Restored homes of Juanita Craft and Kathlyn Gilliam honor Dallas civil rights legacies
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“There’s a misconception that Dallas did not have a civil rights movement.”
“But Dallas did have a civil rights movement. And it was active.“
These words from Candace Thompson heralded the reopening of the Juanita Craft Civil Rights House and Museum (WFAA). Thompson is a leader of the Friends who guided the civil rights leader’s South Dallas home through a four-year restoration process after flooding severely damaged the house and closed the museum.
Supporters raised $1.4 million to restore the 1,300-square-foot house, and to preserve and display artifacts. Craft’s home on Warren Avenue in Queen City is now open for tours,arranged through the South Dallas Cultural Center.
“The whole goal is that when you cross over that threshold, coming in, you’re going to be a new person going out,” Thompson told WFAA.
Watch more footage of the reopening from CBS and Spectrum News.
A mile away, another house museum recently reopened in South Dallas — the home of Kathlyn Joy Gilliam, the first Black woman to serve on the Dallas ISD board of trustees.
The home was nearly destroyed in two fires over the past three years, and Gilliam’s daughter, Constance Harris, worked to raise funds to restore and preserve her mother’s legacy.
“The house – the layout – is exactly the way it was when she was here,” Harris tells us as she walks us through the home on Wendelkin.
Gilliam’s home also is available for tours by appointment and opens for educational events.
Watch the video of Gilliam’s restored home, and don’t miss Harris’ story about the brass bed in the front bedroom, which epitomizes the late South Dallas leader’s outlook.
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Keri Mitchell has spent 20+ years as a community journalist, including 15 years dedicated to community and civic journalism at Dallas’ Advocate magazines. She launched Dallas Free Press in early 2020 with the belief that all neighborhoods deserve reporting and storytelling that values their community and holds leaders accountable.
Mitchell says she is energized by “knowing our work is making an impact — listening to people, telling their stories with strong narratives paired with compelling data that leads to change. I also love spending time in our neighborhoods and with our neighbors, learning from them and working to determine how journalism can be part of the solution to their challenges.”
Mitchell is proud to be the winner of multiple awards during her journalism career including: Finalist in Magazine Feature Reporting (2018) and Finalist in Magazine Investigative Reporting (2017) from Hugh Aynesworth Excellence in Journalism, Best Feature Story (2011) from Texas Community Newspaper Association and Best Magazine Feature (2011) from Dallas Bar Association Philbin Awards.
Areas of Expertise:
local government, education, civic issues, investigative and enterprise reporting
Location Expertise:
Dallas, Texas
Official Title:
Founder + executive director
Email Address:
keri@dallasfreepress.com
