Charleston Loan Exhibition

A H ISTORY OF H ISTORIC C HARLESTON F OUNDATION , 1947-2011 10 1947 Historic Charleston Foundation is incorporated as an educational, not-for- profit preservation organization. Frances R. Edmunds becomes the Foundation’s first employee in 1948 and later serves as its first executive director, shaping groundbreaking preservation initiatives and leading HCF for nearly 40 years until her retirement in 1985. 1948 The first Festival of Houses is established to generate revenue for the new preservation organization and to educate the public about Charleston’s architectural heritage and the benefits of preservation. The Festival will develop into one of America’s oldest and most prestigious heritage tour programs, incorporating 150 historic properties and 600 volunteers over the month-long tour season. Proceeds continue to support preservation initiatives. 1952–53 With funds from the annual historic house tours, a major earned-income program still flourishing today, HCF partners with the Daughters of the American Revolution to restore the pediment of the Old Exchange Building and coordinates with The Charleston Museum to help pay off the mortgage on the Heyward-Washington House, operated as a historic house museum. 1972 HCF establishes the Historic Charleston Reproductions program and hires Alison Harwood, former editor of Vogue magazine, to direct it. HCF’s licensed products program helps to further the appreciation of Charleston’s decorative arts heritage. Income from royalties and retail sales continue to support the Foundation’s preservation mission. 1973 HCF plays a pivotal role in negotiating and raising funds for the eventual acquisition of Drayton Hall by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Foundation continues to participate in the management of Drayton Hall, considered to be the finest example of Georgian Palladian architecture in America, in co-stewardship with the National Trust and the State of South Carolina. 1974 The Nathaniel Russell House, 51 Meeting Street, is designated a National Historic Landmark. 1976 Adding to HCF’s growing collection of objects related to Charleston’s rich cultural heritage, the foundation purchases George Romney’s portrait of Mary Rutledge Smith. HCF continues to enhance its collection of fine and decorative arts, architectural elements, and archeological fragments from the early 18th to the late 19th centuries. 1974 The Nathaniel Russell House, 51 Meeting Street, is designated a National Historic Landmark. 1977–85 HCF leads discussions regarding the development of the hotel-convention complex that will become Charleston Place, an eight-story, 450-room hotel and convention center in the heart of downtown Charleston. The Foundation brings in nationally recognized architects to suggest design changes for the complex, which make it more compatible with the historic environs and re- establish King Street as the city’s most important commercial artery. 1982 HCF establishes its easement program, which allows property owners to prevent inappropriate changes to their historic properties while receiving Federal tax deductions. By 2010, HCF will protect almost 400 historic properties in Charleston and environs through this initiative. 1989–2002 Extensive damages to the structure during Hurricane Hugo in September 1989 brings the debate over the aging County Courthouse to an abrupt head, and HCF and city consultants begin to study the building in depth. The Foundation helps to establish the Friends of the Courthouse, which raises $1 million for interior restoration and furnishings and encourages Charleston County to locate its judicial center adjacent to the courthouse to guarantee its viability as a working court of law. The Charleston County Judicial Center opens in the heart of downtown Charleston after 13 years of planning, guidance and advocacy by HCF and other organizations, achieving the feat of sensitively fitting a large, modern building into an 18th century streetscape. 1993–2003 The Colonial Dames lease the Old Powder Magazine, c. 1712, to HCF to ensure its proper restoration. HCF restores and reopens the building, an important reminder of Charleston’s early years as a walled city, to the public in 1997. In 2003, Historic Charleston Foundation completes a decade- long restoration and the Old Powder Magazine returns to the stewardship of the Colonial Dames. 1995 HCF begins the Neighborhood Impact Initiative in Elliottborough to restore and sell property to moderate income purchasers. All buildings restored under this program are secured with restrictive covenants to ensure their continuing historic value. 1998 Based on thorough research and using state-of-the-art conservation techniques, HCF undertakes a four- year restoration of the Nathaniel Russell House returning, the structure to its 1808 appearance. The Getty Foundation recognizes the national reputation of HCF and the Nathaniel Russell House with a prestigious grant for the project. 1999 HCF drafts a nomination to the National Register of Historic Places for nearly 70,000 acres of historic properties and landscapes along the Cooper River. 2010 The Foundation mourns the death of Frances R. Edmunds (1916–2010), HCF’s first Executive Director whose 40 years leaves a lasting impact for the Preservation community in Charleston and far beyond. 2010 HCF’s Neighborhood Impact Initiative and Revolving Fund joins forces with the City of Charleston and Habitat for Humanity in an unprecedented partnership to restore a Charleston single house. 2009 The National Trust for Historic Preservation presents a Preservation Honor Award to HCF in recognition of the successful development of Charleston’s revised Historic Preservation Plan. 2009 Historic Charleston Foundation is awarded a $55,000 grant from the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation to cover expenses to inventory the architectural salvage materials in HCF’s warehouse and to purchase and install museum-quality equipment in the collection storage areas of the Aiken-Rhett and the Nathaniel Russell Houses. This project allows HCF to better interpret its study collections. 1995 HCF purchases the Aiken- Rhett House, c. 1818, from The Charleston Museum to guarantee that it will remain a house museum in the public domain. The site serves as one of the nation’s most intact examples of a 19th century urban townhouse complex with dependency buildings, including slave quarters, stables and privies. 1997 The HCF Board of Trustees receives Trustees Award for Organizational Excellence from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Buildings of Charleston is published by the University of South Carolina Press for Historic Charleston Foundation.