Curtis Ransom at the Tawawa Chimney Corner Restoration Ground Breaking, May 2024
Tawawa Chimney Corner House
Tawawa Chimney Corner, a historic residence in Wilberforce, Ohio, was been listed in the National Register of Historic Places at both national and state levels in 2018. Originally part of Tawawa Springs, the property became the residence of two prominent African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church Bishops, Benjamin W. Arnett and Reverend Reverdy C. Ransom, who were pivotal figures in the late 19th and early 20th-century civil rights movements.
Bishop Arnett, who lived there from 1880 to 1906, was instrumental in repealing Ohio’s Black Laws and advised President William McKinley. Reverend Ransom, who lived in the property beginning in 1933, played a key role in the Niagara Movement, which led to the formation of the NAACP. His influential speech, "The Spirit of John Brown," was credited by W.E.B. DuBois as a catalyst for the movement.
Under the leadership of Curtis Ransom, the Bishop Reverdy C. and Emma S. Ransom Foundation was formed with a mission to preserve and continue the lifelong legacy and vision of Bishop Reverdy C. & Emma S. Ransom by restoring and maintaining their home, Tawawa Chimney Corner, as a conduit for advancing civil rights and social justice initiatives of African Americans.
Tawawa Chimney Corner has received significant funding from the National Park Service History of Equal Rights grant program to restore the property and is currently working with Heritage Architectural Associates.