The funding will support 27 historic sites and organizations through the Action Fund’s National Grant Program and its Conserving Black Modernism Initiative.
- National Grant Program will distribute $2.26 million to 22 projects supporting civil rights, education, women's leadership, and Black cultural heritage.
- Conserving Black Modernism Initiative provides $750,000 to five sites honoring Black Modernist architects, including Fisk University and Texas Southern University.
- Action Fund has raised more than $200 million and supported over 430 preservation projects since 2017.
- Action Fund leaders like Brent Leggs and Tiffany Tolbert emphasize sustained investment and local leadership protect Black historic places, telling a more inclusive national story.
The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund is investing $3 million to help preserve Black history across the United States. The funding will support 27 historic sites and organizations that celebrate civil rights, education, faith, culture and architecture.
The funding will support 27 historic sites and organizations through the Action Fund’s National Grant Program and its Conserving Black Modernism Initiative. As reported by PR News Wire, both programs are managed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Since launching in 2017, the Action Fund has raised more than $200 million and supported over 430 preservation projects dedicated to protecting Black history nationwide.
“This year’s grants are investments in communities that are preserving the full American story,” Brent Leggs, president and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and founder of the Action Fund, said in a statement. The National Grant Program will distribute $2.26 million to 22 projects. The grants support landmarks connected to civil rights, education, women’s leadership and Black cultural heritage.
FILE – Ire Gene Grovner walks through remnants of the old slave’s quarters. One of the few remaining Gullah-Geechee communities in the U.S. is in another fight to hold onto land owned by residents’ families since their ancestors were freed from slavery.(AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
Recipients include the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, the Eliza Freeman House in Connecticut, the home of educator Dr. Jane Ellen McAllister in Mississippi, Hotel Thelma’s historic café in West Virginia, and Detroit’s Association of Women’s Clubs building, which was recently named one of America’s most endangered historic places.
The Conserving Black Modernism Initiative will provide another $750,000 to five projects highlighting the work of Black Modernist architects. The sites include Fisk University’s Park Johnson Hall, Texas Southern University’s Martin Luther King Jr. Humanities Center, St. Mark AME Zion Church in Indiana, Northeastern University’s Southwest Corridor Project, and Milwaukee’s Central City Plaza.
Action Fund Co-Director Tiffany Tolbert said the grants reflect the importance of sustained investment and local leadership in protecting Black history. The announcement comes as the United States approaches its 250th anniversary. The organization said preserving Black historic places helps tell a more complete and inclusive story of the nation’s past.
