News Release

National Park Service Awards $23.4 Million to Preserve African American Civil Rights History

The St. Augustine Beach Hotel in St. Augustine, Fla. saw significant elements of the larger St. Augustine civil rights demonstrations that attracted international attention in 1964.

Christina Parrish Stone, St. Johns County Cultural Council

News Release Date: April 30, 2024

Contact: [e-mail]

Editor's note: An earlier version of this news release listed award recipients from a previous year. This news release has been corrected.

WASHINGTON – The National Park Service today awarded $23.4 million to 39 projects in 16 states and the District of Columbia as part of the Historic Preservation Fund’s African American Civil Rights grant program, which focuses on the preservation of sites and stories directly associated with the struggle of African Americans to gain equal rights. 

“Since 2016, the National Park Service has provided over $126 million through this program to document, preserve, and recognize the places and stories associated with the struggle for civil rights of African Americans,” said National Park Service Director Chuck Sams.  

These grants will support the preservation of historic places like the Harriet Tubman YWCA and the Louis Armstrong House, and fund history projects such as documenting the African American Recreational Tourism and the Negro Motorist Green Book in Michigan. 
 
Harriet Tubman YWCA in Durham, N.C. 
This grant will fund rehabilitation of the Harriet Tubman YWCA, a key building in Durham’s African American history associated with both the civil rights and the feminist movements in Durham, rehabilitating the building and returning it to occupancy to meet the growing need for affordable housing. The project will include development of architectural and construction plans to preserve and adaptively reuse the building. 
 
The Louis Armstrong House in Corona, N.Y. 
This project will preserve and rehabilitate the home of the iconic music and cultural icon, Louis Armstrong. Built in 1910, it was inhabited by the Armstrong family until the death of Louis in 1971 and Lucille in 1983. The overarching goal is to ensure the home remains a vibrant and lasting testament to the legacy of Louis Armstrong, and safeguard its historical, cultural, and architectural significance. The project seeks to protect the structural integrity of the house and enhance the safety of the environment for staff and visitors. 
 
African American Recreational Tourism and the Negro Motorist Green Book in Michigan 
The project will produce a survey of properties and sites related to African American recreation included in the Negro Motorist Green Book. Resources will include gas stations, rooming houses, and resorts. The survey report will include an extensive historic context on African American recreation tourism in Michigan, and a nomination to the National Register of Historic Places will be developed.  
 
Through the Historic Preservation Fund, Congress appropriated funding for the African American Civil Rights Grant Program in fiscal year 2023. The HPF uses revenue from federal oil and gas leases on the Outer Continental Shelf to assist with a broad range of preservation projects, lessening the loss of nonrenewable resources and benefiting the preservation of other irreplaceable resources, without using tax dollars. 

Since its establishment in 1977, the HPF has provided more than $2 billion in historic preservation grants to states, Tribes, local governments, and nonprofit organizations. Administered by the National Park Service, HPF funds may be appropriated by Congress to support a variety of historic preservation projects to help preserve the nation’s cultural resources. 

For more information about NPS historic preservation programs and grants, please visit go.nps.gov/grants. 

Awards 
(See full summaries)
 

Alabama 
Auburn University - $750,000 
Tankersley Rosenwald School: Interior Rehabilitation – Hope Hull 

Alabama 
The Lincolnite Club - $750,000 
Structural and Masonry Repairs of the Historic Lincoln Normal School Gymnasium – Marion 

Alabama 
Alabama Historical Commission - $75,000 
Freedom Rides Museum Virtual Reality Experience on Vintage Greyhound Bus – Montgomery 

Alabama 
Alabama Historical Commission - $686,596 
Historic Moore Building Rehabilitation – Montgomery 

Alabama 
Historic Tabernacle Baptist Church Selma AL Legacy Foundation Inc - $744,545 
Mechanical Systems Replacement at Tabernacle Baptist Church – Selma 

Arkansas 
Little Rock School Board - $749,975 
Preserving Central High – Little Rock 

Colorado 
University of Northern Colorado - $743,224 
Historic Building Rehabilitation at Dearfield National Register Historic District – Dearfield 

Colorado 
Lincoln Hills Cares Foundation - $75,000 
Survey and National Register Nomination – Lincoln Hills 

District of Columbia 
DC Preservation League - $750,000 
Howard Theatre HVAC Repair/Replacement – Washington 

