Source: Michael Ochs Archives / Getty
The Philadelphia residence of John Coltrane is going to be restored as part of a new initiative by philanthropic foundations.
On Tuesday (March 5), it was announced that the former Philadelphia home of the late jazz great, John Coltrane, would be the first to receive financial support through a new initiative entitled the Descendants and Family Stewardship. The program, created by the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, will aid the transfer of the home back to Coltrane’s extended family from its current owner. The row house, located in the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood east of Fairmount Park, was purchased by Coltrane in 1952 and was his primary residence as well as a place he went to first after returning from tours until he died in 1967. The home was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1999.
“These funds are very vital and very much needed for any repairs and restorations. We certainly hope within the next few years to completely stabilize the home and foundation,” said his son, saxophonist Ravi Coltrane. “We are all on board with the mission of opening the house to the public and having it there in the community as something symbolic of what John Coltrane was able to do there, which is to be a beacon for the highest possibilities of creative achievement.” The home had fallen into some disrepair since it was last owned by a cousin, Mary Alexander, in 2004. The friends of the John and Alice Coltrane Home non-profit overseeing the Dix Hills, Long Island, estate of Coltrane is also involved.
The African American Cultural Heritage Fund is a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation that began in 2017. According to its website, it has allocated $91 million to support 242 preservation projects nationwide. The fund, which has partnered with the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and philanthropist McKenzie Scott, was created to address the disparity of historic places in the United States that center Black Americans. To date, only 2% of the 95,000 listed sites are classified as such.
“It is exceptionally important as we grow the U.S. historic preservation movement and advance values of equity and inclusion that the future of this movement be sustained through the engagement and leadership of descendants and families,” said AACHF executive director, Brent Leggs. “They are critical to the future of our work to expand the American narrative and to build a true national identity that reflects America’s diversity.”