University’s Save America’s Treasures Grant to Help Restore August Wilson House
Duquesne University has received and will administer a federal Save America’s Treasures grant of $499,628 on behalf of the August Wilson House. The funding will support restoration efforts for the August Wilson House (AWH), the Pittsburgh playwright’s childhood home in the Hill District. The project will restore the building as a multidisciplinary arts and education center.
“August Wilson is one of the greatest writers in American history. Restoring his childhood home is a long overdue and a necessary tribute to his legacy,” said Bill Generett, vice president for community engagement.
Generett collaborated with Christine Pollock in the Office of Research and AWH Executive Director Paul Ellis in preparing to apply for the grant, and Duquesne secured the national grant. “The (August Wilson) home will serve as one of the centers of arts and cultural programming in the historic Hill District. Because of August Wilson’s popularity nationally and internationally, the restored house will attract visitors from across the world,” he added. “This is an extremely competitive grant—we are excited to have received it.”
This competitive award required AWH to raise matching funds. AWH met and exceeded the challenge through the efforts of a private group of national arts and entertainment stars coordinated by Denzel Washington. In addition, AWH itself has received sizable grants over several years from the Heinz Endowments, Richard King Mellon Foundation, Hillman Family Foundations, The Pittsburgh Foundation, McAuley Ministries, and the Growth Opportunity Fund.
“This is not just a national recognition of the importance of August Wilson House,” said Ellis. “It honors and affects all of Pittsburgh, as well.”
Ellis and Duquesne President Ken Gormley joined Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto on Oct. 21 in the mayor’s office to announce the grant.
“Just as August Wilson preserved and celebrated African-American life through the decades, so will this grant help us advance his good works for generations to come,” Peduto said.
The AWH restoration project is now in final design stage, with construction to begin by the end of 2019. Organizers intend to host a grand opening on or before Wilson’s birthday April 27, 2021. Funds raised will go beyond construction to support a wide range of artistic and educational programs involving local and visiting artists, educational tours of the house and the Hill, performances in many genres, seminars and reading roundtables, and arts for children.
“We’re thrilled that our decade-long relationship with the August Wilson House has blossomed into this special grant assistance initiative that will enrich the Hill District and the entire greater Pittsburgh community,” Gormley said. “Duquesne is deeply committed to building community relationships that can benefit all concerned. We take seriously our role as an anchor institution as we work together with our community partners to re-envision the region for a new era.”
In 2018, Duquesne University and AWH welcomed U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey as the first Duquesne University August Wilson House Fellow. She visited Pittsburgh and Duquesne’s campus in March for events during which she read selections of her poetry and shared personal insights.
Save America’s Treasures is administered by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities and Institute of Museum and Library Science. In total, 41 preservation sites and conservation projects in 23 states shared a total of $12.6 million. The maximum grant was for $500,000.
The August Wilson House grant was one of 17 projects in the $400,000 to $500,000 range. Other grants at that level include the Smithsonian Institution for saving sound recordings from Alexander Graham Bell’s Volta Laboratory; preservation of the Nantucket Lightship/LV-112 in Massachusetts; restoring Willa Cather’s childhood home in Red Cloud, Nebraska; rehabilitation of the historic Fort Worden quartermaster’s office in Port Townsend, Washington; and restoration of the Marble House roof in Newport, R.I.
“Save America’s Treasures helps preserve nationally significant historic properties and collections that convey our nation’s rich heritage to future generations of Americans,” said U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt.