Descendant and Family Stewardship Initiative

Across the country, descendant communities and families are engaged in exciting and groundbreaking efforts to reclaim, rescue, and share overlooked stories and places of resilience, achievement, and perseverance. Grants from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund's Descendant and Family Stewardship Initiative (DFS) empower and equip descendant-led and family-led organizations and projects to preserve, activate, and manage historic places.

This initiative, made possible by generous funding from the Mellon Foundation, is a testament to our belief in the capacity of descendant communities and families to be full partners and leaders in the physical preservation, interpretative programming, management, and governance of historic places. To learn more, view the DFS guidelines and eligibility requirements.

About the Descendant and Family Stewardship Initiative

The Descendants and Family Stewardship Initiative emphasizes the vital importance of descendants and families in the stewardship, preservation, and interpretation of key Black heritage sites. Acknowledging the unique perspectives, profound historical ties, and continuous community relationships of descendants, this initiative strategically empowers organizations led by descendants and families to spearhead culturally authentic and sustainable preservation efforts.

The initiative's goal is to empower groups led by descendants and families to serve as the primary caretakers of their ancestral and community historic sites. The objectives include:

  • Awarding $200,000 grants for selected projects to enhance stewardship activities.
  • Strengthening organizational capacity via technical assistance, strategic consultations, and skills development.
  • Expanding the definition of "descendant" in preservation narratives to include direct lineage and historical connections.
  • Fostering partnerships through gatherings and peer exchanges for knowledge-sharing and best practices, including innovative preservation models to influence broader field practices.
  • Rubric 2.0: A revised evaluation framework promoting inclusive interpretation, equity-centered planning, and meaningful descendant engagement.

Meet the 2025 Grantees

This inaugural Descendant and Family Stewardship cohort was announced as part of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund's 2025 National Grant Program. To learn more and see the full list of this year's grantees, visit the announcement.

Jackson and Lydia Clemmons with daughter Lydia at Clemmons Family Farm

photo by: Caleb Kenna

The Clemmons Family Farm in Charlotte, Vermont

Bibb House, a white, Palladian-style building, now home of the SEEK Museum

photo by: Jon Cherry

The Bibb House in Historic Russellville, Kentucky

Muddy Waters Mojo Museum, Chicago, Illinois

photo by: Morgan Forde

Muddy Waters Mojo Museum in Chicago, Illinois

Front view of the Custom House

photo by: Caroline J. Phillips

Custom House in Chestertown, Maryand

Front angle view of Highlander Education Center Library

photo by: Stephanie Colchado Kelley

Highlander Education Center in New Market, Tennessee

View of Olivewood Cemetery with a winged angel headstone

photo by: Descendants of Olivewood Inc.

Olivewood Cemetery, Houston, Texas

Front view of James and Janie Washington house, painted green with red trim

photo by: Meron Menghistab

Dr. James & Janie Washington Cultural Center in Seattle, WA

Muddy Waters Mojo Museum | Chicago, Illinois

McKinley Morganfield, known as Muddy Waters, is considered one of the fathers of Chicago Blues music. The home he purchased in the city’s North Kenwood neighborhood became a hub for local musicians and is a designated Chicago Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building now houses the Muddy Waters Mojo Museum, where funding will support the family-led institution’s long-term master planning and visioning to guide their stewardship of this music legend’s legacy.

Bibb House and Bibbtown Church-Cemetery | Historic Russellville, Inc. | Russellville, Kentucky

Revolutionary War Major and enslaver Richard Bibb lived in an early 1800s Palladian-style townhouse in what is now the historic district of Russellville, Kentucky. Following Bibb’s death, he deeded 1,200 acres of land to nearly 100 individuals he had formerly enslaved. These freed people established a community there called Bibbtown. Today, descendants of this community lead the SEEK Museum, which operates from the Bibb House, actively preserving and interpreting the full histories of Bibbtown and its founders. Funding will support collaborative stewardship planning with descendants to expand preservation, interpretation, and management of the Bibbtown church and cemetery.

