Effort to Save Levi Coppin School Continues as State Reopens Review Process

CECILTON – September 2, 2020 – The demolition plan for the Levi Coppin School in Cecilton is being reassessed as a “post-review discovery” under section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, according to the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD).  Some months earlier, a determination had been made that the demolition of this African-American landmark would not adversely impact the community.

But with the clock ticking advocates heard that it was going to be razed so they stepped forward to provide significant information that hadn’t been discovered when the first 106 review was completed.  Some of these new insights came from former students at Levi Coppin, while other evidence of important traces of earlier times came from a thesis, and a Google search that located blog posts, and articles published in the Cecil Whig in recent years.   

For the moment the demolition is on hold in light of extra evidence of significance offered through petitions, letters, and the web as the State has opened the process to review the original determination.  One of the steps in reconsidering the original declaration took place this afternoon in a former classroom at 233 Bohemia Avenue as people interested in making remarks about the adverse effect and potential mitigation of the proposed demolition offered comments for consideration and the public record. 

Sixteen people attended this meeting.  Representatives from the town, county, and state, along with the developer, townspeople, faith community representatives, and historic preservationists, were present.  Joining by phone was the executive director of the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture, Chanel Compton, and Beth Cole from the Maryland Historical Trust.

The Cecil Historical Trust, a countywide preservation advocacy organization, sent a letter, saying that “due to the important history of the school and that period of transition to desegregated schools in the 1950s,” the group wanted to express support for preserving the building and revitalizing it for appropriate community use. 

In the weeks leading up to this public hearing, the Maryland Historical Trust wrote a letter to Kyle Dixon, saying that “Based on the information you provided, we informed DHCD that the historic structure slated for demolition is the former Levi Coppin School, which was constructed in 1950, served as the school to educate African-American children, and continued to operate as a segregated school until its closure in 1965. The Cecilton school may be significant in the context of efforts toward school reform in the immediate postwar period, and for its association with school desegregation. The construction of the school apparently was motivated by the findings of a federal school survey; its architecture may reflect standards for “separate but equal” facilities of the period. While the school has not been formally inventoried or evaluated for its eligibility in the National Register of Historic Places, Section 106 regulations allow the agency official, in consultation with the Trust/SHPO, to assume that the newly identified property is eligible for the National Register for purposes of Section 106 consultation [36 CFR 800.13(c)]. We have advised DHCD that it would be appropriate to assume that the Levi Coppin School is eligible for the National Register.”

This is the first step in the review process, as advocates for preserving the building and its history stepped forward. 

Also See

A petition to Save the Levi Coppin School.

Leading up to the reopening of the State’s review process, interested parties circulated virtual and paper petitions. About 630 people ask that the dcision to demolish it be reconsidered.