Todd Mayo Facilitates Transfer of Highlander’s Original Land and Library Property

A local land trust announced today (Dec. 21, 2024) it is selling 8 acres in Grundy County it had recently acquired from the Tennessee Preservation Trust, to Highlander Research and Education Center (Highlander) in New Market, Tenn. The sale includes parcels of Highlander’s original land and library.

In 1961, the state of Tennessee seized 200 acres of Highlander’s original land and assets and revoked the legal use of its original name, Highlander Folk School. These efforts were spearheaded by segregationist politicians and wealthy industrialists from five states as retribution for Highlander’s role in challenging Jim Crow era policies, winning labor protections for working people, and its success in bringing communities together across race, class, and gender to find kinship and common purpose. Notable Civil Rights, Black Freedom Movement, and Union organizers and leaders, including Septima Clark, Ella Baker, Rosa Parks, Anne Braden, and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., all participated in Highlander programming and crafted strategies that would change the course of history. Now based in New Market, TN, Highlander, which just celebrated its 92nd anniversary, continues to serve as a school for grassroots leaders in Appalachia and the South.

In 2014, parcels of the original property were up for sale and were saved through the efforts of historic preservationist and historian, David Currey, and purchased through the Tennessee Preservation Trust. Currey led a 10-year restoration project that resulted in the restoration of Highlander’s original library to its historic condition and the acquisition of additional parcels of land from the 200-acre historic tract. The library building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in October of 2022, through a nomination prepared by Thomason and Associates of Nashville.

“Highlander is forever grateful for the efforts of David Currey, Tennessee Preservation Trust and Monteagle mountain resident, Todd Mayo, for their efforts to acquire, restore, protect, and preserve the property,” said Rev. Allyn Maxfield-Steele, Highlander’s Co-Executive Director.

“Many people told us that this site had been lost forever. We refused to accept that answer,” said Currey. “The Tennessee Preservation Trust made a tremendous effort to bring the original Highlander campus back to life so that everyone could learn about and experience this part of our historic past.”

Phil Thomason of the Tennessee Preservation Trust expressed the organization’s support for the transfer:

“The Tennessee Preservation Trust (TPT) supports the sale of the Highlander Folk School Library property in Grundy County from Todd Mayo to the Highlander Research and Education Center (HREC). The TPT Board of Directors completed the sale of the property to Mayo in September, which concluded a ten-year project for the library building’s restoration. The TPT thanks Mayo for his purchase of the property and the project’s many financial benefactors for their support.

The library building was listed for sale in 2014 and threatened with demolition. Recognizing the national significance of the property in Civil Rights and Labor history, the TPT purchased the property and restored the building to its original design. Funding for the purchase and restoration of the library was provided by several benefactors and numerous donations. From 2014 to 2022, the building was gradually restored under the supervision of project director David Currey. Restoration was completed in spring of 2022, and the building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on October 5, 2022. TPT is pleased that HREC plans to further preserve and protect the library building through granting a preservation easement to be owned and administered by TPT. This easement will ensure that changes to the building are in keeping with its character while permitting flexibility in its use.”

Todd Mayo, principal at the land trust who recently acquired the property and mountain resident, also reflected on the importance of this project:

“I have been donating my time and money for several years to see that this holy ground is preserved so that future generations can learn about how Highlander, in John Lewis’s words, gave the Civil Rights Movement ‘the tools, the tactics, and the training to redeem the soul of America.’ I’m honored to have played a role in restoring the property to Highlander and optimistic that the site will become, in time, a worldwide destination along the Civil Rights Trail and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Grundy County is a special place and will benefit for years in tourism dollars because of the groundwork David and TPT have done and that Highlander will lead in the future.”

Over the next 18 months, Highlander will continue to partner with indigenous/First Nations partners, local residents, community groups, Civil Rights veterans, and social movement historians in a participatory design process to develop a vision and strategic plan for the site. Highlander will work to ensure that the people of Grundy County benefit from the social and economic benefits of site programming. Highlander has enlisted MASS Design, which led the conceptual design and master plan for the Equal Justice Initiative’s National Memorial for Peace and Justice, to aid in design efforts.

“This is an historic moment for Highlander, the social movements we accompany, and the people of this region,” says Highlander co-executive director, Salimah Muhammad. “It would not have been possible without the tenacious leadership of David Currey, the Tennessee Preservation Trust, and Todd Mayo, and we applaud their efforts to preserve a special part of our legacy.”