A national Republican party bigwig and Mayor Marc Morial were among the guests at "Ladies in Red," the recent fundraiser for the African American Heritage Preservation group. Thanks to these and about 300 other guests at the event, says organizer Annie Avery, news about their push to restore local jazz legends’ homes is getting out. And thanks to a pledge from Morial, it looks like that news is about to spread even further.

  Heavy rain that dampened the indoor/outdoor setting for the event was actually a blessing in disguise, Avery says. As it turned out, gathering a few hundred inside Treme’s historic Meilleur Goldwaite House created an intimacy among the diverse group.

  "Because had the weather been good, we would have been spread out," says Avery, the executive director of AAHP, an arm of the Preservation Resource Center. "People wouldn’t have networked and come together, and talked and embraced the idea of the event. It wasn’t just a party. There was a goal here, and the goal was to make people more aware of the jazz musicians’ houses."

  Among the guests was Angela Sailor, director of African American Affairs for the Republican National Committee, who promised to bring word of the AAHP’s work back to Washington. Also on hand was Morial, who pledged financial support – to the tune of $100,000, according to Avery – from the city.

  The Feb. 9 event, held at the Gov. Nicholls Street villa that houses the African American Museum of Art, History and Culture, was the PRC’s biggest gala ever. "We may not have made the money we wanted to make," says Avery, whose goal for the fundraiser was $50,000. Event totals were not available by press time. "(But) the party was a super event. It brought something to the PRC that we never had before – we never had a black tie affair or anything of that nature before."

  More importantly, the gala brought diverse people to Treme, she says. "Some people who were at that museum didn’t even know it existed until Friday night."

  The AAHP is working to identify, restore and designate as landmarks the homes of New Orleans’ musical legends, such as jazz greats Buddy Bolden, Jelly Roll Morton and Kid Ory, and R&B piano genius Henry "Professor Longhair" Byrd.

  According to the RNC’s Sailor, President Bush is enthusiastic about promoting such programs. "The president has made it clear that he’s interested in what’s happening in the local communities," she says. "We’re seeing that their project is right in sync with the types of things the president is taking notice of, which I think is extremely exciting. You’ve got an organization living out the message that’s coming from the White House, and I look forward to continuing that relationship" with AAHP, Sailor says.

  Morial’s financial pledge will likely come from the city’s Wisner Fund, a public trust more than a century old, that benefits city projects and agencies, according to Cheryl Teamer, a member of the fund’s Donations Advisory Board. The mayor is principal trustee of the fund, and recommends worthy recipients to the Board, Teamer says.

  Avery, the AAHP director, says a lot of work remains. "If the city gives $100,000, the state should give, the federal government should give. When we started planning this, I said, ‘I want someone here from the White House,’ and Angela Sailor [came]."

  Sailor describes her favorable impression of the AAHP and its parent organization, the PRC, whose facilities she toured. "What I said to some of the people from the PRC was that it’s important to pull together your lobbying group locally and be on the same page before coming to Washington," she says. "And they agreed with me, and that’s one of the next steps they have in place – pulling together that group, and coming to Washington, and starting with the House."