News Release

National Park Service Awards $1.25 Million to Recognize Historic Underrepresented Communities

This photo depicts the home’s exterior in 2023.
The Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission will prepare a nomination to the National Register of Historic Places for the ILZRO House in Foster, Rhode Island, to recognize the little-known history of Disability Design.

Courtesy Natasha Harrison, Rhode Island School of Design

News Release Date: January 15, 2025

Contact: NewsMedia@nps.gov

WASHINGTON – The National Park Service today announced $1,250,000 for 20 projects in 17 states and the District of Columbia for the survey and nomination of places and properties associated with groups that are underrepresented on the National Register of Historic Places (National Register). 

Examples of this year’s grants include funding for: 
  • A National Register nomination for the ILZRO House in Foster, Rhode Island, which will uncover and recognize the little-known history of design for the disabled community, also known as Disability Design. 
  • A survey and National Register nomination for the Eagle Harbor ancestral community in Ugak Bay, Alaska, to preserve and share the history of the Alutiiq/Sugpiaq, the Indigenous people of Alaska’s Kodiak Archipelago. 
  • A survey of historic resources and National Register nominations related to Hispanic heritage in Kansas City, Missouri
  • A survey and National Register nomination in Detroit, Michigan, related to the architecture of Nathan Johnson, an important African American modernist architect.  
Created by Congress in 2014, the Underrepresented Communities Grant Program has provided $8.25 million to State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, Certified Local Governments, and nonprofit organizations to expand the National Register of Historic Places through historic surveys and nominations.  

For more information about the Underrepresented Communities Grant Program, please visit http://go.nps.gov/urc. Funding for fiscal year 2025 is dependent on Congressional appropriations.  

Underrepresented Communities Grant Awards
 
Location  Project  Grantee  Award 
Alabama  Survey and National Register District Nominations for Mobile Heights and Carver Park  City of Montgomery   $75,000  
Alaska 
 
Survey and National Register Nominations for Eagle Harbor  Alutiiq Heritage Foundation   $74,940  
California 
 
Survey and National Register District Nomination for Leimert Park  The Los Angeles Conservancy   $75,000  
California 
 
Redevelopment Era Community History Project and National Register Nomination  City and County of San Francisco   $75,000  
Colorado 
 
Colorado Statewide African American Travel Resources National Register Nominations Project  The State Historical Society of Colorado   $74,250  
District of Columbia  Multiple Property Documentation Form and National Register Nominations of Washington, DC LGBTQ+ Resources   DC Preservation League   $75,000  
Florida 
 
Deuces Neighborhood Survey and National Register Nomination  City of St. Petersburg   $75,000  
Georgia  National Register Nomination for Good Shepherd Episcopal School and Church  Episcopal Diocese of Georgia   $20,250  
Massachusetts  National Register Nominations for Ashley House and Walker Burial Ground  Massachusetts Historical Commission   $29,950  
Michigan  Survey and National Register Nominations for the Architecture of Nathan Johnson  Michigan Strategic Fund   $75,000  
Mississippi  Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley Multiple Site Documentation and National Register Nomination  Emmett Till Interpretive Center   $75,000  
Missouri  Multiple Property Documentation and National Register Nomination for Hispanic Heritage in Kansas City  City of Kansas City, MO   $45,000  
New York  National Historic Landmark Nomination for Bayard Rustin Residence  Fund for the City of New York, Inc.   $32,000  
North Carolina 
 
East Winston Survey and Mars Hill Baptist Church National Register Amendment  City of Winston-Salem   $75,000  
Ohio  Survey and National Register Nominations for African American Resources  Ohio Historical Society   $75,000  
Rhode Island  ILZRO House National Register Nomination  Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission  $19,000  
Rhode Island  Providence LGBTQ+ Survey and National Register Nomination  Providence Preservation Society   $74,692  
Tennessee  South Memphis Historic Sites National Register Nominations  Historic Clayborn Temple   $54,918  
Texas  Southeast Denton Historic Resource Survey and National Register Nomination  City of Denton   $75,000  
Virginia  Asian American and Pacific Islanders in Virginia Survey and National Register Nomination  Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Historic Resources   $75,000  
17 States plus Washington, DC  Total Funded    $1,250,000  

 
The grants are supported through the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF), which was authorized at $150 million per year through fiscal year 2024 and has provided more than $2 billion in historic preservation grants to states, Tribes, local governments, and nonprofit organizations since its creation in 1977. HPF funds may be appropriated by Congress to support a variety of historic preservation projects to help preserve the nation’s cultural resources.  
 
The HPF, which uses revenue from federal offshore oil and gas leases, supports a broad range of preservation projects without spending tax dollars. The intent behind the HPF is to mitigate the loss of nonrenewable resources through the preservation of other irreplaceable resources. 

HPF grant programs managed by NPS fund preservation of America’s premier cultural resources and historic places in underrepresented communities, rural areas, and historically black colleges and universities, as well as sites key to the representation of Tribal heritage, African American civil rights, the history of equal rights in America, and the nation’s founding
 
For more information about NPS historic preservation programs and grants, please visit go.nps.gov/grants



Last updated: January 15, 2025