Projects, Partnerships & Professional Passions
I came to my profession by chance. After 9/11, due to low visitor numbers, the Smithsonian Institution laid off many of its staff in 2002. Including me. Looking for work and living in D.C.’s historic Adams Morgan neighborhood, I was introduced to the National Trust for Historic Preservation Main Street program which was taking root in the city at the time. A volunteer opportunity that forever changed my career path.
Over the years I’ve been able to apply my academic training to serve not only in the preservation of historic structures and communities, but to assess a story’s authenticity and the team’s operational capacity to implement and sustain their cultural product. Identifying the right partners and partnerships with which to build and grow.
“[Simple Grits] has a neutral flavor, more or less. It’s flavor is brought out by whatever you put in conjunction with it.” -Craig Claiborne
Past projects: Top Row. L to R: Downtown (Jackson, MS) - Town Seal (Eatonville, FL) - Busboys & Poets (14th Street NW, Washington D.C.) - New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation Archive (New Orleans, LA) Bottom Row. L to R: Harrison Recreation Center (Washington D.C.) - Downtown (Jackson, MS) - Lower Ninth Ward (New Orleans, LA) - Lincoln Theatre, U Street NW (Washington, D.C.) - Smithsonian Affiliations (Washington D.C.) - Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center (Jackson, MS) - Save Our African American Treasures/NMAAHC (Washington D.C.) Collaborative work products: Idlewild, Lake County Michigan | Cultural Economic Readiness Initiative DUKE Framework for a Cultural Destination for Greater Shaw/U Street
B.A., History, UC Berkeley
M.A., History, UNC Chapel Hill
Cultural Studies, George Mason, SREB Doctoral Scholar; Teaching for Change, Harvard School of Education
Current
Education Specialist, Audience Engagement, NMAAHC
Instructor, Georgetown University, School of Continuing Studies, Master’s in Real Estate Development Program. Courses: Foundations of Real Estate Market Analysis; Sustainable Development and Construction; Capstone
Pro-Bono: Plessy & Ferguson Initiative
Some Previous Work
Cultural Resource Specialist, Historic Preservation Division, Mississippi Department of Archives & History
Director, Community Programs, Cultural Tourism DC
Coordinator, Save Our African American Treasures initiative, National Museum of African American History & Culture, Smithsonian
Museum Specialist, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian
Site Director, Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum/Alice Freeman Palmer Memorial Institute campus, Sedalia, NC
Consultant, Ben’s Chili Bowl (historic business expansion), U Street NW, DC
Script Researcher, HBO’s Treme, New Orleans
Pro-Bono: Leona Tate, Gail Etienne, Tessie Prevost Interpretive “TEP” Center (New Orleans) Xavier University ISP -- Desegregation Generation
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“Sister, Lydia. Thank you for being you! I have only one request. That is for you to please continue to lead us (PFI) from anywhere in the house you see fit. If it’s back of the house or front of the house, you have my blessing always. In Jason William’s speech at the Plessy Pardon, I thought about you when he quoted the words of Tolkein: ‘Deeds will not be less valiant because they were unpraised.’ Know that you are appreciated more than you can imagine, my friend.”
Keith Plessy
Co-Founder and President
Plessy & Ferguson Initiative
“My team and I were about three months into a year-long museum project when Lydia Charles got involved—and suddenly, everything got so much easier. Lydia’s expertise, diligence, and extensive contacts helped us navigate through a string of pandemic-related challenges, and her enthusiasm and sense of humor made everyone on our team eager to work with her on future projects.”
Helen Malmgren
Director, Investigative Stories Program
Xavier University of Louisiana
“Lydia Charles and I first worked together in 2004 on a National Trust for Historic Preservation, Main Street resource team. Since then I have come to learn more and appreciate her strong working knowledge of national U.S. cultural development, and her ability to creatively think through and consider the best methods to connect that heritage with innovative economic development projects, programs, and events. She is a go-to person for me when there is an opportunity to bring her onto a project as she truly brings a wealth of energy, support, unique perspective, and directness to the table.”
Everett L. Fly
Principal, E. L. Fly Architect/Landscape Architect
National Humanities Medalist 2014
“Lydia Charles's professional expertise stretches beyond the traditional role of a Historian. Her talent to think through and connect cultural assets with localized economic development programs, coupled with her skill to communicate with diverse populations are what make her work unique. While at Cultural Tourism DC, I depended on her to help introduce and educate me on the complex networks that made up the then transitioning Washington DC neighborhoods. Her pragmatic approach to problem-solving, experience in the development process, and pleasant work demeanor are a value to any team with which she works.”
Ana Harvey
President/CEO Harvey Hudson Group
Former Director of Latino Programs, Cultural Tourism DC
“While working in Washington DC, Lydia was broadly recognized in the 14 & U Street community as a bright, talented, and effective individual. She is not one to sing her own praises. She is a leader, but one who leads by example, insight, and intelligence rather than volume. She has a keen understanding of small business and what it takes for a community to put its competitive foot forward. I can't think of any role where she would not be successful. While with DMPED she was highly sought by neighborhoods beyond 14 & U to help them manage and increase the capacity of their Main Street and cultural development programs.”