Since its launch in 1994, the UNESCO "Routes of Enslaved Peoples: Resistance, Liberty and Heritage" Project (originally named “The Slave Route Project”) has contributed to the production of innovative knowledge, the development of high-level scientific networks and the support of memory initiatives on the theme of slavery, its abolition and the resistance it generated.
At the international level, the project has thus played a major role in "breaking" the silence surrounding the history of slavery and placing this tragedy that has shaped the modern world in the universal memory.
UNESCO Designation of Historic Houses
Mayor Sylvester Turner’s Press Conference, on February 28, Celebrated the Three Historic Houses that Tell the Stories of Slavery, Emancipation, & Reconstruction
CLICK HERE FOR MAYOR SYLVESTER TURNER’S PRESS RELEASE
On Tuesday, January 18, 2022, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated three historic house sites located in Sam Houston Park as part of its “Routes of Enslaved Peoples’ Project”. The three historic houses, owned by the City, located in Fourth Ward, a neighborhood including Freedmen’s Town that was settled by emancipated slaves after the Civil War.
“We applied for the UNESCO designation in 2017 to add the sites and stories of the 1847 Kellum-Noble House, the 1870 Reverend Jack Yates House, and the 1866 Fourth Ward Cottage,” The Heritage Society’s board member and Reverend Jack Yates’ great-granddaughter, Martha Whiting-Goddard said. “The UNESCO designation enables us to continue telling African Americans stories in Houston, helps keep our history alive for new generations, and brings tourists to Houston.”
UNESCO stated that the three houses are an important initiative in preserving the history related to enslaved African Americans in Texas. The general public tours that The Heritage Society offers give a sense of the lives of African-Americans in Houston before and after the Civil War, enabling visitors to better understand the concrete effects that such historical events had on African-Americans’ lives.
The three historic homes will be joining the following seven UNESCO “Routes of Enslaved Peoples’ Project” sites that were designated in 2019: Emancipation Park, 1872; Olivewood Cemetery, 1875; African American Library at the Gregory School, 1810; Reverend Ned Pullum and Emma Eddy Pullum House, 1897; Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, 1866; Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project at the Port of Galveston, 18th and 19th centuries; and Workman’s Cottage, c. 1924.
UNESCO launched the initiative in 1994 to contribute to a better understanding of slavery, to promote sites and itineraries of memory related to the slave trade and the contributions of the descendants of African people, and to preserve archives and intangible heritage associated with this history. A long-term goal of the Slave Route Project is to create opportunities for heritage tourism, enabling visitors to follow the steps of the forced migration of slavery from Africa to North and South America, as well as other parts of the world such as the Middle East and Asia.
“We give credit to our committee’s persistence and Jane Landers, a Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of History at Vanderbilt University, in obtaining this honorary designation.” The Heritage Society’s board president, Minnette Boesel said. Landers is a historian of Colonial Latin America and the Atlantic World specializing in the history of Africans and their descendants in those worlds. Landers also serves on the UNESCO International Scientific Committee on slave routes.
“Thanks to board members like Martha Whiting-Goddard, our Black history tours help visitors experience and learn about lifestyles in the 19th and early 20th centuries during Houston’s eras of slavery, emancipation, and reconstruction,” said Boesel.
“Our Black History Tours are docent-led walking tours of the Kellum-Noble House, the Yates House, and the Fourth Ward Cottage.” The Heritage Society’s executive director, Alison Bell said. A history of the Kellum-Noble house discusses urban slavery in Houston, whereas the Yates House and the Fourth Ward Cottage tell about life in the community known as Freedmen's Town.
“Additional reasons to book a tour to see these sites is the Reader’s Digest also named the Jack Yates House twice as the most famous house in Texas and the 1847 Kellum-Noble House, the oldest house in Houston still on its original site, was named a 2021 Good Brick Award recipient by Preservation Houston.” said Bell.
Those in attendance were - Houston City Council Members Robert Gallegos, Abbie Kamin, David Robinson, Edward Pollard, and Sallie Alcorn. Other special guests included Pastor Lou McElroy of the 2019 UNESCO designated site Antioch Missionary Baptist Church; Reverend Jack Yates' descendants Jacqueline Whiting Bostic and daughter Jacqueline McElroy; Eileen Lawal, President of Houston Freedmen's Town Conservancy; Zion Escobar, Executive Director of Houston Freedmen's Town Conservancy; and Georgia Nolan, past Texas State President of National Association of Colored Women's Clubs (NACWC).
Houston Parks and Recreational Department (HPARD) also covered the event live on Facebook since the historic houses event was held at Houston’s first City Park - Sam Houston Park.
Black History Tours are available year-round from Wednesday through Saturday, during specific times from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and on Sundays for reservations made in advance. Picnics and outings in the City’s oldest park, Sam Houston Park, are encouraged. Tour information is available at https://www.heritagesociety.org/black-history-tours.
MEDIA COVERAGE
Special thanks to Mary Benton, Director of Communications for the Mayor’s Office for organizing the Mayor Sylvester Turner’s Press Conference on Monday, February 28, 2022.
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KHOU- CBS, CHANNEL 11
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