Unita Blackwell Freedom House wins Heritage Award of Merit for Rehabilitation

Unita Blackwell Freedom House

The Blackwell Freedom House is one of Mississippi’s most important Civil Rights landmarks. It was from this modest shotgun house in Mayersville that Unita Blackwell organized voting rights efforts during the 1960s, rising to become Mississippi’s first Black woman mayor and a nationally recognized civil rights leader.

The Mississippi Heritage Trust named the house as one of Mississippi’s 10 Most Endangered Historic Places in 2021. In response, an extraordinary partnership came together to save the site. Led by The Lighthouse | Black Girls Project, the project included SouthWay Foundation, Unita Blackwell’s son Jeremiah Blackwell, Jr., Mayor Linda Short, Belinda Stewart Architects, and LeFlore Construction.

Current restoration efforts focused on the painstaking exterior stabilization, preserving its physical integrity while laying the foundation for future interpretation and public engagement.