Collection Full View
Krueger-Scott Mansion Cultural Center Project: Administrative Records (1990 - 1999)
Collection IDMG KSMCC
Size5 linear ft. (5 boxes)
Collection Description
The Krueger Mansion (also known as the Krueger-Scott Mansion) is located at 601 Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard (formerly High Street). Built for wealthy German-born brewer Gottfried Krueger (1837-1926) in 1887-1888, the mansion is said to be the most expensive residence ever constructed in Newark. The Krueger family left the city in 1925 and the mansion was sold to the Scottish Rite Masons in 1926. Louise Scott, the owner of a successful chain of beauty shops, bought the property in 1958, using the upper floors of the mansion as her residence and the ground floor as the premises of the Scott College of Beauty Culture. The Mansion was placed on both the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Buildings in 1972. In 1982, after Scott�s death, the City of Newark acquired the building through foreclosure proceedings.
By 1990 the City had developed a plan to restore the building and maintain it as an African-American Cultural Center.
Catherine J. Lenix-Hooker served as Executive Director of the Krueger-Scott Mansion Cultural Center (KSMCC) Project. The Center presented and co-sponsored lectures, book talks, readings, music and dance performances, guided tours, workshops in historic preservation, and community-outreach events. One of its most ambitious initiatives was an oral history project that recorded the life-histories of 120 African-American Newarkers. The tapes and other records created by the oral history project are preserved at the New Jersey Historical Society and the Newark Public Library.
By the late 1990s funding for the Center was declining, and eventually it was closed.
By 1990 the City had developed a plan to restore the building and maintain it as an African-American Cultural Center.
Catherine J. Lenix-Hooker served as Executive Director of the Krueger-Scott Mansion Cultural Center (KSMCC) Project. The Center presented and co-sponsored lectures, book talks, readings, music and dance performances, guided tours, workshops in historic preservation, and community-outreach events. One of its most ambitious initiatives was an oral history project that recorded the life-histories of 120 African-American Newarkers. The tapes and other records created by the oral history project are preserved at the New Jersey Historical Society and the Newark Public Library.
By the late 1990s funding for the Center was declining, and eventually it was closed.
Collection Contents
The collection consists of administrative files of the KSMCC, deriving from the offices of Catherine J. Lenix-Hooker and her staff. These files document in detail grants and other funding for the Center, relations with the City of Newark and with local and state organizations, budgets and expenses of the Center, restoration work completed, the history of the mansion, and activities of the Center.
Box 1: C. Lenix-Hooker desk calendars (1990s)
Box 2: Accounting files, mostly documenting routine Center expenses submitted to the City, and a few press releases and event notices
Box 3: Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) proposals, awards, etc.; a site redevelopment plan (1990) and related documents; preservation directories and Center brochures; public relations and development material; and applications to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Box 4: construction documents; New Jersey Historic Trust (NJHT) documents, including grant awards, reports, and correspondence; bond ordinances and resolutions; Essex County Block Grants material; and Historic Preservation Bond Program reports
Box 5: cost projections; City Council materials; brochures; HUD files; clippings and other publicity material; reports; 1997-1998 capital campaign materials; Newark Housing Authority files, and New Jersey Historic Trust documents
Box 1: C. Lenix-Hooker desk calendars (1990s)
Box 2: Accounting files, mostly documenting routine Center expenses submitted to the City, and a few press releases and event notices
Box 3: Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) proposals, awards, etc.; a site redevelopment plan (1990) and related documents; preservation directories and Center brochures; public relations and development material; and applications to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Box 4: construction documents; New Jersey Historic Trust (NJHT) documents, including grant awards, reports, and correspondence; bond ordinances and resolutions; Essex County Block Grants material; and Historic Preservation Bond Program reports
Box 5: cost projections; City Council materials; brochures; HUD files; clippings and other publicity material; reports; 1997-1998 capital campaign materials; Newark Housing Authority files, and New Jersey Historic Trust documents
FormatTextual materials
SubjectsArchitecture / Building; Finance / Taxation; Politics and Government; Property / Urban Development
Time Period20th Century
LanguageEnglish
Access policyOpen for research