The National Trust for Historic Preservation unveiled on May 1 it’s 2024 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places and the Whim Museum is on the list. According to WTJX, the Whim Museum made the list because additional resources are needed to repair its colonial-era buildings that have been repeatedly damaged by hurricanes. Tiffany Tolbert, senior director for Preservation of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, visited the museum’s 12-acre grounds to learn more about the ongoing disaster recovery efforts. and discussed resources available to help restore the hurricane-damaged buildings.
WTJX also reported that the exposure from the Whim Museum’s inclusion on this year’s 11 Most Endangered list is just one way the Landmarks Society is being put in the spotlight to receive restoration resources. Whim Museum is also slated to receive disaster recovery funding. Also the Landmarks Society recently announced that the signing of the MOU and designation of Whim Museum on the NTHP list will put the Whim Museum on a steady path toward full restoration.
We hope the attention Estate Whim Museum is receiving will bring about the much needed preservation and restoration work that it needs! Read the full WTJX article here.
The museum is the oldest sugar plantation museum in the Virgin Islands. Its purpose is to increase the understanding of a colonial sugar plantation to both island residents and visitors. Exhibits and guided tours are designed to interpret the economics of a plantation, explain the procedures used in the cultivation and processing of sugar, and describe the everyday life of the people who lived and worked there. Learn more about the Whim by visiting its website.