Siloam School Grand Re-opening

CHARLOTTE MUSEUM OF HISTORY TO CELEBRATE OPENING OF RESTORED 1920s-ERA SILOAM SCHOOL

Saturday, June 15
11am-5pm

 Landmark of Black History Reopens After Eight-Year Fundraising and Restoration Effort

 CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 14, 2024 –After an eight-year fundraising and restoration endeavor, the Charlotte Museum of History is thrilled to announce that the restored Siloam School—a vital piece of Charlotte’s history—will open its doors to the public on Saturday, June 15 at 11:00 a.m. with a special homecoming event and ribbon cutting ceremony at the museum. Public tours of the school will start at 12 noon.

Following meticulous restoration efforts, the Siloam School will serve as a center for history education and programming, becoming one of five historic buildings that the Charlotte Museum of History preserves, protects and interprets on its eight-acre campus just off Shamrock Drive in east Charlotte.

“The opening of the restored Siloam School marks a significant milestone in Charlotte’s cultural landscape,” said Terri L. White, president and CEO of the Charlotte Museum of History. “Built more than 100 years ago by a Black community in Mallard Creek to provide their children a quality education in spite of segregation, this restored school will once again function as a dynamic space for education and a symbol of hope for a more just and equitable future.”

The Siloam School holds significant historical importance as one of Mecklenburg County’s oldest surviving Black schoolhouses and one of the few remaining Rosenwald-era schools in the region.

Historians at the Charlotte Museum of History developed the historical interpretation for the restored school, which delves into the 20th-century Black experience in the Charlotte area and sheds light on the region’s history of racial discrimination and injustice, as well as community efforts to overcome them.

“The Save Siloam School Project has been a labor of love and dedication, made possible by a broad coalition of individuals together with corporate and community leaders,” said Save Siloam School Project Chair Fannie Flono. “The Siloam School now stands poised to become a premier destination for history programming in Mecklenburg County, with a special focus on preserving and sharing the stories of 20^th-century African American history in our area.”

How to Go

The museum will be open from 11am to 5pm and the school will be open for tours starting at 12 noon. The event is free and open to the public, but donations will be accepted. More information and parking details are at charlottemuseum.org/programs-events/events/siloam-school-reopening/.

About the Save Siloam School Project

Spearheaded by the Charlotte Museum of History and officially launched in 2016, the Save Siloam School Project was a community effort to save a 1920s-era African American schoolhouse in northeast Charlotte. On the National Register of Historic Places, the Siloam School building was endangered due to disrepair, threatening the loss of its invaluable stories with it.

The project surpassed its fundraising goal in November 2022, securing more than $1.2 million from corporate, government and private donations, and the museum moved the school to its new home on the museum’s east Charlotte campus in September 2023.

Started as an effort between the Charlotte Museum of History and the nonprofit Silver Star Community Inc., the Save Siloam School Project grew over time to include many project champions and donors, including the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission, The Gambrell Foundation, Mecklenburg County, Lowe’s, Tribute Companies, Sandra Wilcox Conway, the City of Charlotte, Porter Durham, Bank of America, Walmart, Aldersgate and many others.

Visit charlottemuseum.org/siloam for more information about the project, Siloam School’s history and the important role that schools like Siloam played in early 20^th-century Charlotte.