July 18, 2024

Action Fund’s 2024 National Grant Program Awards $3M to Preserve 30 Sites Nationwide

The National Grant Program is a signature initiative of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. This year, $3 million in grants will support thirty sites across the country that represent Black American life through modern architecture, education, sports, Black women's achievement, and more.

"History is crucial to our nation's understanding of where we've come from, who we are today, and how we envision our future,” said Brent Leggs, executive director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. “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 year’s awardees also include the second round of Conserving Black Modernism grants, a program designed to protect and promote the work of African American architects. These eight sites will receive $1.2 million in preservation funding through the Action Fund with support from the Getty Foundation.

With amounts ranging from $50,000 to $155,000, all of this year’s Action Fund grants will support preservation work in four primary areas: Capital Projects, Organizational Capacity Building, Project Planning, and Programming and Interpretation. Keep reading below to learn more about this year’s grantees.

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National Grant Program

Alpha Gamma Omega House (Chapter, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority) | The Ivy Heritage Foundation, Inc. | Los Angeles, CA
The Alpha Gamma Omega Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority was founded in 1927. The chapter purchased its house in the historic West Adams district of Los Angeles in 1960, making it the first chapter in Southern California to own a home. Originally constructed in 1911, funding will support mechanical system upgrades to ensure the structure can continue being used by its members for years to come.

Imperial Hotel | Jack Hadley Black History Memorabilia, Inc. | Thomasville, GA
The Imperial Hotel was established by Harvey and Dorothy Lewis Thompson, a Black couple, in 1949 and remained in business until 1969. The hotel was listed as a Green Book site in 1954, marking it as a safe haven for Black travelers during segregation. Funding will support the installation of an interior metal skeleton that will reinforce and stabilize the hotel's walls.

Pierce Chapel African Cemetery | Hamilton Hood Foundation | Midland, GA
The Pierce Chapel African Cemetery, established circa 1828, is one of the oldest burial grounds for enslaved people from several plantations in the region. The cemetery has experienced severe damage over the years and was on the National Trust's list of America's 11 Most Endangered Places in 2023. Funding will support project planning and establish a roadmap to preserve the landscape and the community's history.

Erma Hayman House | City of Boise Department of Arts & History | Boise, ID
Erma Hayman (1907-2002) lived in Boise for most of her life, purchasing the house that now bears her name in the city's River Street neighborhood in 1948. The Erma Hayman House now serves as a cultural center dedicated to uplifting the community's Black and working-class history through preservation efforts and public programming. Funding will support the employment of a community coordinator at the house to increase its organizational capacity.

Wabash Avenue YMCA | The Renaissance Collaborative, Inc. | Chicago, IL
The Wabash Avenue YMCA was a thriving center of Chicago's Black community from the building's completion in 1913. The branch closed in 1970, however the Renaissance Collaborative, now headquartered in the building, and the Black Metropolis NHA Commission have partnered to expand local history tours centering the Wabash Y. Funding will support the incorporation of visual exhibits and the development of youth-oriented tours.

Nicodemus Historical Society & Museum | Nicodemus Historical Society & Museum | Bogue, KS
Nicodemus is one of the United States' oldest surviving Black-founded communities and will be celebrating the 150th anniversary of its founding in 2027. The advocacy and memory-keeping work of the Nicodemus Historical Society has been crucial to its preservation. Funding will support the hiring of additional staff to build the society's organizational and philanthropic development capacity.

Chickasaw Park | Louisville Olmsted Parks Conservancy, Inc. | Louisville, KY
Chickasaw Park is believed to be the only landscape designed by Frederick Law Olmsted's firm that was specifically for African Americans. Designed in 1923 and completed in 1930, the formerly segregated park has been home to the West Louisville Tennis Club and was visited by Althea Gibson, the first Black woman to win at Wimbledon. Funding will support public interpretation and education programs around the park's tennis courts and their history.

Kennard High School at the Kennard African American Cultural Heritage Center & Museum | Kennard Alumni Association, Inc. | Centreville, MD
Kennard High School opened as a segregated school for Black children in 1936 and was named after Lucretia Kennard, a life-long educator and leader in the Centreville community. The school is now part of the Kennard African American Cultural Heritage Center & Museum. Funding will cover the first two years of costs to employ an executive director to manage the museum's operations, development, and programs.

Gaithersburg Community Museum | Gaithersburg, MD
The Metropolitan Grove community was founded by formerly enslaved African Americans and remained intact through the early 20th century. Much of the original building stock was lost to redevelopment efforts during the Urban Renewal period. Funding will support the Gaithersburg Community Museum's effort to conduct research and fabricate historic marker signage to ensure Metropolitan Grove is remembered.

