Letter from the President’s Desk

To Our Members and Supporters,

I have once again gratefully accepted the role entrusted to me by the Board of Directors to serve as the President of the Rutherford B.H. Yates Museum, Inc.

Your commitment to the Rutherford B. H. Yates Museum Inc. in 2022 has been essential, and we are truly grateful for your continued generosity. With your support, we will continue to expand our educational programs, strengthen our community outreach and engagement efforts, and advance the preservation of physical properties within the Freedmen’s Town National Register Historic District- Fourth Ward, Houston.

During the year 2022, the Rutherford B. H. Yates Museum has:

• Made significant preservation and stabilization progress on the J. Vance Lewis, Rev. Ned Pullum, Yates, Workman’s Cottage, Isabella Simms, and Nixon house The Nixon house and Barbershop Museum is slated for completion in 2023, and J. Vance Lewis will soon follow. With your continued support, we anticipate increasing our growth by eight more museum homesteads by 2025.
• Continued archeological research and management of thousands of artifacts, documents, and maps in our archives by our archaeologist and curator intern.
• Increased community outreach and added new partners during 2022.
• Utilized the Brown Foundation sponsorship to host two successful community festivals held during Juneteenth and October/Halloween.
• Partnered with The Network of Brothers to service over 125 families with their back-to-school event and assisted approximately 200 homeless individuals during the Fall Network of Brothers homeless distribution.
• Launched the “Legacy Guardians” program through the sponsorship of CI-Stavis & Cohen as part of Building Racial Bridges Capital Campaign-Phase II.
• Conducted weekly tours including our house museums, brick streets, and area churches.
• Increased income from grants, gift shop sales, and donations from tours has allowed us to cover some of the daily operational expenses.
• Educated students and teachers from the Houston, Fort Bend, and Katy Independent School districts while they visited Rutherford B. H. Museums and other Freedmen Town’s points of interest.
• Aligned with our future goals and initiatives by creating a new brand identity: Freedmen’s Town Museums – Houston, which is captured under the parent organization Rutherford B. H. Museums, Inc. Thus, further clarifying that Rutherford B. H. Museum, Inc. owns and preserves house museums and archaeology sites in the Freedmen’s Town-
• Launched a new website to support our new brand identity, expand our reach and increase community engagement.

The events and programs noted above were made possible by the generous support provided by: The Brown Foundation, Inc., Chevron, ConocoPhillips, First Unitarian Universalist Church, Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church, Halliburton, Hillsdale Fund, Houston Arts Alliance, BIPOC, Humanities Texas – NEH, Shell, Network of Brothers, Shrine of the Black Madonna, African America Library at the Gregory School, Caring Friends, Inc., the Texas Historical Foundation, and from many more friends.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, Mad Hat Maven generously sponsored a fundraiser on behalf of Rutherford B. H. Yates Museum, Inc. 

Our board of directors and preservation project leaders have enabled continuous growth toward preserving and restoring our properties, educational programs, and operations. We will continue to abide by the UNESCO and U.S. Department of the Interior Guidelines for Historic Preservation, and those of the State of Texas, and City of Houston, to maintain the status of our museums and archaeology sites as UNESCO, National Register, State, and City Landmarks.

On behalf of our board, volunteers, and archeological staff, I thank each of you for your continued support and interest in the goals of the Rutherford B. H. Yates Museum, Inc.

Sincerely,

Byron Cobbin

President

Rutherford B. H. Museums, Inc.