Historic Boston, a historic redevelopment organization, is starting a campaign to raise $750,000 to preserve and reuse the 1874 Malcolm X – Ella Little-Collins House.

The property is the last known surviving residence of young Malcolm Little and the family of his older half-sister, Ella Little-Collins, at 72 Dale St. in Roxbury.

As a young adult, Malcolm Little lived with his older sister and her husband, Kenneth, in their Roxbury home. Little, known as Malcolm X, lived there from 1941 to 1947, until his incarceration in the Charlestown Jail, when he joined the Nation of Islam.

The home has been vacant or underutilized over the last 30 years and is threatened by damage due to water leaks and other deterioration due to a lack of funding. Little-Collins’ son, Rodnell Collins, owns the home and has partnered with Historic Boston to develop a plan for the future of the house.

An appropriate and sustainable reuse is living quarters for graduate students studying African-American history, social justice or civil rights, according to a press release.