District of Columbia 
DC Preservation League - $75,000 
Amending the National Register Multiple Property Document on Public School Buildings of Washington, D.C., 1862-1960 – Washington 

Florida 
St. Johns County Cultural Council - $750,000 
St. Augustine Beach Hotel Rehabilitation - St. Augustine 

Georgia 
Campbell Chapel Restoration Project, Inc - $750,000 
Preservation of the Historic Campbell Chapel AME – Americus 

Georgia 
Atlanta Business League Foundation, Inc - $750,000 
Rehabilitation of the Historic Ashby Theatre – Atlanta 

Georgia 
Augusta Canal Authority - $750,000 
Rehabilitation of the Historic Mother Trinity CME Church – Augusta 

Georgia 
Friends of Antioch, Inc - $750,000 
Preservation of the Historic Antioch Baptist Church and Cemetery – Crawfordville 

Louisiana 
Sabine High School Revitalization Management Group, Inc. - $750,000 
Sabine High School Rehabilitation Project – Many 

Louisiana 
Leona Tate Foundation for Change, Inc. - $75,000 
Permanent fabrication and Installation of classroom and principal's office exhibits at the Tate, Etienne & Prevost (TEP) Interpretive Center - New Orleans 

Michigan 
Eastern Michigan University - $75,000 
Detroit's African American Civil Rights Survey of East Side - Detroit 

Michigan 
Michigan Strategic Fund - $75,000 
African American Recreational Tourism and the Negro Motorist Green Book in Michigan - Statewide 

Missouri 
Douglass School Project - $209,800 
Douglass School African American Historic Learning and Cultural Center Project – Higginsville 

Missouri 
George Washington Carver Birthplace District Association Inc - $239,391 
Rehabilitation of the Neosho Colored School – Neosho 

Mississippi 
Mississippi Heritage Trust – $750,000 
Riverside Hotel Rehabilitation Project - Clarksdale 

Mississippi 
City of Drew - $750,000 
Drew Rosenwald School Rehabilitation Project – Drew 

Montana 
Montana Historical Society - $497,712 
Union Bethel AME: Stabilization and Access Project – Great Falls . 

North Carolina 
Reinvestment Partners - $750,000 
Preservation of Harriet Tubman YWCA – Durham 

North Carolina 
City of Greensboro - $75,000 
Research and document African American history in Greensboro – Greensboro 

North Carolina 
Department of Natural and Cultural Resources - $27,500 
The Untold Stories of the Struggle for Civil Rights in the Places of Northeastern North Carolina - Raleigh 

New York 
Louis Armstrong House Museum - $750,000 
Legacy Renewal: Louis Armstrong's Historic Home Preservation – Corona 

Ohio 
Famicos Foundation - $750,000 
Preservation of St. Marks Presbyterian Church in Cleveland, Ohio – Cleveland 

Ohio 
Wilson Bruce Evans Home Historical Society - $739,400 
Evans House Rehabilitation – Oberlin 

South Carolina 
Clemson University - $55,625 
Clemson University African American History Video Project - Clemson 

South Carolina 
University of South Carolina - $4,250,000 
Preservation of the Florence C. Benson Elementary School, an equalization school and a resource associated with segregation in Columbia, SC – Columbia 

South Carolina 
South Carolina Rural Education Grassroots Group - $750,000 
Stabilization and Preservation of the former Edgewood School, an Equalization School, Now serving as Edgewood Community Center –Ninety-Six 

South Carolina 
Center for Creative Partnerships - $750,000 
Preservation of All Star Bowling Lanes – Orangeburg 

Tennessee 
Property Power and Preservation - $750,000 
Griggs Business and Practical Arts College Rehabilitation – Memphis 

Virginia 
Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities – $258,005 
Rehabilitation of the Historic Parker Sydnor Cabin in Mecklenburg County – Clarksville 

Virginia 
Woodville Rosenwald School Foundation - $22,967 
Oral History and Artifact Collection Project to preserve history of the Woodville Rosenwald School and other African American Schools - Gloucester

Virginia 
City of Harrisonburg - $180,260 
Lucy F. Simms School Rehabilitation and Preservation Project – Harrisonburg 

Virginia 
City of Hopewell - $750,000 
City Point House - Shiloh Lodge Preservation Project – Hopewell 

www.nps.gov 

About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 429 national parks and sites 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.