Atlanta
(2009-11-05)
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If you can score a tour of the Herndon Home, you'll be dazzled by its mahogany wood paneling, beveled glass and other period touches. The history of the family who built the home in 1910 is even more compelling.
"His mother was black and his father was white. He and his mother lived on his father's farm. They were slaves."
But touring the African-American house museum may leave you with more questions than answers. When asked about furniture or decor, longtime docent Roberta Phillips said she knows little about the home's design.
"I haven't studied these things in-depthly. When I first became a docent, we didn't have to dwell on it and it seems like now it's more important apparently."
Phillips spent 40 years working at the company Alonzo Herndon founded the Atlanta Life Financial Group. Like the home's other volunteers, she has good intentions.
But lately good intentions have not been enough to maintain the home. The 8,000-square foot, Vine City museum was once well-funded by dividends from Atlanta Life Financial.
" as a result, a significant source of funding that has traditionally gone to the foundation just hasn't been there."
That's Egbert Perry, chairman of Atlanta Life Financial and a board member of the foundation that runs Herndon Home.
Short on money, the foundation now gives tours only by appointment. And it no longer employs an executive director. Those changes worry preservationists, including Jeanne Cyriaque of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
"There are less than 50 National Historic Landmarks in the state."
A former slave, Alonzo Herndon was the first black millionaire in Atlanta.
Damage from storms in recent years has exacerbated the home's troubles. Earlier this year, for example, a tree fell on the home and brushed against one of the front columns. And regular maintenance poses its own challenges, says William J. Stanley, head of the foundation's board.
" the house is full of fragile, fragile trappings. Silk wallpaper, damask, hand carvings. All of this stuff wears with age."
Experts, including Cyriaque, worry that without set visiting hours or an executive director, the home will struggle to stay afloat.
"If a place isn't open, how do you get people to help keep it open?"
Cyriaque says the foundation has done a poor job of asking for help and partnering with other groups.
"You have to build long-term partnerships ..to fundraise."
Boardmember Perry admits the group has been slow to shift to more active fund-raising. Stanley, the board's chair, said the foundation can no longer sit back and wait for donors.
"If you're not in the business of asking for funds, then people frequently forget about you."
The foundation has slowly begun to make changes.
It's moving its historic documents to the Auburn Avenue Research Library to free up space for private, paid receptions. And in the coming months, the board will actively seek donations in the hopes of putting the home's finances back on track.
For WABE News, I'm Jeanne Bonner.
© Copyright 2009, WABE
