In recognition of Juneteenth, the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, announced $3.8 million in grant funding to protect and preserve sites around the Carolinas representing African American history. With more than $95 million raised, the Action Fund is the largest resource dedicated to the preservation of African American historic places.“The Action Fund’s investment in and celebration historic African American places illustrates our belief that historic preservation plays an important role in American society,” said Brent Leggs, executive director, African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund and senior vice president, National Trust for Historic Preservation. “The history embodied in these places is emblematic of generational aspirations for freedom, the pursuit of education, a need for beauty and architecture, and joys of social life and community bonds. That’s why the Action Fund believes all Americans must see themselves and our shared history in this year’s grantee list if we are to create a culturally conscious nation.”
Since 2017, the Action Fund has received an unprecedented total of 5,638 funding proposals requesting $655 million. The program has supported 242 grantee projects through its investment of $20M.
New to this year’s list is a targeted focus on conserving modernist structures designed by Black architects. In its first grant round, eight historic structures will receive $1.2M to help advance long-term preservation planning. This funding is part of the Conserving Black Modernism partnership led by the Action Fund with support from the Getty Foundation.
2023 African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund Grantees:
Morgan School
Grant Category: Project Planning
Grantee: The Cherry Community Organization | Charlotte, North Carolina
Built in 1925 and closed in 1968 due to integration, Morgan School was considered the heart of the Cherry community for over four decades and embodies the stories of segregated education in Charlotte. As the permanent stewards of the Morgan School, the Cherry Community Organization envisions a new life for the site as the Historic Morgan School Community Learning and Heritage Center. A business plan with a comprehensive fundraising strategy will provide these community stewards with the necessary roadmap to preserve Morgan School and ensure that its educational legacy has a sustainable future.
YMI Cultural Center
Grant Category: Capital Project
Grantee: YMI Cultural Center, Inc. | Asheville, North Carolina
The nation’s first free-standing Black cultural center, the Young Men’s Institute has been a cultural hub for Asheville’s African American community since it opened in 1893. Constructed by 100 Black builders and craftspeople, the center has long been a hub for cultural, economic, and leadership development activities. Funding will provide for the restoration of its original wood flooring and historical elements as well as repainting the building’s interior.
The Slave Dwelling Project
Grant Category: Programming & Interpretation
Grantee: The Slave Dwelling Project | Ladson, South Carolina
The Slave Dwelling Project documents and preserves dwellings of the enslaved and engages communities through educational public sleepovers, conferences, and living history programs. Funding will support an expansion of the Inalienable Rights program, which includes food education/cooking demonstrations, brick making in the style of enslaved craftsmen, and blacksmith demonstrations from expert blacksmiths.
First Baptist Church-West
Grant Category: Project Planning with Limited Capital Repairs
Grantee: First Baptist Church-West Community Services Association | Charlotte, North Carolina
Recognized as the oldest Black Baptist church in Charlotte, North Carolina, First Baptist Church-West was designed by Harvey Gantt, the first Black Mayor of Charlotte and the first African American student admitted to Clemson University. A comprehensive plan will allow the history of the sanctuary to be preserved with necessary repairs to the roof and baptismal area.
Morris College
Grant Category: Project Planning
Grantee: Morris College | Sumter, South Carolina
Founded in 1908 by the Baptist Educational Missionary and Sunday School Convention of South Carolina, Morris College is integral to the Sumter, South Carolina downtown and surrounding community. Envisioned by its founders as a place to provide the formal educational opportunities they were denied, Morris College spans 12 acres and includes historic buildings dating from 1924. A comprehensive planning project will include the development of a campus-wide stewardship plan to evaluate and preserve the College’s buildings and strengthen the historical foundation on which it was established.
