California Preservation Awards Sponsorship

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The 2025 Design Awards Event

We're celebrating 22 award winning projects, as well as the Trustee's Awards for Excellence and the President's Awards at the California Museum in Sacramento, near the State Capitol. This special celebration is followed by a ticketed reception with food and drinks in the outdoor courtyard of the museum.

African Americans in California Multiple Property Documentation Form

Project Lead:  Katie Horak, Principal, Architectural Resources Group, Los Angeles
Client:  William Burg, State of California Office of Historic Preservation, Sacramento
Lead Architect, Engineer, or Designer:  Elysha Paluszek, Architectural Resources Group, Los Angeles

 

Project Affiliates:

Historic Preservation Consultants:

  • Katie Horak, Principal, Architectural Resources Group, Los Angeles
  • Elysha Paluszek, Associate Architectural Historian and Preservation Planner/ Project Manager, Architectural Resources Group, Los Angeles
  • Andrew Goodrich, AICP, Senior Associate and Architectural Historian & Preservation Planner, Architectural Resources Group, Los Angeles
  • Mary Ringhoff, Senior Associate and Architectural Historian & Preservation Planner, Architectural Resources Group, Los Angeles
  • Stacy Farr, Associate and Architectural Historian & Preservation Planner, Architectural Resources Group, San Francisco
  • Morgan Quirk, Associate and Architectural Historian & GIS Specialist, Architectural Resources Group, Portland
  • Caitlyn Ewers, Architectural Historian & Preservation Planner, formerly with Architectural Resources Group,
  • Christine Lazzaretto, Managing Principal, Historic Resources Group, Pasadena
  • Alexandra Perlman, Senior Architectural Historian, Historic Resources Group, Pasadena
  • Sian Winship, Consultant, N/A,
  • Teresa Grimes, Consultant, N/A, Pasadena

MPDF Advisory Committee Members:

  • Carson Anderson, City of Sacramento Preservation Director, ret.
  • Susan D. Anderson, California African American Museum
  • Gaidi Finnie, Executive Director, African American Museum of Fine Arts
  • Dr. Alison Rose Jefferson, Independent Historian & Heritage Conservation Consultant
  • Dr. Elaine Jackson-Retondo, Preservation Partnerships and History Programs Manager, National Park Service
  • Gail Kennard, Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commissioner
  • Nia McAllister, Senior Public Programs Manager, Museum of African Diaspora
  • Rick Moss, Chief Curator, African American Museum & Library of Oakland, ret.
  • Shonna McDaniels, Director, Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum
  • Alondra Vasquez, African American Historical & Cultural Museum of the San Joaquin Valley
  • NeFesha Ruth Yisra’el, Director, African American Historical & Cultural Museum of the San Joaquin Valley

African Americans in California Multiple Property Documentation Form

African Americans in California Multiple Property Documentation Form is a winner for the 2025 Preservation Design Award for Cultural Heritage, Intangible Assets. Award recipients are selected by a jury of top professionals in the fields of architecture, engineering, planning, and history, as well as renowned architecture critics and journalists. Tickets and sponsorship options are available at californiapreservation.org/programs/awards/.

About African Americans in California Multiple Property Documentation Form

The African Americans in California, 1850-1974 Multiple Property Document is the latest effort in a series of statewide contexts by the State Office of Historic Preservation to celebrate and commemorate the rich historic mosaic of our communities. The document serves as a framework to identify and nominate places in California associated with AfricanAmericans to the National Register of Historic Places, building upon national theme studies associated with AfricanAmericans produced by the National Park Service.

The State Historic Preservation Officer gathered a committee of subject matter expert advisors including archivists, museum directors, historians, and historic preservation professionals throughout the state of California. Members of this committee volunteered their time to collaborate with the consultant team and OHP to review drafts, provide feedback and reference information, generously participating at all stages of the project.

In addition to the Multiple Property Document, two nominations, Southern Pacific 16th Street Station and St. Paul AME Church, accompanied and were listed under this document with more nominations under its cover in process.

As a result of this project, members of the public may use the information created to submit more concise and simplified nominations to the National Register under its cover, facilitating our collective desire to tell the stories of California’s past, to inform our present and future generations.

Read more about the Preservation Design Awards

Community Importance

The MPDF is intended to update and expand upon Five Views: An Ethnic Historic Site Survey of California, published by the Office of Historic Preservation (OHP) in 1988. Five Views was a statewide survey of properties associated with ethnic communities in the state, including African Americans, Native Americans, Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, and Mexican Americans. It includes an overview of the history of African Americans as it relates to particular topics, including the neighborhood development and community building, church, education, industry, business, voluntary associations, and individuals. It also includes a list of associated properties (including buildings and sites). The MPDF complements the African American Heritage Theme Study, produced by the National Park Service in 2008. The Heritage Theme Study examines sites of significance to African Americans in the United States within a number of historic contexts, including civil rights.

One of the primary goals of the MPDF was to provide more information on communities outside California’s major metropolitan areas (i.e. San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Oakland). The project team included this as a focus in their research efforts. It also sought the feedback of an advisory committee, comprised of subject matter experts throughout the state, and included outreach to individuals and organizations with knowledge of African American history to ensure that research was as broad and inclusive as possible. The MPDF facilitates the nomination of properties to the National Register for a community whose history has long been under-documented and unacknowledged.

About CPF and the Awards

The California Preservation Awards are a statewide hallmark, showcasing the best in historic preservation. The awards ceremony includes the presentation of the Preservation Design Awards and the President’s Awards, bringing together hundreds of people each year to share and celebrate excellence in preservation.

The California Preservation Foundation (CPF), a 501c3 nonprofit, was incorporated in 1978. We now support a national network of more than 36,000 members and supporters. Click here to learn how you can become a member.