Camp Katharine Parsons Nature House | Phyllis Wheatley Community Center | Minneapolis, MN
The Phyllis Wheatley Community Center (PWCC) established Camp Katherine Parsons in 1956 to give Minneapolis-area Black youth an opportunity to enjoy nature, learn new life skills, and feel empowered to achieve their goals. Funding will support the PWCC's restoration of the Nature House on the 106-acre property, enabling it to reopen and host programs for a new generation of children and families.

Unita Blackwell Freedom House | The Lighthouse | Jackson, MS
The Unita Blackwell Freedom House is named after the state's first female mayor. Blackwell (1933-2019) was a civil rights activist and served as an advisor to six U.S. presidents. The Freedom House was her primary residence during her lifetime, and grant funding will support the structural rehabilitation of the home, enabling it to host community leadership training and events for Black girls in the Mississippi Delta region.

Alonzo Chatmon’s Juke Joint | The Mt. Zion Memorial Fund for Blues Music and Justice | Water Valley, MS
The historic, Black-owned Alonzo Chatmon's Juke Joint is part of Mississippi's rich Blues history. Chatmon was a musician himself, and led the Mississippi Sheiks, a well-known music group in the 1930's. Funding will support a pre-preservation study of the building, and other Black-owned historic structures related to Blues recording artists in the state.

Shady Rest Golf and Country Club | Preserve Shady Rest Committee | Scotch Plains, NJ
The Shady Rest Golf and Country Club, established in 1921, was the first Black-owned and operated country club in the nation. It hosted the first American-born professional golfer John Shippen Jr. (1879-1968), a Black man whose father was born into slavery. Black luminaries such as W.E.B. Du Bois and singer Ella Fitzgerald also frequented the club. Funding will support an inclusive master plan to guide preservation and interpretation activities on the property.

New Amsterdam Musical Association Building | New Amsterdam Musical Association | Harlem, NY
The New Amsterdam Musical Association is the oldest Black-founded musical organization in the U.S., founded in 1904. The association's building has served as a community support and performance space for Black musicians for over 100 years. Funding will support restoration efforts to address safety issues associated with the facade, windows, and electrical system.

Woodlawn Cemetery | Woodlawn Conservancy Inc. | Bronx, NY
Woodlawn Cemetery is a National Historic Landmark and resting place for many Black luminaries including Ralphe Bunche, a Nobel Peace Prize and Presidential Medal of Freedom awardee, the entrepreneur and millionaire Madam C.J. Walker, and Ivan Bynoe, a Tuskegee Airman and war hero. Funding will support the Woodlawn Conservancy's hire of a consultant to develop "Where Harlem Rests," a series of tours highlighting the notable Black individuals buried there.

Lefferts Historic House | Prospect Park Alliance | Brooklyn, NY
The Lefferts Historic House is one of the Flatbush area's few remaining farmhouses and dates back to the 18th century. According to census records, the Leffert family enslaved at least twenty-five African Americans who lived and worked on the property. Funding will support the restoration of the house's North kitchen wing for programming that will center the lived experiences of these individuals.

“Greater Cincinnati Black and African American Historic Context Study” | Cincinnati Preservation Association | Cincinnati, OH
Cincinnati was a significant migratory destination for free and formerly enslaved African Americans starting in the 1800's. Grant funding will support the city's efforts to more deeply engage with its local and regional Black history. A consultant will be hired to develop a "Black and African American Context Study."

Kennett Underground Railroad Center (KURC) | Brandywine Valley Scenic Byway Commission | Chadds Ford, Kennett Township, PA
As part of efforts to chart and preserve Underground Railroad routes, Kennett Township has partnered with the Kennett Underground Railroad Center to rehabilitate a historic property that once served as a "Station" on formerly enslaved Africans' journey to freedom. Funding will support a comprehensive assessment, plan, and cost estimates for the structure and support educational programming about events that occurred "Just Over the Line" in Chester County.

The Brainerd Institute | Brainerd Institute Heritage | Chester, SC
The Brainerd Institute was founded by the Presbyterian Church in 1866 as an elite educational institution for Black students. The school graduated its last class in 1939. Decades later, the acclaimed poet Vivian Ayers, a member of that final class, is leading efforts to restore and reactivate the campus. Funding will support the hire of expert consultants to develop a master plan to offer cultural, arts, and literacy programs at the institute once more.

George W. Hubbard House | Friends Of Hubbard House | Nashville, TN
Designed by McKissack and McKissack, one of the oldest Black-owned architectural firms in the U.S., the George W. Hubbard House was completed in 1921 and named for the founder and first president of Meharry Medical College. The house is located on the historically African American college's original campus where funding will support the stabilization of its exterior, the first phase of a broader rehabilitation effort.

