NAACP wants to preserve site of Daisy Barker house after it is demolished
The Daisy Barker house may not be able to be saved from the wrecking ball but members of the Mansfield chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People would like to see the site of the first Black owned and built house preserved.
The first home in Richland County built and owned by African Americans, condemned in April, soon may face the wrecking ball as it is in imminent danger of falling down.
After a tour of the house at 89 Wood St. earlier this month by a group of concerned officials, Amy Hamrick, Richland County Land Bank manager, said, "I don't know there is any way to save it."
Wednesday, members of the NAACP who attended the regular meeting of the Land Bank including, Leonard Dillon, chapter president, said they would accept architect Dan Seckel's recommendation if the house can't be saved due to its condition. The NAACP members present at the meeting said they are working on the assumption the house will need to come down.
Alomar Davenport, NAACP member, said the NAACP is more concerned once the building comes down, that the historic site is still there going forward such as a historic marker.
Land Bank member Tony Vero said the Land Bank would get a written statement from Seckel on the status of the house. The Land Bank will meet at 1 p.m. Aug. 11 to further discuss the matter.
According to a condemnation order, filed April 27 by Mansfield's codes and permits office, the building is "unsafe/unsanitary per Mansfield Police Department." The police report states the doors open and the foundation is crumbling.
UMADAOP, an acronym for the Urban Minority, Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Outreach Program, acquired the building at Wood and First streets from the Richland County Land Bank on Nov. 3, 2017, after Toni and Richard Whitney donated the property to the Land Bank in June 2017.
UMADAOP in recent months gave the property back to the Land Bank. UMADAOP purchased the house for $1,000 for the purpose of making it an African-American museum.
Hamrick has filed a required "106 Review" to the state historical preservation office for the house, which is historic in nature but is not on the National Register of Historic Places. That report, when completed, will be shared with the NAACP and the public.
"The fire place on the first floor has completely collapsed into the basement," Hamrick said.
In May, the News Journal reported the property would remain condemned for 60 days and if improvements are not made, it will be demolished, the city condemnation said.
Scott Schaut, curator of Mansfield Memorial Museum, said earlier this year, "It's unfortunate if they took the house, they should have done something with it to at least stabilize it. From the looks of it, nothing has been done to stabilize it."
"The only reason the house is still standing is because it was built three bricks thick," Schaut said.
Many questions were raised Wednesday as to why UMADAOP did nothing to preserve the historic house.
George Barker bought the land in 1874
George Barker purchased the land in 1874 and moved into the house in 1875.
The three occupants were George, his wife, and his mother-in-law. He and his mother-in-law were ex-slaves.
Daughter Sarah Daisy Barker was born in 1877. She graduated from Mansfield High School in 1896 before attending Oberlin College to study music. She taught music for two years n Kentucky before returning to Mansfield and becoming a prominent piano teacher. George died in 1918 and Daisy inherited the house.
In 1920, Daisy married Capt. Walter Thomas, an officer in an all-Black unit in the Spanish-American War.
"It's not only documented slaves but also the first Black house built. It was really the center of the Black community," Schaut said.
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Thanks to Dorothy Corley who saved the Daisy Barker Thomas archives, which are now in the Mansfield Memorial Museum, the community is able to learn about this important piece of local history, he said.
In other business, Hamrick said the contract for the demolition of the former Westinghouse building on Fifth Street, will be awarded Aug. 11 at the special land bank meeting.
lwhitmir@gannett.com
419-521-7223
Twitter: @LWhitmir
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: NAACP in agreement that the house may need to be demolished
