Rust College receives $500K to preserve nearby historic industrial college

Jul. 15—HOLLY SPRINGS — Mississippi's oldest and most prestigious HBCU (Historically Black College and University) announced today that it has received a second large grant to help restore the historic Mississippi Industrial College (MIC), an HBCU which closed in the 1980s.

The National Park Service recently announced $9.7 million in grants to assist 21 preservation projects in nine states for the preservation of historic structures on HBCU campuses. Of that $9.7 million, Rust College has been awarded $500,000 for the restoration of the historic Washington Hall, which sits on the campus of MIC. Located directly across the street, Rust College acquired the property 2008 and is working to reimagine the former HBCU.

Earlier this spring, the Holly Springs-based Rust College received its first congressional special project appropriation recommended by Sen. Roger Wicker. This $1 million allocation was awarded to facilitate the creation of the Ida B. Wells Social Justice and Interpretive Center on the MIC campus in the Booker T. Washington Hall building, which is also on the National Register of Historic Places.

Washington Hall was founded in 1905 and is contributing to Mississippi Industrial College Historic District. MIC campus which will be a $35+ million-dollar renovation with the potential to offer new and innovative academic programming to Rust College students, and to serve as a place to restore the arts and meet the needs of the Holly Springs community and surrounding area.

"The intertwined histories of Rust College and MIC are worthy of preservation. These recent awards, focused on preserving Rust College's historic assets are welcome investments in the past and the future of these HBCUs," said President Ivy R. Taylor.

Rust College is the oldest and most prestigious historically Black college in Mississippi, founded in 1866 by the Freedmen's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church.