners of National Register properties. Until 1976, federal tax incentives were virtually non-existent for buildings on the National Register. Before 1976 the federal tax code favored new construction rather than the reuse of existing, sometimes historical, structures. In 1976, the tax code was altered to provide tax incentives that promote

9592-431: The state under a new program of grants for African-American heritage sites. The first phase provided funding for stabilization and reuse. The association has a multi-year plan to renovate the building for an art center and extended community use. Recently, a local push has been underway to convert the facility into a charter school . Though the building was not completed until 1894, the construction bond passed in 1888, and

9701-453: The state. Mississippi regained its congressional representation after it was fully readmitted back into the United States in February 1870. The 1868 state constitution, which was the third constitution that the State of Mississippi's history, lasted until 1890, when after the Compromise of 1877 and a lengthy campaign of terrorist violence to establish Democratic rule in the state succeeded,

9810-519: The time, the official policy of Democrats throughout the country was to implement patriarchal white supremacy as much as and as far as possible, using as its party slogans, "This is a White Man's Country: Let the White Man Rule!" and "This is a White Man's Government!" As one South Carolinian politician said in 1909, the Democratic Party existed for "one plank and only one plank, namely, that this

9919-514: The total value of expenses incurred in preserving the property. Properties can be nominated in a variety of forms, including individual properties, historic districts and multiple property submissions (MPS). The Register categorizes general listings into one of five types of properties: district, site, structure, building or object. National Register Historic Districts are defined geographical areas consisting of contributing and non-contributing properties. Some properties are added automatically to

10028-574: The unquestioned power to abolish slavery in their respective States; but now it is becoming quite fashionable for State Constitutions to withhold that power from the Legislatures. In those days, by common consent, the spread of the black man's bondage to new countries was prohibited ... This represented a shift in ideology regarding the moral nature of slavery after the Missouri Compromise of 1820, in which many people began to see slavery not as

10137-418: The use of their property. Some states and municipalities, however, may have laws that become effective when a property is listed in the National Register. If federal money or a federal permitting process is involved, Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 is invoked. Section 106 requires the federal agency involved to assess the effect of its actions on historic resources. Statutorily,

10246-505: The western portion of the territory 's admission to the Union in 1817. The current state constitution was adopted in 1890 following the reconstruction period . It has been amended and updated 100 times in since its adoption in 1890, with some sections being changed or repealed altogether. The most recent modification to the constitution occurred in November 2020, when Section 140 was amended, and Sections 141-143 were repealed. Since becoming

10355-406: The wording mandating the tests ostensibly implied that they were to be applied equally to all persons, the convention desired to subjectively enforce these literacy tests and poll taxes to prevent African Americans voters from casting ballots. According to the convention's delegates, some of whom were former Confederates, Black suffrage was an effort to "pull down civilization". Indeed, according to

10464-450: Was African American, despite the state having a majority African-American population of 58 percent. During the convention, which took place in Jackson and began on August 12, 1890, running through November 1, several issues were discussed, ranging from the construction of levees in the flood-prone Mississippi Delta to the regulations of railroads. However, the most important issue, indeed,

10573-496: Was a somewhat common occurrence in the early 19th century United States, such as the one between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr that resulted in the death of Hamilton, was now outlawed under the 1832 state constitution. The new constitution even required politicians to deliver an affirmation that they would not engage in a duel: The legislature shall pass such laws to prevent the evil practice of duelling as they may deem necessary, and may require all officers before they enter on

10682-405: Was a two-story Italianate building. The first floor contained six rooms while the second floor consisted of two rooms and an auditorium. Six pilasters lined each facade of the building, and the main entrance, adorned by a segmented-arched canopy, was located on the north face of the building. The building was originally heated by coal fireplaces, necessitating a small structure (now demolished) on

10791-401: Was added to the campus in 1951 on the east side of the lot. The utilitarian style addition included four classrooms, an auditorium, stage, cafeteria, teachers' rooms, and showers. A staircase connects the 1894 building with the second floor of the addition, and a covered staircase leads to the entrance. Also in 1951, the basement of the 1914 annex was converted into classrooms, and the boiler room

10900-496: Was deliberate, as the authors of the act had learned from experience that distinguishing between categories of significance for such incentives caused the lowest category to become expendable. Essentially, this made the Landmarks a kind of "honor roll" of the most significant properties of the National Register of Historic Places. As of 1999, 982 properties have been removed from the Register, most often due to being destroyed. Among

11009-414: Was done in the case of the 1817 and 1832 state constitutions. The new constitution was utilized by the Democrats and the state government, in conjunction with terrorist violence , to marginalize and prohibit black Mississippians from participating in the state's civil society until the 1960s and 1970s. Mississippi was not the only U.S. state at the time that created a new constitution specifically for

11118-419: Was fully readmitted back into the United States in February 1870, it did so on the prerequisite specified by the U.S. Congress in the 1870 Act to admit the State of Mississippi , that the state not change or replace its 1868 constitution for the purpose of disenfranchising segments of its voting population, such as freed slaves. However, this agreement eventually went unheeded. In 1876, the Democrats regained

11227-650: Was introduced in 1984, such listings were known as "Thematic Resources", such as the Operating Passenger Railroad Stations Thematic Resource , or "Multiple Resource Areas". A listing on the National Register of Historic Places is governmental acknowledgment of a historic district, site, building, or property. However, the Register is mostly "an honorary status with some federal financial incentives". The National Register of Historic Places automatically includes all National Historic Landmarks as well as all historic areas administered by

11336-578: Was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 and as a Mississippi Landmark in 1993. In 1994 the school board deeded the building to the Wechsler Community Art Center Association. The association has started raising money to develop plans for renovation and reuse. The association hosted dances and parties catered to teens as fundraisers in the late-1990s and early 21st century. In 2000, it received funds from

11445-490: Was moved to the new addition. From 1971–1983 the school was used as a kindergarten for both black and white children, but was closed down after the 1983 school year. After being taken out of service as a school, the building was used by a theater organization from until 1986. The building then lay vacant for four years before members of the community formed the Wechsler Community Art Center in 1990. The school

11554-659: Was replaced by a new constitution. One notable aspect of the 1832 constitution was that it prohibited importing slaves into Mississippi from other states after May 1, 1833. Some buyers of slaves them defaulted on their obligations to slave traders, arguing that the debt was voided by the law. The Taney Court upheld the obligation to pay the slave traders in Groves v. Slaughter , and Rowan v. Runnels . The constitution changed how judges were chosen, with them being elected and no longer appointed, as defined in Article IV. Dueling, which

11663-411: Was restricted to white men only. African Americans and women were still prohibited from voting in the state or being elected into office under this constitution (until 1868 and 1920 respectively). The 1832 constitution was the last state constitution of Mississippi that was used while slavery was still legal in the United States. It was superseded in 1868, three years after the abolition of slavery, when it

11772-407: Was the first constitution Mississippi had ever had as a U.S. state, having been created when the state joined the federal Union in 1817. It was replaced in 1832 by a new state constitution, which then was used until 1868. The 1832 state constitution was in effect until 1868, and removed the requirement that voters must own property to cast ballots. However, the right to vote and run for elected office

11881-404: Was transferred to then new T.J. Harris High School. In the 1920s, the outside of the 1894 building was covered with stucco . Over time, the first floor was remodelled to contain an office, four classrooms, and restrooms, and the floors were covered with linoleum . The second floor contains five classrooms, office space, a library, and restrooms. In 1922 the school added classes for adults, and in

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