December 2004
Physical improvements continue at the Robert R. Moton Museum, board president Carl U. Eggleston has announced. A new heating/air conditioning system is currently being installed in the former Moton High School. This, Eggleston noted, is the second stage of improvements funded by a Save America’s Treasures grant. The building’s raised-seam tin roof was replaced in mid-2003 in the first phase of such improvements.
Because of the HVAC work, the Museum is temporarily closed, but will reopen for its normal schedule of twenty hours a week as soon as major work is completed. “We hate to close the Museum even for a few days,” Eggleston explained, “but having a modern heating system, and having air conditioning for the first time, will make the Moton building a great deal more comfortable for workers, for visitors, and for our exhibits.”
Eggleston also points out that, in the spring, the building’s restrooms will be refurbished as part of renovations funded by a Transportation Enhancement grant. “By April,” he said, “we will have a fully functioning building ready to receive what we hope will be an increased stream of visitors to this historic site.” The Moton building was the scene of a historic strike by black students in 1951, protesting the separate but very unequal conditions under which African-American students had to learn. In 1998, because of that strike, the building was named a National Historic Landmark.