1984
Johnny Baxter

Johnny Franklin Baxter (1910 – 1996), a native Asheville preservationist, historian, and founding Board member of the Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County, led the efforts to save, revitalize, and have the YMI Cultural Center listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. George Vanderbilt built the YMI in 1893 to serve as the equivalent of the YMCA for black men and boys who helped construct the Biltmore House during the 1890s. Many of these masons, carpenters, plasterers and laborers also built the YMI.