The 2023 Annual Preservation Merit Awards program, hosted by Preservation Austin, recently awarded the City of Austin's Planning Department and Austin Parks and Recreation Department with Special Education Recognition Awards. The awards acknowledge their efforts to preserve Austin's African American and Mexican American communities' cultural heritage and local history according to a press release.
The Planning Department, together with consultants Open Chair, The Projecto, and Cultural Strategies, nabbed an Award of Special Recognition in Education for the Translating Community History Project. This endeavor will both illuminate the rich local heritage and recognize Austin's 1928 city plan's long-lasting impact on the African American and Mexican American communities as reported by the City of Austin's press release.
East Austin has faced myriad developmental challenges and disparities in public services and infrastructure over the years. Yet, its residents founded thriving neighborhoods, vital religious and cultural institutions, and prosperous business districts. Historic preservation can potentially stabilize these neighborhoods amidst increasing development pressures by slowing down demolitions, retaining small houses, and honoring the narratives that lend these places their unique identities.
Similarly, the City of Austin's Parks and Recreation Department bagged a separate Award of Special Recognition in Education for developing the Oakwood Cemetery Chapel's digital history exhibit, To Emancipate. This exhibit sheds light on the lives of enslaved individuals brought to Austin in the 1830s, their eventual emancipation, and their final resting place in the Oakwood Cemetery. The interactive exhibit features oral histories, mapping of Freedom Communities, biographies, and photos, illustrating the resilience and rich history of Austin's African American community according to the press release.
