National Park Service awards $15 million to help preserve African American civil rights history
WASHINGTON – The National Park Service’s African American Civil Rights Grant Program has awarded $15,035,000 million to 53 projects in 20 states to help preserve sites and history related to the African American struggle for equality.
“This competitive grant program is just one of the many ways the National Park Service is working to preserve and interpret the lesser-known facets of our nation’s shared history,” said NPS Deputy Director Shawn Benge. “From physical restoration projects to surveys, documentation, and education, this years’ grant funds will help many of our State, Tribal, local, and non-profit partners advance their preservation goals.”
This years’ grant funds will be used to help preserve Harriet Beecher Stowe’s house in Ohio, the All Star Bowling Lanes in South Carolina (which was recently added to the African American Civil Rights Network), a civil rights interpretive trail in Louisiana, and research Gilbert v. Board in Cocoa, FL, a pioneering case for civil rights that helped gain equal pay for Black teachers in Florida.
Visit NPS.gov to learn more about the African American Civil Rights Grant Program, how to apply and dates for upcoming grant opportunities. Over $16 million in FY2021 funding will be available for application in Fall 2021.
2020 African American Civil Rights Grants
| State | Project Title | Legal Name | Federal Amount |
| Alabama Birmingham | Preservation, Restoration and Repair of St Paul United Methodist Church | St Paul United Methodist Church | $500,000 |
| Alabama Birmingham | Preservation & Rehabilitation of the 16th Street Baptist Church Parsonage | Sixteenth Street Baptist Church | $500,000 |
| Alabama Lowndesboro | Restoration and preservation of the historic Lowndesboro School | The Elmore Bolling Foundation | $236,313 |
| Alabama Marion | Phase II Structural Repairs, Windows Restoration and Building Systems Replacement of the Historic Lincoln Normal School Gymnasium | Lincolnite Club, Inc. | $500,000 |
| Alabama Montgomery | Freedom Rides Museum Exterior Exhibit and Window Displays | Alabama Historical Commission | $50,000 |
| Alabama Montgomery | Moore Building Rehabilitation, Phase III | Alabama Historical Commission | $500,000 |
| Alabama Selma | Voting Rights Movement Education Project: Engaging history through digital and physical educational resources | Selma Center For Non-Violence, Truth And Reconciliation | $50,000 |
| Alabama Selma | Critical Complete Re-Roofing of Gabled and Domed Roofs | Historic Tabernacle Baptist Church Selma AL Legacy Foundation Inc | $500,000 |
| Arkansas Little Rock | Have you learned your lesson yet? The legal battle for the equalization of black and white teacher salaries in the Little Rock School District. | Mosaic Templars Cultural Center | $25,000 |
| Arkansas Little Rock | Restoring Historic Function and Character-Defining Elements in the Dreamland Ballroom | Friends of Dreamland | $498,000 |
| Colorado Greeley | Rehabilitation at the African-American Townsite of Dearfield, Colorado | University of Northern Colorado | $497,776 |
| Connecticut Salisbury | Clinton Church Restoration and Stabilization | Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area, Inc. | $495,322 |
| Florida Cocoa | Historical Research and Documentation of the Civil Rights Case Gilbert v. Board of Public Instruction of Brevard County, Florida | City of Cocoa | $30,000 |
| Florida Tallahassee | African American Education in Leon County-Power from Within | John Gilmore Riley Center/Museum Inc. | $50,000 |
| Florida Havana | Rehabilitation of Havana Florida’s Historic Northside High School | Havana Community Development Corporation | $499,994 |
| Georgia Atlanta | Restoration of the Historic West Hunter Street Baptist Church Phase 4 | Ralph David Abernathy III Foundation, Inc. | $499,916 |
| Illinois Chicago | Reactivating the Forum: Preservation of 3 linked buildings in Bronzeville | Urban Juncture Foundation | $500,000 |
| Illinois Rock Island | Rock Island Survey and Research Project | City of Rock Island | $33,500 |
| Indiana Indianapolis | Emmett Tills Journey Home: A Story of Racism that Shocked a Nation Exhibit | The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, Inc. | $50,000 |
| Kentucky Louisville | Jefferson Jacob (Rosenwald) School Restoration | Jacob School Heritage Inc | $188,000 |
| Louisiana Baton Rouge | Louisiana Civil Rights Trail | Louisiana Office of Tourism | $50,000 |
| Louisiana Bogalusa | Preservation and restoration of the Hicks House and Mill House, Phase 2 | Robert Bob Hicks Foundation | $312,248 |
| Massachusetts Salem | The African American Experience in the Essex National Heritage Area | Essex National Heritage Commission | $50,000 |
| Michigan Lansing | Russell Woods – Sullivan Neighborhood National Register District Nomination | Michigan Historic Preservation Network | $49,900 |
