An HBCU landmark that has witnessed more than a century of Black educational history is receiving a $750,000 investment to support its future. Benedict College has received a National Park Service grant to help preserve Morgan Hall, the oldest building on its Columbia, South Carolina, campus.
The funding will support a three-year restoration project designed to protect the structure and the history it carries.
For a college founded in 1870, keeping that history standing means giving future generations a physical connection to the people who helped build it.
A piece of HBCU history worth protecting
Morgan Hall has stood through generations of students pursuing education, leadership, and opportunity at Benedict. Now, water intrusion, aging, and deterioration have created preservation needs that the new funding will help address.
The Morgan Hall Preservation Progression Project builds on work supported by Benedict’s first National Park Service preservation grant in 2018. This next phase will continue restoring the building while protecting its architectural character and structural integrity.
Benedict President and CEO Dr. Roslyn Clark Artis described Morgan Hall as a testament to the people who believed education could expand opportunities for generations of African Americans.
“We are not simply restoring a building; we are protecting a story of perseverance, progress, and the transformative power of education,” Artis said.
That connection gives the project significance beyond the campus. Preserving Morgan Hall also protects a place that helps tell the broader HBCU story through the experiences of the people who passed through its doors.
Where the $750,000 will go
Much of the planned work focuses on the everyday systems and historic details that will help keep Morgan Hall functional.
The project includes mechanical upgrades, ceiling repairs, and the sanding and refinishing of historic wood floors and stairs. Crews will also paint interior surfaces and install more energy-efficient lighting.
Plumbing improvements will address fixtures and piping as needed. Additional work includes replacing damaged or missing tiles in restroom and kitchenette areas, along with countertops and hardware.
Together, those repairs aim to limit further deterioration while preserving the building’s historic character.
Dr. Walletta Johnson, who authored the grant proposal and serves as Benedict’s director of development and assistant director of Title III, Sponsored Programs and Foundation, emphasized the award’s value to the college’s history.
She described the funding as an investment in Benedict’s story, the HBCU experience and the generations whose pursuit of opportunity helped shape the institution.
Keeping Benedict’s legacy standing
Founded by Bathsheba A. Benedict in 1870, Benedict College has educated students for more than 150 years. Morgan Hall provides a tangible link to that legacy.
The three-year preservation project will help protect that connection while addressing the building’s current needs.
For students arriving on campus today, HBCU history can live in traditions, photographs, and stories passed down through generations. At Benedict, it also lives in the floors, stairways, and walls of Morgan Hall.
This $750,000 investment will help keep that part of the story standing.