Not long ago, the Hopkins House in Gettysburg – the last remaining Civil War-era log cabin that had been owned by Black citizens – was scheduled for demolition.

Instead, thanks to community activists, historians and fundraisers, the nearly 200-year-old building in the historically Black neighborhood of the Third Ward is being preserved as a museum.

Community leaders and guests gathered on Oct. 4 to announce the Hopkins House Museum capital campaign, which will raise the money necessary to renovate and preserve the historic building.

When completed, it will become the first museum in Gettysburg devoted to the area’s Black history, and will showcase the original construction materials of a Civil War-era home, along with state-of-the-art exhibits.

In a press release from the Gettysburg History organization, the Hopkins House museum will focus on “the experiences of freedom seekers on the Underground Railroad, through the Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg, and Reconstruction, to the fight for civil rights in the 20th century and beyond.”

The project is a joint fundraising effort by Gettysburg History and the Lincoln Cemetery Project Association, and has already secured $1 million in pledged support. The goal is to raise another $1 million over three years.

But according to Gettysburg mayor Rita Frealing, “it’s not only about our history, or Black history. It’s about American history.”

“That battle saved our nation,” Frealing said, referring to the 1863 Civil War battle. “Remember, the Union was born in Philadelphia, but it was preserved right here in Gettysburg.”

Award-winning playwright and actor Anna Deavere Smith attended the event, sharing that she had frequently visited Gettysburg in her youth to visit family.

Her reconnection with her family’s history in the town “gave me an expanded idea of who I was,” she said, and is serving as the inspiration for a play she is hoping to finish for the nation’s 250th anniversary.

The preservation of this community’s history “isn’t happening just now,” Smith said, “but has been a goal that the Black community here has had over time.”

“History is fragile, and it’s always moving,” she said. “I think it’s power that, at this moment in history, there’s going to be a world-class museum that’s about Black history in Gettysburg.”

Smith added that “you can see from the crowd here that it’s going to be a partnership of people who are not all African-American, but who are nonetheless invested in the story.”

She also joked with the crowd that “no check is too small.”

“Even these two little boys right there,” she said, pointing to two children sitting nearby. “Yeah, you: a quarter matters. History is fragile. Let’s embrace our history. Let’s keep it alive.”