Deadline: 19-Dec-22
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is inviting applications for African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund which is designed to advance ongoing preservation activities for historic places such as sites, museums, and landscapes representing African American cultural heritage.
The fund supports work in four primary areas: Capital Projects, Organizational Capacity Building, Project Planning, and Programming and Interpretation.
Themes
- While this is not an exhaustive list, there are several themes they are particularly interested in:
- Activism and Protest Movements
- Achievement and Innovation (education, science, business, politics, etc.)
- Architecture and Black Architects
- Black Architects in Modernism
- Arts, Culture, and Creative Expression
- Cemeteries and Burial Grounds
- Education (Not Rosenwald School Specific)
- Free Black Settlements and Agricultural History
- Historically Black Colleges and Universities
- Churches and Sacred Places
- Sites of Enslavement
- Heritage Landscapes
- Sports & Recreation
- Green Book Sites
- Statewide African American preservation organizations
- Reconstruction Era Sites
- Rosenwald Schools
- Women’s History
- LGBTQ+ History
- Cities (addressing issues of displacement, gentrification, and affordability, and advancing solutions for historic urban redevelopment)
- Rural (advancing solutions to grow local economies, heritage tourism, and preservation of Black history
- Black Craftmanship and Craftspeople as expressed in the Built Environment.
Funding Information
- Grants made from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund will range from $50,000 to $150,000.
Eligibility Criteria
- Grant-funded projects must focus on African American cultural heritage. If applying for an Organizational Capacity Building grant, the organization’s primary mission must be focused on African American cultural heritage or have demonstrated a commitment to this work.
- Eligible applicants include:
- Public agencies: State or local agencies including boards, commissions, departments, accredited public colleges or universities, offices, agencies, public bodies, or political subdivisions of the state or of a county or municipality. Examples include state historic preservation offices, city and county preservation offices and planning departments, state and local commissions focused on different aspects of heritage, and publicly owned historic sites and museums.
- 501(c)(3), and other (federally designated) nonprofit organizations: A broad-range of 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible to apply, including state and local preservation organizations, churches, accredited private colleges or universities, historic sites, museums, historical societies, and genealogical associations.
- Applicants that have received previous National Trust financial assistance are eligible provided that all grant requirements are current.
Criteria
- The National Trust, in consultation with the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund National Advisory Council and external reviewers, will select grant recipients by considering, among other points, the following criteria:
- The historic significance of the property to be assisted and its association to African American cultural heritage
- The extent to which the requested assistance will make a difference in preserving, restoring, interpreting or managing the historic property or site, including what other funds might be leveraged by an existing award
- The level of local support for the project, demonstrated through letters of support and information collected on the full application such as site visitation information, volunteer statistics, and other related metrics
- The potential of the project to be a catalyst for further positive action to benefit other historic properties, neighborhoods or communities
- The adequacy of plans and resources for future maintenance of the property or the continuation of the activity for which grant support is requested
- The ability and willingness of the applicant to carry out the proposed plans or activity within the project’s time frame if awarded
- The amount of additional resources being brought to the project, either through additional cash investments or donated materials and services.
Ineligible Activities and Expenses
- Catering, entertainment, food and beverage costs
- Costs associated with planning for or constructing new buildings or structures, including the creation of monuments and statues
- Costs associated with creation or maintenance of archival collections (books, documents, ephemera, etc.)
- Expenses incurred prior to the grant award date.
For more information, visit African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund.
