National Trust for Historic Preservation & Humanities Texas Grant Awards & Flower Hill at 150

For All Austinites: National Trust for Historic Preservation & Humanities Texas Award Flower Hill Grants for Program Featuring African American History

"All Austinites" highlights the history of the historic Flower Hill site and its connection to all Austinites.

The Flower Hill Foundation is pleased to announce its forthcoming program in 2023, From Plantation to "Homestead" - Legacies of Slavery, Emancipation/Reconstruction & Racism in Contemporary Austin. Supported by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Humanities Texas, the April 2023 program will feature local author and journalist Chris Tomlinson and Dr. Tara Dudley from the University of Texas Architecture School in a conversation moderated by Dr. Fred L. McGhee, an archeologist and urban and environmental anthropologist.

Together the three will explore how to contextualize the concept of "plantation" and "homestead" in Texas today, as well as how legacies of labor live in the built environment of today's extant plantations and homesteads among other questions. Drawing from his book, Tomlinson Hill, Mr. Tomlinson and Dr. Dudley will converse about how to interpret historic sites of African American community, labor, and Emancipation. More details to come in the new year!

If you'd like to continue supporting critical community conversations such as these, please consider giving a tax-deductible donation today! We appreciate your support. 

The view from the historic "lumber room," built in 1875, at Flower Hill. The structure likely housed Howard White, the Smoot family's cook, in 1893. Image courtesy of the Flower Hill Foundation

Flower Hill at 150: Community Open House on Saturday, January 28th, 10am to 1pm

As we turn the page on 2022, come join the Flower Hill board of directors, executive director, and fellow supporters of Flower Hill as we map the future course of Flower Hill for the site's 150th anniversary. Intended as the first of five January gatherings, the Community Open House is an opportunity to envision the future of Flower Hill, culminating in a reimagined Flower Hill site in December 2027. We welcome all Austinites, lovers of history, and interested parties to a series of tours and conversations at Flower Hill over coffee and refreshments between 10am and 1pm on Saturday, January 28th. At 11am, Executive Director Daniel Ronan will deliver brief remarks about the shared vision for Flower Hill. Come share your ideas to prepare Flower Hill for the next 150 years!