Resources
The Baptist Heritage and Arts Center
When completed, the Baptist Heritage and Arts Center (BHAC) will comprise a venue that preserves history, promotes the arts, and provides meeting spaces equipped for convention and community events. Through an integrated campus design and interpretive visitor's center, the BHAC will display the engaging history of black Baptists in Mississippi from the early 19th century to the present, highlighting the often untold stories of the role of faith in building an institutional presence of churches, schools, hospitals, and banks in communities across Mississippi.
The restoration of the Huddleston Memorial Chapel is the first of the two historic buildings to be restored. The first phase of its restoration is scheduled to be complete in January 2025. Full restoration is scheduled to be complete by December 2025.
The women's dormitory building will house the interpretive center, which will tell the story of the Baptist convention, Natchez College, and its relationship to the historic Woodlawn Community (home of novelist Richard Wright). This building will also be a repository of member church histories, making the BHAC a research destination for church and religious historians. Taking advantage of the natural beauty of the lush campus, the installation of an amphitheater will allow for outdoor events, concerts, and other family-oriented artistic expressions. Future expansion will ensure that the Baptist Heritage and Arts Center is more than another place that houses history, but a space that inspires and nurtures growth.
Projected Restoration Costs = $7,210,000.00
Projected New Construction Costs = $5,600.000.00
Funds Secured = $1,710,000.00
Architect - Waycaster-Dungan Architecture and Engineering
Historical Facts of Natchez College
Founded in 1884 by the General Missionary Baptist Convention
Visited by Booker T. Washington in 1908
Operated until 1989
Featured in Anne Moody's Coming of Age in Mississippi
Listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1995
Listed on the 10 Most Endangered
Historic Places in Mississippi in 2005
Resources:
‘Part Mystery, Part Miracle’: Contract signing first step in new Baptist Heritage Center
Natchez College to benefit from Lilly Endowment Grant