Mims House Memorial Monument
Donation protected
HELP PERSERVE BLACK HISTORY- EUGENE, OREGON
Dear Friends, my name is Willie C. Mims. I turned 80 this year and I'm now the oldest living Black male life long resident of Eugene Oregon. I'm also a trustee of the oldest Black owned property in Eugene (The Mims Houses), which plays a very important role in perserving the history of people of color in Eugene Oregon. We believe this notable and precious history should be honored and preserved.
We hope to do so by erecting a granite column mounted with a copper photographic plaque which honors The Mims Houses and its meaning to the black community and the history of Eugene Oregon. Social circumstances has maintained the Mims family members as proud people of simple means. We are reaching out to friends and neighbors to help us network this worthy #Black History Matters-Eugene Oregon.
Respectfully, Willie C. Mims
Introduction to the Mims Houses
Eugene, 1940's, into and beyond, early racist exclusionary laws established a practice that prohibited African-Americans from residing within the Eugene city limits. In 1948, under the name of his sympathetic employer Joe Earley (Osborn Hotel owner), C.B. and Annie D. Mims purchased 330 & 336 High Street property. The Mims houses became both home and boarding houses for other African-Americans seeking to settle or passing through Eugene as other accommodation were invariably "white-only". This pertains to even established white -sanctioned entertainers such as Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole. These houses were also home to many Black U of O students who also had difficulty finding residences in Eugene. These Houses were very dilapidated at time of purchase, and back then, Eugene banks didn't make loans to blacks for buying or home improvements. So whatever needed to be done, completely fell on the shoulders of the family.
Fortunately, we were able to successfully apply for national restoration funds and both houses were restored in the 1980s and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
..... Mims House, 330 High Street: Representative of the Gothic Revival style of architecture, is distinguished by a steep gable roof with cross-gable and pointed arch windows. The house was moved from southeast corner of 4th and High sometime between 1918 and 1921. The house, built about 1867, is said to be the 2nd oldest historical home in Eugene. Since 1892, residents of this house have been working men and women.
..... Mims House, 336 High Street, is a Gothic Farmhouse style: Built in about 1870, is the oldest house in the area built on its original site, and is representative of the early rural settlement of the area prior to industrial development in the 1890's. It is a vernacular structure influenced by the Gothic Revival style and contributes to the variety of Victorian- and early 1900's-style structures. It is a one-and-one-half story, box structure with shiplap siding and steeply pitched gable roof.
Dear Friends, my name is Willie C. Mims. I turned 80 this year and I'm now the oldest living Black male life long resident of Eugene Oregon. I'm also a trustee of the oldest Black owned property in Eugene (The Mims Houses), which plays a very important role in perserving the history of people of color in Eugene Oregon. We believe this notable and precious history should be honored and preserved.
We hope to do so by erecting a granite column mounted with a copper photographic plaque which honors The Mims Houses and its meaning to the black community and the history of Eugene Oregon. Social circumstances has maintained the Mims family members as proud people of simple means. We are reaching out to friends and neighbors to help us network this worthy #Black History Matters-Eugene Oregon.
Respectfully, Willie C. Mims
Introduction to the Mims Houses
Eugene, 1940's, into and beyond, early racist exclusionary laws established a practice that prohibited African-Americans from residing within the Eugene city limits. In 1948, under the name of his sympathetic employer Joe Earley (Osborn Hotel owner), C.B. and Annie D. Mims purchased 330 & 336 High Street property. The Mims houses became both home and boarding houses for other African-Americans seeking to settle or passing through Eugene as other accommodation were invariably "white-only". This pertains to even established white -sanctioned entertainers such as Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole. These houses were also home to many Black U of O students who also had difficulty finding residences in Eugene. These Houses were very dilapidated at time of purchase, and back then, Eugene banks didn't make loans to blacks for buying or home improvements. So whatever needed to be done, completely fell on the shoulders of the family.
Fortunately, we were able to successfully apply for national restoration funds and both houses were restored in the 1980s and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
..... Mims House, 330 High Street: Representative of the Gothic Revival style of architecture, is distinguished by a steep gable roof with cross-gable and pointed arch windows. The house was moved from southeast corner of 4th and High sometime between 1918 and 1921. The house, built about 1867, is said to be the 2nd oldest historical home in Eugene. Since 1892, residents of this house have been working men and women.
..... Mims House, 336 High Street, is a Gothic Farmhouse style: Built in about 1870, is the oldest house in the area built on its original site, and is representative of the early rural settlement of the area prior to industrial development in the 1890's. It is a vernacular structure influenced by the Gothic Revival style and contributes to the variety of Victorian- and early 1900's-style structures. It is a one-and-one-half story, box structure with shiplap siding and steeply pitched gable roof.
Organizer
Willie Mims
Organizer
Eugene, OR
