- This year's grantees are stewarding historic sites that
represent Black American life through modern architecture,
education, sports, and Black women's achievement.
- The Action Fund has supported 304 Black heritage sites with
a total investment of $27M since
2018.
- Images of the 2024 grantees are
available here.
WASHINGTON, July 18,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The African American
Cultural Heritage Action Fund, a program of the National Trust for
Historic Preservation, today announced $3
million in grant funding to protect and preserve 30 sites
representing Black history. With more than $140 million raised since its founding in 2017,
the Action Fund is the largest resource dedicated to the
preservation of African American historic places.
30 African American Historic Sites Receive
$3 Million in Preservation
Funding
"The National Grant Program represents the Action Fund's
enduring commitment to telling the full American story - one that
makes room for Black resilience, creativity, and achievement," said
Brent Leggs, Executive Director
of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. "History
is crucial to our nation's understanding of where we've come from,
who we are today, and how we envision our future. These grants will
support critical preservation efforts to revitalize and sustain
tangible links to our shared past that we hope will inspire future
generations."
This work would not be possible without the Action Fund's key
philanthropic partners who share a commitment to social justice
through preservation and education. The Mellon Foundation has been
a longstanding supporter of the Action Fund and the National Grant
Program, and several of this year's grantees will be receiving the
financial resources they need to complete capital projects, build
organizational capacity, and more as a result of the Mellon
Foundation's contribution of $1.5
million.
"Preserving African American culture is central to preserving
and understanding American culture writ large," said
Elizabeth Alexander, President of
the Mellon Foundation. "This new suite of Action Fund grants
will provide crucial financial and strategic support to sites that
further illuminate the Black voices and visions that make up our
shared American past. We at Mellon are pleased to support this
effort to ensure that all of us can continue to learn and
experience these essential histories in our public spaces."
In addition to the Mellon Foundation, the Action Fund is
grateful for the generous contributions of the Ford Foundation and
the Robert D. L. Gardiner Foundation to the National Grant
Program.
This year's awardees include the second round of Conserving
Black Modernism grants, a program designed to protect and promote
the work of African American architects. These sites will receive
$1.2 million in preservation funding
through the Action Fund with support from the Getty Foundation.
"We're thrilled to support a second iteration of grants for the
Conserving Black Modernism program," said Joan Weinstein, director of the Getty
Foundation. "This program both expands our understanding of
modernist architecture in the United
States and celebrates the unique contributions of pioneering
African American architects who have long been overlooked."
With amounts ranging from $50K to
$150K, this year's Action Fund grants
will support preservation efforts across four categories:
- Building Capital: Supporting the restoration and
rehabilitation of cultural assets important to Black history
- Increasing Organizational Capacity: Providing
leadership staff positions within nonprofits stewarding Black
heritage sites
- Project Planning and Development: Funding planning
activities tied to the development of preservation plans,
feasibility studies, historic site reports, National Register
designations, and fundraising
- Programming and Education: Advancing storytelling
through public education, exhibits, and creative
interpretation
A site list including details about all of this year's grantees,
and a media kit with hi-res photographs, are available here.
About the African American Cultural Heritage Action
Fund
In November 2017, the National
Trust for Historic Preservation launched its African American
Cultural Heritage Action Fund (AACHAF) to make an important and
lasting contribution to the American landscape by preserving sites
of Black activism, achievement, and resilience. Since 2017, it has
raised over $140 million and
supported 304 grantees nationwide. The AACHAF's work is guided by
the Founding Executive Director, Brent
Leggs, and an esteemed National Advisory Council that
includes thought leaders in the arts, academia, business,
government, philanthropy, and preservation.
Learn more about the African American Cultural Heritage Action
Fund at www.savingplaces.org/actionfund.
About the National Trust for Historic Preservation
The National Trust for Historic Preservation protects historic
landscapes and buildings representing our country's diverse
cultural experience by taking direct action and inspiring broad
public support. Chartered by Congress in 1949 as a privately funded
organization and committed to honoring the histories of all
Americans, the National Trust collaborates with partners and allies
to save places, educate the public, and use preservation to address
urgent challenges and serve communities today.
Learn more about the National Trust for Historic Preservation
at https://savingplaces.org/
Contact Information:
ActionFundTeam@MerakiCommsGroup.com
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SOURCE National Trust for Historic Preservation