The ongoing effort to restore the former John Lee Webb home into a community resource center and museum of local African-American history will hold a fundraiser Thursday night and share the latest updates on the project.
"We realize that some people want things to happen overnight and, unfortunately, some want others to make it happen," said Cheryl L. Batts, president and founder of P.H.O.E.B.E. (People Helping Others Excel By Example), which is spearheading the project.
"It doesn't work that way. It is our history. It is our town and we have to make the first efforts."
The event will begin at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Haven United Methodist Church, 107 Burroughs St., with presentations and information from Tony Usdrowski, supervising contractor, and Kwendeche, a Little Rock-based preservation architect who is being consulted on the house.
There will be refreshments served, including smoked pork butt and all the trimmings, and information presented about the Arkansas-Chicago connection, bank commitments, efforts by the Arkansas Legislative Black Caucus, the West Central Arkansas Planning and Development GIF and future fundraisers. There will also be "never seen" photographs of Webb "proving his national and international outreach," Batts said, and the first showing of a new crowd funding film.
The home, built around 1900 and located at 403 Pleasant St., is right in the middle of the Pleasant Street Historic District, and just a few short blocks from the Webb Community Center, which was donated to the African-American community by Webb in 1945 and named for Emma Elease Webb, his only daughter, after her death.
A native of Alabama, Webb was a builder and contractor and the Supreme Custodian of the Supreme Lodge of the Woodmen of the Union, an African-American fraternal organization established in Mississippi around 1903 and later headquartered in Hot Springs. The Webbs moved here in 1918.
Working with Walter T. Bailey, renowned as one of the nation's best black architects, Webb built the five-story Woodmen of the Union Building, later known as the National Baptist Hotel, on Malvern Avenue in 1923, and it soon became the center of African-American culture in Hot Springs.
Arkansas State Sen. Linda Chesterfield, D-District 34, who is the chair of the Arkansas Legislative Black Caucus, recently said, "It is imperative that we preserve this historic site. Our respect for our ancestors is demonstrated by our determination to preserve their homes and artifacts. Only then will our children know that against all odds, their ancestors created landmarks worthy of their study and preservation."
Having received a $52,000 grant from the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program/Arkansas Department of Heritage for work on the roof of the house, Batts said they have to match the grant with $26,000, of which they have raised all but $13,000.
Exterior work will involve carefully removing the stone shingles on the roof and the bricks to make repairs and restoration of the structure underneath so they can then replace the bricks and shingles to maintain the integrity of the house.
"Recently we were told there was a treasure trove of pictures of Mr. Webb that had never been seen before ... and it was true," Batts said, noting they are in the process of preparing the photos for display.
"Our research takes us beyond Hot Springs, and we are fortunate that in his later years that he chose our community, which he found to be 'cosmopolitan,' to bring his business, build his buildings and raise his family," she said.
The list of supporters for the project "grows every day," Batts said, noting their short term goal is to reach the match of $26,000. "We don't have far to go. Together we can do this."
She added, "Our research proves, as much as (Webb) could, during the time of segregation, he reached outside of his own community with a spirit of excellence to close the gap. Let's continue that part of his legacy."
Local on 09/27/2016