By Alexis Taylor
AFRO Managing Editor
Legislators joined with community members to break ground on a permanent home for the AFRO Archives at the historic Upton Mansion Feb. 28.
Cut: AFRO Photo / Alexis Taylor
The plan is years in the making for the dedicated Afro Charities’ team members who curate and care for the AFRO Archives. Savannah Wood, Afro Charities executive director and descendant of AFRO News founder John Henry Murphy, has spearheaded the massive effort.
“During the past five years we have withstood project team turnover. We pushed our way through COVID slowdowns, we reworked budgets after supply chain disruption and inflation blew up our estimates and we had to completely redesign the building at the 11th hour– triggering new regulatory reviews at the city, state and federal level,” said Wood. “This has been a project…getting to this point has not been easy, but the project and its generational impacts are worth it.”
The event featured remarks from Baltimore City Mayor Brandon M. Scott, Maryland Comptroller Brooke E. Lierman and AFRO Publisher and CEO, Dr. Frances “Toni” Draper. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Congressman Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.-07) also spoke. The two, along with now retired Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), earmarked $2.2 million in funds for the renovation.
“I can only imagine how the spirits that have worked at the AFRO over the years have to be smiling this morning,” said Mfume. “It was this paper that brought us through the dark and difficult days following slavery. They took the example of Frederick Douglass’ ‘North Star’ and made a ‘North Star’ here in this city for all of us to follow.”
Included in the AFRO Archives are more than three million photographs of Black life and content from the publication that once had 13 editions. The AFRO, founded in 1892, has recorded everything from Black weddings and community events to the happenings in World Wars I and II, the Civil Rights Movement and more. There are also thousands of letters, recordings of the U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and more.
The Upton Mansion, now officially under renovation, was originally constructed as a private residence in 1838. The property is located in the 800 block of Lanvale St. in the Upton community and holds a spot on the National Register of Historic Places. It became a commercial property in 1930 and Monumental Radio took over the building to house WCAO Radio, the second broadcast company in the state of Maryland.
In 1947, the broadcast company sold the building to the Baltimore Institute for Musical Arts. Records show that at the height of its programming, more than 300 creatives carefully honed their crafts in the halls and classrooms of the Baltimore Institute for Musical Arts. Then, on Feb. 14, 1955, leaders of the Peabody Institute finally decided to allow Black students to all of its schools and branches. Enrollment fell at the Baltimore Institute for Musical Arts and the doors shuttered that same year. The building was occupied by other tenants until 2006, but has sat vacant for nearly 20 years. Until now.
In 2020 the Afro Charities team won the rights to redevelop the property. The following year, they received a Mellon Foundation Award to the tune of $1.5 million. In 2022, non-profit secured Cross Street Partners as development advisors, and in 2024, Ziger/Snead joined the project with their architects.
Renovations are slated for completion by 2026. The building will house both the Afro Charities and AFRO News teams, along with other tenants who choose to lease space throughout the property. In addition to the AFRO Archives, the renovated Upton Mansion will feature a reading room, a digitization lab, a podcast suite and classrooms. Residents of Baltimore are excited to see what the final construction will look like.
“The archives are invaluable,” said artist Elissa Blount Moorhead. “I was raised in D.C. and I understand the importance of Black archives and Black stories.”
Wanda Gibson Best, executive director of the Upton Planning Committee says she is looking forward to working with her future neighbors.
“When they said they were interested in this building I said ‘no problem’ because I know them and I know the family. I went to church with them, so I knew the legacy and I needed that in Upton,” Best. “It means so much. When people think of Upton, they don’t understand the richness here. With the AFRO coming here, it puts us in a different space– not just in Maryland– but in this country.”
Best said the project is breathing fresh life into the neighborhood.
“Being one of the elders, I see it bringing new, young energy,” continued Best. “We have five community schools. They are all interested in getting here and doing some work with digitization. I see a rebirth and something sustainable.”
The Afro Charities team is still in need of funds to see every detail of the plan through to completion.
While more than $14.8 million has been raised for the $16 million dollar project, a funding gap of $1.2 million remains. Afro Charities also seeks $11 million in investment funds to take care of operating expenses that will surely arise in the future.
To donate or become a sponsor, please visit https://www.afrocharities.org/donate.
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