| Michigan Lansing | African American Housing in Inkster, Michigan 1920-1970 | Michigan Strategic Fund | $50,000 |
| Michigan Detroit | Second Baptist Church of Detroit Rehabilitation and Nomination Project | Greektown Neighborhood Partnership | $425,959 |
| Michigan Detroit | Restoration of the Detroit Urban League Headquarters / Historic Albert Kahn House | Detroit Urban League | $500,000 |
| Michigan Inkster | Restoration and Preservation of Malcolm X House (aka Wilfred and Ruth Little home) | Project We Hope Dream and Believe | $380,850 |
| Mississippi Jackson | Mississippi Freedom Houses Project | Mississippi Heritage Trust Incorporated | $50,000 |
| North Carolina Greensboro | Survey and Nomination of Civil Rights in Greensboro | City of Greensboro | $40,000 |
| North Carolina Greensboro | Historic Magnolia House AR Interpretive Project | Magnolia House Foundation INC | $23,399 |
| North Carolina Durham | Preservation of Historic Hayti Heritage Center: Pew Restoration | St. Josephs Historic Foundation, Inc. | $177,011 |
| North Carolina Salisbury | Preservation of Historic Monroe Street School Phase II | Livingstone College | $500,000 |
| North Carolina Asheville | Renovation of YMI Cultural Center | YMI Cultural Center Inc. | $496,957 |
| New York Port Washington | Breaking Down Barriers: Civil Rights Movement on Long Island cell phone tour | Long Island Traditions | $25,000 |
| New York Newburgh | Oral History of African American Civil Rights in Newburgh | City of Newburgh | $50,000 |
| Ohio Cleveland | Stabilizing the Exterior Envelope of Cory United Methodist Church | Cleveland Restoration Society | $500,000 |
| Ohio Columbus | Harriet Beecher Stowe House Preservation | Ohio Historical Society | $380,000 |
| Ohio Dayton | Linden Community and Recreation Center | Gem City Hilltop Community Development and Housing Inc. | $498,030 |
| Ohio Dayton | Fifth Street YMCA | Miami Valley Housing Opportunities Inc. | $ 53,930 |
| Pennsylvania Pittsburgh | A Legacy in Stone: Homewoods National Negro Opera House and the Confluence of Pittsburghs African American Culture | Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation | $41,378 |
| South Carolina Edisto Island | Historic Hutchinson House Final Phase of Restoration | Edisto Island Open Land Trust, Inc. | $171,512 |
| South Carolina Hilton Head Island | Three Properties, Three Lenses: Reconnecting with Critical Aspects of the African American Struggle for and Achievement of Civil Rights During the Reconstruction Era | Community Foundation of the Lowcountry, Inc. | $487,088 |
| South Carolina Orangeburg | Preservation and Repair of Historic Trinity United Methodist Church: Phase III | Trinity United Methodist Church | $500,000 |
| South Carolina West Columbia | Brookland Lakeview Empowerment Center (BLEC) – Roof Replacement Project | Brookland Center for Community Economic Change | $321,226 |
| South Carolina Orangeburg | Preservation of All-Star Bowling Lanes | Center for Creative Partnerships | $500,000 |
| South Carolina Columbia | Booker T. Washington High School Auditorium Building | University of South Carolina | $500,000 |
| South Carolina Sumter | Lincoln High School Civil Rights Preservation Project | Lincoln High School Preservation Alumni Association | $500,000 |
| Tennessee Nashville | Civil Rights Related Resources in Nashville, 1944-1966 | Metropolitan Historical Commission | $50,000 |
| Tennessee Memphis | Collins Chapel Structural Evaluation | Collins Chapel Christian Methodist Episcopal Church | $45,000 |
| Virginia Gordonsville | Restoration of St. John Rosenwald School Phase III Project | St. John Family Life and Fitness Center, Inc. | $103,500 |
| Virginia King George | Ralph Bunche High School Preservation – Phase One (roof replacement) | King George County | $500,000 |
| Virginia Lynchburg | Leonard N. Smith School of Religion (Humbles House) | Virginia University of Lynchburg | $498,191 |
The Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) uses revenue from federal oil leases on the Outer Continental Shelf, assisting with a broad range of preservation projects without expending tax dollars to mitigate the loss of a nonrenewable resource by benefitting the preservation of other irreplaceable resources.
Established in 1977, the HPF is authorized at $150 million per year through 2023 and has provided more than $2 billion in historic preservation grants to States, Tribes, local governments, and nonprofit organizations. Administered by the NPS, HPF funds are appropriated annually by Congress to support a variety of historic preservation projects to help preserve the nation’s cultural resources.
For more information about NPS historic preservation programs and grants, please visit nps.gov/stlpg/.
www.nps.gov
https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1207/07-27-21-nps-awards-15-million-to-help-preserve-african-american-civil-rights-history.htm
