Preserve Chattanooga has announced that the Highlander Folk Library in Monteagle, Tennessee, is now permanently protected through a preservation easement, ensuring that one of the nation's most significant sites connected to the American labor and civil rights movements will be preserved for future generations.
The Highlander Folk Library is part of the historic Highlander Folk School campus, where labor organizers, educators, civil rights leaders, and grassroots activists gathered to exchange ideas, build leadership skills, and develop strategies for social change.
The building welcomed many of the movement's most influential figures, including Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and played an important role in the early civil rights movement.
Constructed in 1949, the Highlander Folk School Library Building was once one of many buildings on the Highlander Folk School campus situated around Highlander Lake. Most buildings were destroyed or altered drastically after the school was forcibly closed in 1961.
The Tennessee Preservation Trust spent seven years restoring the library building, which was designed by Boston architect Carl Koch and constructed by local labor, including those attending school sessions who had no prior construction skills.
A preservation easement is a legal agreement that permanently protects the historic character of a significant property, even as ownership changes over time. A building owner who sees themselves in an important stewardship role can voluntarily donate such an easement to a qualifying organization such as Preserve Chattanooga.
The easement helps ensure that the building's defining historic features will be preserved while allowing the property to remain in active use. There may also be significant tax benefits associated with the protection.
"Structures deemed architecturally and historically significant and recognized in the National Register of Historic Places deserve some form of protection," said Todd Morgan, Executive Director for Preserve Chattanooga. "Local landmark designations can provide some governance, but easements are, by far, the strongest preservation tool we have."
While Preserve Chattanooga is known for protecting many of Chattanooga's architectural landmarks, the Highlander Folk Library is the organization's first preservation easement located outside Hamilton County. Locally, Preserve Chattanooga already holds easements on significant historic properties including Terminal Station, the Dome Building, the Tivoli Center, the Customs House, and other landmark structures throughout Chattanooga.
The Highlander Folk Library's significance extends beyond its architecture — it serves as a rare physical reminder of the grassroots organizing efforts that advanced civil rights and social justice during the twentieth century. Preserving the building guarantees that its story, and the history it represents, will remain accessible for generations to come.
Property owners interested in learning more about preservation easements and other preservation resources can visit www.preservechattanooga.com.