Let’s Make a Plan and Get to Work!

Since the funding of the Dreamland Ballroom Public Access Project by the National Parks Service in 2018, one question has repeatedly crept into our minds: what role will the nonprofit play in the future of the ballroom? For over 10 years now, the primary objective for our little organization has been public accessibility. This prodigious task was the primary reason for the founding of the Friends of Dreamland (FOD) nonprofit. So … now what?

Restoration will always be a big part of what the Friends of Dreamland do. When the current construction is complete, the Dreamland Ballroom will be capable of hosting any number of public and private events. This will greatly relieve the burden on the nonprofit to support maintenance and restoration of the historic space. Not entirely, of course, but it will free up donated funds for other opportunities. The publicly accessible space will also create new fundraising prospects for FOD.

The nonprofit was opened with a second capacity in mind: A museum. Since then, Mosaic Templars African American Cultural Center has done a terrific job of satisfying our community’s need for a local cultural museum. I think that leaves FOD to fulfill a more interpretive approach to the telling of the 9th St Corridor’s cultural heritage.

There is a lot we need to do before this can happen: fundraising, board and programs development, and more. There is a lot of unique history to 9th Street and the Dreamland Ballroom that can be shared in a fun and informative way. And while this history is unique to Little Rock, the bigger themes are consistent with a critical period in American history: important stories that are under-told and extremely relevant today.

How can you help? Sign up for our email list, follow us on social media, or contact me. These projects require ideas and working hands and hearts, as much as dollars. Please reach out to me if you have any Dreams for Dreamland you would like to see incorporated into our work. Interested in sitting on our board? We are always looking for new perspectives and experiences in our organization’s leadership. We will need them to move forward with our Dreams.

So, I guess I should not be questioning what our role will be but how our role will change. What is most important to me, and the board of directors is the Dreamland Ballroom, its preservation, and its legacy. Sharing good, old stories worth telling, gathering to share in great music and incredible culture, learning from our divisive past, and using everything at our disposal to move forward united. So, let’s get to work!

Keep Dreaming, Matthew McCoy

A Legacy of Education

In 1911, Booker T. Washington, founder of The Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, spoke to the community of W. 9th St from the auditorium of the Mosaic Templars fraternal temple. There, he encouraged the African American people of The Line to “pursue land ownership, business development, and practical education, and to create their own self-sufficient world.” The 9th St corridor blossomed over the next few years and grew into the thriving commercial district remembered today.

A few short years later, the Knights of Tabor built their fraternal temple on the corner of 9th and State Streets. At the time, the Tabors had become known as one of the “greatest Colored organizations of the world” with the goal to “encourage Christianity, education, morality, and temperance,” and to teach, “the art of governing, self-reliance, and true manhood and womanhood.”

Philander Smith College had a long running relationship with Taborian Hall and the Dreamland Ballroom. As far back as the 1920s, basketball games, school dances, concerts, and alumni events were all routinely held in the 3rd floor ballroom. Philander was essential in establishing the 9th St United Service Organization (USO) in the 1940s.

During the buildings years as a Colored Soldiers Club in World War I and a USO in WWII, trainees, officers, and veterans were provided with “recreation, education, and religious support.” They even provided Health Education services, like their massive campaign executed to inform on venereal disease. Established upon its creation with Philander Smith College, the 9th St USO continued to have a rich connection with many educational institutions around Little Rock. Dunbar, Baptist College, and Shorter College to name a few.

The Negro Divisions of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Education occupied Taborian’s west store-front space from 1947-1951.

Lawyers Thaddeus D. Williams and Harold B. Anderson held offices on the second floor of Taborian Hall. These two were critical litigators for racial justice, desegregation, and the civil rights movement. Williams, in particular, fought fiercely for equal wages between white and black teachers and better educational standards for black children before and after desegregation. 

In the early 1990s, Kerry McCoy acquired Taborian Hall and began the arduous task of restoration. When she completed her work on the first floor, she moved her company in and opened for business in the new location. It didn’t take long for her to realize what a cultural treasure she had on her hands. The stories from folks that visited the shop, of who they saw play or what they did in and around the building, were fascinating and informative. So frequent and so compelling were the stories that Kerry hired historian Berna J. Love to properly record them. Later, she founded the Friends of Dreamland to continue the collection of culturally significant information and facilitate educational outreach.

Here we are, 12 years later, grateful for a record of this historic site and its cultural significance. Time to look to the future, to uphold that legacy, and continue the work that has always been happening here. Education is so important. And as we move forward, the Friends of Dreamland will forever work to find the best ways to preserve it, learn from it, and teach it.

Keep Dreaming, Matthew McCoy

Another Enriching Experience

Last Friday, the Friends of Dreamland (FOD) hosted the Quapaw Quarter Association (QQA) for what they are calling the “5H Club.” That stands for History, Heavy Hor’dourves, and Happy Hour. We spent a little over an hour talking, drinking, and eating on the first floor of Taborian Hall in a room we call Doc’s. There, I presented the history of the Friends of Dreamland, information about the grants we have received from the National Parks Service (NPS), and the history of Taborian Hall and its Dreamland Ballroom. Afterward, I took them up to see the ballroom and a set of recently preserved pencil-drawn blueprints of Taborian Hall on the 2nd floor.  

5H Club was another very special gathering by a group of people that appreciate the things of the past and the efforts to preserve them. I’ve written recently about the walking tours of West 9th St. that Mosaic Templars Cultural Center hosted over the summer months. How those felt different from many of my past tours. That this trusted state-run organization of black history experts has the influence and reach to organize authentic and diverse events. And partnerships between our two entities always yield enriching experiences. QQA is a similar institution. While the audience was certainly less diverse than the tours lead by Mosaic (this group was almost entirely comprised of white folks), these were history lovers and preservation enthusiasts. No anecdote was lost on them, and their questions were highly relevant and extremely well put. This, again, got me thinking about the importance of preservation and the value of historical stories.

Celebrate, Share, and Preserve

Education is a big priority in the future of the Friends of Dreamland. These simple tours and short lectures are great for groups of adults who are passionate about history and therefore will always be in the mix. But so many of us have only ever experienced history as a very tedious class or a dense unreadable tomb. The future of education for FOD lies in creative expression. Experiences that showcase accurate history while also interpreting it, making the past exciting to learn about and learn from. FOD’s work over the last 10+ years has always sought to celebrate, share, and preserve the Taborian Hall, the Dreamland Ballroom, West 9th St., and the history of black entrepreneurship, entertainment, and society in the south. Thanks to this, the Dreamland Ballroom can become a historic site for our community to stage the telling of significant historic events. And partnerships with groups like QQA and Mosaic Templars will continue to be essential to the success and understanding of this creative story telling process. While furthering our relationships with artists, performers, other creative individuals, and organizations in our community will help this process to grow and further our vision of unity.

Keep Dreaming, Matthew McCoy