Simms|Gray-Lewis Cottage | Rutherford B.H. Yates Museum | Houston, TX
Isabella Simms, a Black woman and domestic servant, purchased the lots at 1216 and 1218 Wilson St. in Houston just nine years after the Civil War ended. In 1907, Lincoln R. Jones, a Black contractor, designed and built what would come to be known as the Simms|Gray-Lewis Cottage, named for its owners. Today, this structure is a city-designated protected landmark. Funding will support its rehabilitation as a gift shop, gallery, and tour office for Freedmen's Town Houston.

The Pine Grove Washington-Rosenwald School | AMMD Pine Grove Project | Richmond, VA
The Pine Grove Washington-Rosenwald School was established in 1917 as one of a series of schools founded by the education reformer Booker T. Washington and the Jewish philanthropist Julius Rosenwald. The school functioned as an educational institution and community center for generations but was included on the National Trust’s list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in 2021. Funding will support research efforts to record oral histories and document the archival and ethnographic landscape of the historic Pine Grove community.

Camp Katharine Parsons Nature House, Phyllis Wheatley Community Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

photo by: Phyllis Wheately Community Center Archives

Camp Katharine Parsons Nature House, Phyllis Wheatley Community Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Funding from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund national grant program will support the PWCC's restoration of the Nature House.

Conserving Black Modernism

Ira Aldridge Theater | Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts at Howard University | Washington, D.C.
The Ira Aldridge Theater was named for a famed 19th century African American actor best known for his performances of Shakespeare. The theater was designed by acclaimed Black architects Hilyard Robinson and Paul R. Williams, and completed in 1961 as part of Howard University’s campus. Funding will support a historic structures report and an interpretation plan.

Masjid Mohammad, Nations Mosque | Masjid Muhammad, Inc. | Washington, D.C.
Completed in 1960, Masjid Muhammad, Nations Mosque was designed by David R. Byrd. The building represents one of the oldest Black Muslim congregations in the United States. Funding will support engineering and environmental studies for the building’s planned LEED-certified expansion, in addition to limited capital improvements.

Claude B. Dansby, Benjamin G. Brawley, and John H. Wheeler Halls at Morehouse College | Morehouse College | Atlanta, GA
Leon Allain, a prominent Black architect in the Atlanta area, designed Claude B. Dansby, Benjamin G. Brawley, and John H. Wheeler halls at Morehouse College through the early 1970s. Funding will support building assessments and a historic structures report for the three sites.

Kenneth G. Neigh Dormitory Complex at the former Mary Holmes Community College | Dream Center Golden Triangle | West Point, MS
Designed by the acclaimed Black architect J. Max Bond Jr. and completed in 1970, the Kenneth G. Neigh Dormitory Complex is currently in an advanced state of deterioration as Mary Holmes Community College has been closed since 2005. Funding will support an adaptive reuse feasibility study for the complex focused on transitional housing.

Robert T. Coles Home and Studio | Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House | Buffalo, NY
Robert T. Coles, the first Black Chancellor of the American Institute of Architects, designed and built his House and Studio in 1961. The two-story building is composed of prefabricated units set back in a garden and courtyard. Funding will support a historic structures report and a reuse and feasibility study.

John F. Kennedy Community Center | Preservation Buffalo Niagara | Buffalo, NY
The JFK Recreation Center was designed by Robert T. Coles as his thesis project at MIT and completed in 1963. The building currently hosts a range of nonprofits and multi-generational community activities. Funding will support a comprehensive preservation plan.

Universal Life Insurance Company Building | South Memphis Renewal Community Development Corporation | Memphis, TN
Designed in 1947 by McKissack and McKissack, one of the oldest Black-owned architectural firms in the United States, the Universal Life Insurance Company Building was completed in 1949. Funding will support a cultural interpretation plan and repairs to certain sections of the building.

Azurest South, Amaza Lee Meredith Home and Studio | Virginia State University Alumni Association | Petersburg, VA
Azurest South, completed in 1934, is the home and studio designed by the pioneering Black architect Amaza Lee Meredith. Located on the Virginia State University campus, where she established the Fine Arts program and lived with her partner Dr. Edna Meade Colson, the home is a colorful example of the International Style. Funding will support the implementation of a conservation management plan for the building.

The Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts at Howard University, DC: Ira Aldridge Theater | Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts at Howard University | Washington, D.C.

photo by: Visual 14

Ira Aldridge Theater, Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts at Howard University, Washington, D.C. Funding from the Conserving Black Modernism program will support a historic structures report and interpretation plan.

The Action Fund and the National Trust would like to thank our philanthropic patterns whose financial support and commitment to achieving equity through preservation continues to make the National Grant Program possible:

  • The Mellon Foundation
  • The Getty Foundation
  • The Ford Foundation
  • The Robert D.L. Gardiner Foundation
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