PADUCAH, Ky. — The City of Paducah is a recipient of a $1.34 million Humanities in Place grant from the Mellon Foundation. The city applied for the grant on behalf of the Upper Town Heritage Foundation to support the Hotel Metropolitan located at 724 Oscar Cross Ave.
Now a museum and cultural space, Hotel Metropolitan provided a place of safety and refuge during racial segregation with noted artists, athletes, entrepreneurs and intellectuals staying there, including Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Thurgood Marshall and the Harlem Globetrotters.
“I am pleased that the Mellon Foundation is providing significant support to the Hotel Metropolitan so that the cultural and historical value of the museum can grow and thrive,” City Manager Daron Jordan said. “This is a collaborative agreement that allows the city to serve as the fiscal agent to provide grant funding to the Upper Town Heritage Foundation. Our next step is to finalize a co-stewardship agreement between the City of Paducah and the Upper Town Heritage Foundation that outlines our partnership details. This is a great example of how a local government can partner with a nonprofit to preserve a cultural and historic icon.”
In addition to the $1.34 million from the Mellon Foundation, the city is pledging a $250,000 grant match for the current fiscal year. Paducah pledges further $250,000 appropriations for FY2026 and for FY2027, contingent successful implementation of the co-stewardship agreement and approval through the annual budgeting process.
“By the end of this three-year grant period, the Upper Town Heritage Foundation will have multiple tools and resources to guide the Hotel Metropolitan toward a sustainable, profitable, and vibrant future,” Paducah Mayor George Bray said. “In order to continue the story of the Hotel for future generations, new programming will be developed, staff added, building improvements completed, and more. This grant and the partnership with the City of Paducah set the foundation for a bright future for the Hotel Metropolitan and a boost in tourism for our community.”
Visitors to the Hotel Metropolitan often are welcomed by Executive Director Betty Dobson, who brings the history of the hotel to life by telling the story of Maggie Steed who, with passion and grit and by using her private residence as loan collateral, had Hotel Metropolitan built for African American travelers approximately 120 years ago.
“Each time that I share the story of Ms. Maggie Steed and how she worked against so many odds to provide a safe and lovely place for African American travelers,” Dobson said, “I feel a connection to her and to my history. Being a woman of color and a local storyteller, I have a passion for uncovering Paducah’s African American stories and sharing them to inspire, educate, and unite our community. With this generous grant from the Mellon Foundation, we can work to preserve and further develop the Hotel Metropolitan so that these important stories and pieces of our history can continue to be shared.”
The Humanities in Place grant funding will be used to ensure the longevity of the Hotel Metropolitan and Purple Room through building improvements, strategic planning and board training to build organizational sustainability, the addition of staff to enhance organizational capacity, and increased programming to activate the site’s compelling history. The Purple Room is an accessory building of the museum constructed during segregation for parties, community meetings and performances.
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. and since 1969 has been guided by a core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. Through grants it seeks to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. Learn more at mellon.org.
