A few previous projects

Today we’re reviewing a couple of our previous projects involving African American history.

The Franklin Park Medical Center

Owen & Eastlake prepared this National Register of Historic Places which was listed in November, 2016. In 1962, two African American medical professional buildings opened in Ohio. The Franklin Park Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio  and the Medical Associates Building in Cleveland, Ohio. The nomination was supported by the Ohio Historic Tax Credit Pipeline Initiative. The program provides grants to list properties in the National Register of Historic Places in order to qualify for historic tax credits. The process was initiated by the Franklin County and City of Columbus land bank programs with community support

The Edna

The Edna, located on East Long Street in Columbus, Ohio, was listed in the National Register on February 21, 2017. The 1902 mixed use building housed the Fireside Mutual Aid Association in 1919. It was founded by Truman Kenna Gibson Sr., the founder of the Supreme Life Insurance Company, later the largest black owned insurance company in the country. His son, Truman Kenna Gibson Jr. sold the NAACP magazine, The Crisis, in front of the building as a child. He would later become a member of Truman’s black cabinet and a civil rights leader. The nomination was supported by the Ohio Historic Tax Credit Pipeline Initiative. The program provides grants to list properties in the National Register of Historic Places in order to qualify for historic tax credits.

The Theresa Building

The 1925 Theresa Building was a black owned and operated professional building housing insurance companies, dentists and other professionals. It was listed in the National Register June 8, 2015. The nomination was supported by the Ohio Historic Tax Credit Pipeline Initiative. The program provides grants to list properties in the National Register of Historic Places in order to qualify for historic tax credits.

Hanford Village George Washington Carver Addition

This African American veterans preference subdivision was listed on December 24, 2013 with national significance. The 1946 subdivision was home to not only World War II veterans but also Tuskegee Airmen, the 477th Composite Group, based in Columbus at Lockbourne Air Force Base.

Pictured here are former Hanford Village residents Irma “Pete” Dryden and Charles “A-Train” Dryden. Irma Dryden was an army nurse and Tuskegee Airwomen while Charles Dryden was a fighter pilot with the 99th Pursuit Squadron, the “Redtails.” Although the character was a composite in the movie, Dryden’s nickname, “A-Train”, reflecting his New York City roots, was used by Cuba Gooding, Jr. when he starred in the 1995 made-for-television movie “The Tuskegee Airmen.”

Both lived in Hanford while based at Lockbourne Army Airforce Base near Columbus, Ohio, in 1946-1949.