Springfield Community Center Inc

In 1825, when Taliaferro County was formed, our ancestors were here as enslaved people on the Plantations in Georgia Militia District 606, later called Springfield Community.
After emancipation, our great-great-grandfather, his siblings, cousins, and friends drove seventy miles to Augusta University, later to become Morehouse College, pursuing an education.
In 1935 the Springfield School board purchased land, secured the plan for a Rosenwald design, and began to build the log cabin school, which opened as a school for Black children and operated as such from 1937 through 1955.
From 1955 until 1965, it served as a meeting place for the Masons, Odd-Fellows, and other Black organizations in the Community.
In 1965 a community member, Springfield School graduate, and educator solicited others and trained under the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) Citizen Education Program to prepare Taliaferro County Black citizens to register to vote. They were joined by Summer Community Organization and Political Education (SCOPE) volunteers.
Mr. Turner and five other educators involved in this activity lost their contracts with the school. Not renewing the contract upset the student, and a protest began. The Springfield School became headquarters for this effort. As the boycott continued, the school building became a Freedom School.
As the Civil Rights protest ended, Mr. Turner partnered with Randolph Blackwell and others to form Crawfordville Enterprise to create jobs. The textile mill and silk-screening plant would be in the old school building. SCLC secured a larger facility as the textile mill grew, and the old school was used as a Head start and Day Care for the plant workers.
Taliaferro County (Georgia) has a majority Black population, with the school system being 90 percent black. The county's historical markers and statues honor Alexander H. Stephens, Vice President of the Confederacy. Springfield Community wants to change the biased perception by teaching our history, which is America's History.
The historical listing, restoration, and preservation of the Springfield Log Cabin School and its development as a community center will impact the larger community by enhancing the tourism industry in Taliaferro County. The School will be marketed as the only log cabin/Rosenwald design school in the county, as a repository of African American history and culture, education, and as a symbol of self-reliance. It is the only Civil Rights Era Freedom School in Georgia. It is anticipated that the interpretative portion of the center will provide an opportunity for students of the county to understand better African American life, educational commitment, and the civil rights struggle.
The Board of Trustees of the Springfield Community Center, Inc's greatest asset is its commitment to completing this project. This commitment is rooted in the fact that the members were born in the Springfield Community and are descendants of the original trustees or original landowners. They are property owners in the Community, and some attended elementary School at the log cabin school or the Freedom School.
The group has partnered with the County Commissioner, Taliaferro School System, Taliaferro County Historical Society, The Purification Heritage Center, Landmark Preservation, Ethos Preservation, AIA, Attorney John M. Clark, of Clark and Clark, the University of Georgia, and several churches in the county
The complete restoration project will cost approximately a million dollars and divided into phases.
Phase l
Structural Stabilization and repair (piers, framing, etc.)
Building envelops restoration (log cladding, roofing, flashing, temporary window and door protection, etc.)
Phase II
Window restoration
Exterior door restoration
Removals of non-historic and non-contributing interior materials
Interior-framing and MEP rough-in
Phase III
Interior door and window restoration
Interior wall and ceiling cladding restoration
Interior floor restoration
Interior finishes
MEP trim-out
Landscaping and hardscaping
Phase 1 of the overall rehabilitation of the Springfield Log School consists of two main components. First, enhancements need to be made to stabilize the building structurally. Secondly, efforts should be made to restore exterior features to cease further deterioration and prevent water intrusion by remedying exterior deficiencies. Structural repairs would include the in-kind repair of brick piers, wood framing, and log cladding. Significant jacking to alleviate deflection will need to occur. As the log cladding serves as the building's siding, by repairing or selectively replacing the significantly deteriorated logs in-kind, the exterior cladding would shed water. Furthermore, in-kind repairs to eave brackets, rafter tails, roofing, and flashing will help ensure that degradation due to water intrusion is ceased. This is a critical step in protecting this unique building from further loss of historic fabric.

SPRINGFIELD COMMUNITY CENTER INC.RECEIVES

$25,000 FROM NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION TO HELP TELL THE FULL AMERICAN STORY
$2.5 MILLION FUNDED BY THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES THROUGH THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Terry V Howard]
CONTACT: [706 347 2753]

(Union Point, Georgia ) – At a news conference today, the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Telling the Full History Preservation Fund announced its award of $25,000 to [Springfield Community Center, Inc.]. The grant is one of 80 given to select organizations nationwide with projects that helped preserve, interpret, and activate historic places to tell the stories of underrepresented groups in our nation.[The funds will allow us to conduct a structural assessment of the Log Cabin
[We are grateful to the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Rescue Plan, and the National Trust for this grant allowing us to move our project forward.
The grant was made possible through a one-time $2.5 million grant program funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) under the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021.

Dear Terry,
Once again, congratulations on being awarded $10,000.00 for your Springfield Community Center ARP Subaward project, as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.