News Release

National Park Service awards $1.2 million to help preserve underrepresented community history  

The Jefferson Jacobs Rosenwald School in Louisville, Kentucky in the Taylor-Jacob Subdivision that received $30,000 from the Underrepresented Community Grant program.

Develop Louisville, Louisville, KY

News Release Date: December 19, 2022

Contact: [e-mail]

WASHINGTON – The National Park Service (NPS) today announced $1.2 million in Underrepresented Community Grants for 21 projects in 16 states and the District of Columbia. These funds will support the identification, planning, and development of nominations or amendments to the National Register of Historic Places for diverse communities.    

“The National Park Service is proud to award this grant funding to state, Tribal, and local governments to help them diversify their listings in the National Register of Historic Places,” said NPS Director Chuck Sams. “Since 2014, the Underrepresented Community Grants program has provided $5.75 million to better tell the varied histories and stories of all Americans, so that they may one day no longer be called underrepresented.” 

Some of this years’ grants include:  

• A historic context study of Latino communities in Wisconsin, which will result in two or more National Register nominations or amendments;  

• National Register nominations for two fire stations in historically African American neighborhoods of Atlantic City, New Jersey;   

• A state-wide survey of Colorado’s travel resources where African Americans could safely stay during the time of segregation;  

• A survey and National Register nomination for the James Taylor-Jacob School Subdivision in Louisville, Kentucky. The project includes the Jefferson Jacobs Rosenwald School, established in 1916, and the Taylor-Jacob Subdivision, named after a local farmer who later developed the only known subdivision in the county owned, designed, developed, and managed by and for African Americans.   

The Underrepresented Community Grants program began in 2014 and has provided $5.75 million to State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices and Certified Local Governments to diversify the National Register of Historic Places through surveys and nominations.   

Administered by the NPS, the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) uses revenue from federal oil and gas leases to decrease the loss of nonrenewable resources and safeguard other irreplaceable resources through a broad range of preservation projects.    

Since its establishment in 1977, the HPF has delivered more than $2 billion in historic preservation grants to states, Tribes, local governments, and nonprofit organizations. The HPF has up to $150 million in funds available each year until the current authorizing legislation ends in 2023. The HPF supports historic preservation projects to help safeguard the nation’s most important places and share stories of those people and communities.   

Please visit the NPS grants website for more information on historic preservation programs. 

Underrepresented Community Awards  

State	Project Title	Organization	Funded Amount
Alabama,   Decatur	National Register Historic Context Statement for African American and Women in Decatur, Alabama	City of Decatur	$62,000
Alabama,    Prattville	African American Historic Resources Survey of Prattville and Auburn, Alabama	City of Prattville	$72,541
Colorado,   Denver	Statewide African American Travel Resources Intensive Survey	The State Historical Society of Colorado	$74,998
District of Columbia	African American Affordable Housing Survey and National Register Nomination	District of Columbia Office of Planning	$70,262
Georgia,   Rome	African American Settlement and Civil Rights Survey and National Register Nomination of North Rome	City of Rome	$30,000
Illinois,   Springfield	Southern Illinois African American Heritage National Register Multiple Property Submission	Illinois Department of Natural Resources	$75,000
Kentucky,   Louisville-Jefferson County	James Taylor-Jacob School Subdivision National Register Nomination	Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government	$30,000
Maryland,   Crownsville	Rosenwald Schools of Maryland National Register Nomination Project	Maryland Department of Planning, Maryland Historical Trust	$30,000
Maryland,   Crownsville	Baltimore American Indian Heritage Survey and Nomination Phase 2	Maryland Department of Planning, Maryland Historical Trust	$22,600
Michigan,   Detroit	National Register Historic Context Study of Women in Detroit	City of Detroit	$75,000
New Jersey,   Atlantic City	Atlantic City Fire House National Register Nominations	City of Atlantic City	$50,000
New York,   New York	Marcus Garvey Park National Register Nomination	New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation	$60,000
New York,   New York	Yiddish Art Theatre, New York City, National Register Nomination	New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation	$25,000
North Carolina,    Southern Pines	West Southern Pines African American Historic Resource Survey and National Register Nominations	Town of Southern Pines	$75,000
North Dakota,   Bismarck	Fort Totten Indian Boarding School National Register Nomination Update	State Historical Society of North Dakota	$50,770
Ohio,   Columbus	African American Women’s Clubs, Green Book Properties, and Black Churches National Register Nominations	Ohio Historical Society	$74,982
Oklahoma, Oklahoma City	Continuation of Architectural/Historic Survey of Oklahoma's All-Black Towns	Oklahoma Historical Society	$75,000
South Carolina,    Charleston	African American Settlement Communities in Charleston County, S.C. Survey	City of Charleston	$75,000
South Carolina,    Sumter	Sumter County African American Survey and National Register Nomination	Sumter County	$75,000
Tennessee, Nashville	Nashville's Mid-20th Century African American District Survey and National Register Nomination	Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County	$57,963
Wisconsin,   Madison	National Register Historic Context Study of Latino Communities in Wisconsin	Wisconsin Historical Society	$50,000
Total grant funds = $1,211,116

www.nps.gov  

About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 423 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov, and on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.