Built 1894 Designated NHL December 2, 1974 Added to NRHP 2 December 1974 | NRHP Reference # 74000929 Opened 1894 | |
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Location 571 Audubon St., New Orleans, Louisiana Similar Audubon Zoo, Audubon Butterfly Garden a, Aquarium of the Americas, Smoothie King Center, New Orleans Museum | ||
The James H. Dillard House is a historic house at 571 Audubon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana. Built in the 19th century, it was from 1894 to 1913 the residence of James H. Dillard (1856-1940), a leading white educator of African-Americans across the American South during a period of difficult race relations. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974.
Description and history
The Dillard House is located in the Black Pearl neighborhood of New Orleans, on the east side of Audubon Street between St. Charles Avenue and Dominican Street. It is a roughly cruciform single-story wood frame structure, with a main hip-roofed central section, from which other elements project to the front and rear. The front projection is gable-roofed, with a four-column neoclassical portico. The house's construction date is not known, but it has not had substantial alterations since the turn of the 20th century, the period of Dillard's ownership.
James H. Dillard was a Virginia native who was educated as a lawyer, but chose to work as a teacher and school administrator. In 1891 he was appointed professor of Latin at Tulane University, and moved to New Orleans. He quickly rose in prominence in both academic and civic circles, and was invited run for mayor. He forged relations with both white and African-American academic communities during this period, when race relations were particularly difficult. By 1905 he was serving as a trustee of a number of African-American colleges, and in 1908 took over leadership of the Negro Rural School Fund. Dillard University is named in his honor.