Becky O'Malley Gipson

Straight University was born from the American Missionary Association as part of a larger national movement for civil rights during the reconstruction era.

The Straight University Boarding House and Dining Hall building at 1423 N. Claiborne Ave. has been returned to its former grandeur thanks to PRC’s Operation Comeback department.

Although short-lived, the influence of Straight University’s medical department reached as far as Detroit.

Operation Comeback purchased this blighted property in July of 2015. Shortly after, two longtime members of the Preservation Resource Center, Evelyn Merz and John Berlinghoff, discovered the home while on a drive around the Holy Cross neighborhood.