Claflin University President Henry N. Tisdale To Testify At Congressional Hearing To Support HBCU Historic Preservation Program

Claflin University President Henry N. Tisdale will testify in a hearing at 10 a.m. Thursday (Feb. 11) before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Federal Lands.  Tisdale’s testimony will be in support of H.R. 295 which will reauthorize the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Historic Preservation program.

The resolution is sponsored by Rep. James Clyburn.  

In 1998, the National Trust for Historic Preservation designated HBCUs nationwide as one of the nation’s eleven most endangered historic sites.  According to a 1998 study by the Government Accountability Office, the historic preservation needs at HBCUs at that time were estimated to be $755 million, with 712 historic properties in need of repairs or structural renovations.  That amount would be over $1 billion in today’s dollars.

In the 6th Congressional District of South Carolina, historic buildings at Allen, Claflin, and South Carolina State universities and Voorhees and Benedict colleges have been successfully restored.  To date, 59 institutions in 20 different states have benefitted from the program.  However, authorization for this program has expired, and no funds have been appropriated since the Recovery Act in 2009.