The Custom House | Washington College | Chestertown, Maryland

The Custom House in Chestertown, Maryland was originally home to Thomas Ringgold, one of Maryland’s most infamous slave trading agents. It also became the site of a major civil rights victory when Josephine Carr, a free Black woman, won a lawsuit forcing the integration of Maryland’s steamboats and other public transportation. It is also a historically important site for Black Chesapeake maritime history. Funding will support descendant-led work to expand interpretation, placemaking, and preservation that will engage community members and visitors with the site’s full history.

Highlander Research and Education Center | New Market, Tennessee

Originally founded as the Highlander Folk School in 1932, the Highlander Research and Education Center was closely tied to the Civil Rights Movement, providing training to leaders including Rosa Parks, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis, and others. After recent reclamation of its original site and property by community advocates, funding will support stewardship planning for the long-term conservation of the center's buildings and its future as a hub for social activism.

Olivewood Cemetery| Descendants of Olivewood | Houston, Texas

Olivewood Cemetery dates from 1875 and is the first incorporated African American cemetery in Houston. After suffering years of underinvestment, flooding, and overgrowth, Descendants of Olivewood Inc. formed with the goal of restoring and protecting the site as a source of intergenerational historical, cultural, and educational connection. Funding will support descendants with long-term governance, management, and preservation planning efforts.

Clemmons Family Farm | Charlotte, Vermont

Dr. Jackson “JW” Clemmons and Mrs. Lydia Monroe Clemmons purchased their late-1700s era farmhouse in Vermont in 1962. Over the years, they ran an African art import and mail-order business, one of the first in the country, from the property. The site is now part of the Vermont African American Heritage Trail and houses an exhibit of the Clemmons’ personal art collection. Funding will support family-led stewardship planning to ensure the site’s future public programming and capital project goals.

Dr. James & Janie Washington Cultural Center | James W. Washington Jr. and Janie Rogella Washington Foundation | Seattle, WA | Seattle, Washington

The Dr. James & Janie Washington Cultural Center is in Seattle's Central District, the historical center of the city’s Black community. Dr. James Washington Jr. was a Black painter and sculptor who, after working as an artist for the Works Progress Administration, migrated with his nurse wife Janie from Mississippi to Seattle in 1944. James continued exhibiting his artwork, finding community in the Northwest School art movement, and working from the studio behind his and Janie’s home. In 1997, the Washingtons created a trust and willed their estate to the James and Janie Washington Foundation with a mission to continue their work and legacy. Funding will support descendant-led stewardship planning for the organization and site.


Archival photo of students in the Highlander Education Center Library

photo by: Ed Friend

Highlander Research and Education Center Library in 1957.

Defining "Descendant" in Historic Preservation

Traditionally, "descendants" refers to individuals who are directly linked to enslaved communities. The Descendant and Family Stewardship Initiative aims to thoughtfully broaden this definition by including individuals and communities with direct familial ties or significant historical connections to important Black heritage sites, such as those related to key historical events, burial grounds, and other significant periods in American history. By actively engaging in collaboration and dialogue with stakeholders in the historic preservation sector, the initiative seeks to refine and adopt a comprehensive and inclusive definition of "descendant."

For instance, descendant communities may comprise individuals directly descended from enslaved populations, like those linked to James Madison's Montpelier, or groups influenced by significant social movements in education and civil rights, including the Washington-Rosenwald Schools and the survivors and descendants of events like the Tulsa Race Massacre.

Descendant-led stewardship focuses on leadership from individuals who are directly descended from historical figures or communities associated with a site, highlighting ancestral ties and direct lineage. In contrast, family-led stewardship pertains to larger family groups that may include both descendants and extended family members who have historical or cultural connections to a site, promoting intergenerational involvement and collective family participation.

The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund values the diverse perspectives of descendant-led and family-led organizations. Grant applicants are encouraged to clearly define their understanding of "descendant" and describe how their organization exemplifies descendant-led or family-led stewardship within their project narratives.

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