State, Tribal, and Local Plans & Grants

Underrepresented Community Grants

Currently Funded Projects
In Federal fiscal year 2016, Congress appropriated $500,000 for grants that support the survey, inventory, and designation of historic properties that are associated with communities currently underrepresented in the National Register of Historic Places and among National Historic Landmarks. The deadline to apply for funding under this grant program was July 15, 2016. Applications are currently being processed; at this time, a schedule for the review and selection of projects has not been established.

Eligible applicants for this funding include Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, Federally Recognized Tribes, Alaska Native Groups, Native Hawaiian Organizations as defined by 54 U.S.C. 300300 et seq., State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPOs), and Certified Local Governments (CLGs). Eligible applicants may partner with nonprofits, other local governments, and National Heritage Areas to ensure the broadest inclusion of all communities. The NPS encourages the development of public-private partnerships and robust community engagement leading to projects that will serve as models for communities nationwide.

Grant requests must be at a minimum $15,000 and maximum request is $50,000. All funded projects must result in:

  • The submission of a new nomination to the National Register of Historic Places or National Historic Landmark program, or
  • An amendment to an existing National Register or National Historic Landmark nomination to include underrepresented communities

Prior Awards 
In 2015, Congress appropriated $500,000 for Underrepresented Community Grants grants open to SHPOs, THPOs, Federally recognized tribes, Alaska Native Organizations, Native Hawaiian Organizations, and Certified Local Governments. On November 6, 2015 selected projects were announced in a press release following remarks by the Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell, at the PastForward conference of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The projects selected for funding in Federal fiscal year 2015 are:

  • Alaska: Organized Village of Kake Nomination Project -- $33,153 to support the preparation of National Register nominations for two historic properties associated with Native Alaskan (Tlingit) history in Kake
  • California: City of Los Angeles Asian American Historic Context Project -- $72,000 to develop historic contexts and survey materials associated with the city’s Japanese, Filipino, Thai, Korean, and Chinese American populations
  • California: City of San Francisco Civil Rights Project -- $55,000 to support the preparation of three National Register nominations and a citywide inventory for properties associated with the advancement of civil rights for African-American, Asian-American, Latino American, LGBTQ populations, and women
  • Maryland: Calvert County Piscataway Indian Archaeology Multiple Property Nomination Project -- $47,000 to prepare National Register nominations for six sites associated with Piscataway Indian Native American settlement in rural Maryland
  • Minnesota: Fort Snelling Historic District National Historic Landmark Update Project -- $60,000 to update the Fort Snelling Historic District, National Historic Landmark designation to recognize the contributions of African-American, Native American, Japanese, and women’s history
  • Montana: Butte, Montana Ethnic Atlas and National Register Nomination Project -- $56,000 to inventory and map the ethnic heritage of the Butte-Anaconda National Historic Landmark, recognizing important enclaves of African-American, Chinese, and Arabic-speaking (Lebanese) peoples and develop two new National Register nominations
  • New York: New York City Casitas Survey and Nomination Project -- $46,000 to complete intensive level survey of New York City’s Puerto Rican casitas with a model traditional cultural property nomination for one site
  • North Carolina: African-American Resources in North Carolina Nomination Project -- $70,000 to prepare 10 National Register of Historic Places nominations for resources in three categories: Rosenwald schools, African-American resources in the city of Durham, and African-American cemeteries in Raleigh
  • Virginia: African-American contribution to Spotsylvania County Heritage -- $3,847 to increase the number of listings on the National Register of Historic Places as a continuation of a previous award grant
  • Wisconsin: Wolf River Archaeological District National Register Nomination Project -- $57,000 to develop inventory and National Register nomination for prehistoric and historic resources along Wolf River corridor
The FY2015 Grant Application Guidelines are available for reference. Questions about the availability of future funding or other issues related to this grant program may be submitted by email.
In Fiscal Year 2014, $500,000 in matching grants were competitively awarded to State Historic Preservation Offices to help fund 13 projects across the country. The grant projects will increase the number of listings in the National Register of Historic Places associated with communities currently underrepresented, including communities including African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans and LGBT Americans. 

Grant-supported projects include surveys and inventories of historic properties associated with underrepresented communities, as well as the development of nominations to the National Register for specific sites.  

Projects receiving grants include inventories of African American heritage sites in Montana, Pueblo Nations in New Mexico, LGBT sites in New York City, Latino properties in Washington’s Yakima Valley and Asian American sites in Utah. Nominations to the National Register of Historic Places will be prepared for LGBT sites in Kentucky, African American Civil Rights resources in Baltimore and sites associated with Chinese immigrants and Chinese Americans in Boston. A complete list of the grants awarded in 2014 can be found here. The NPS awarded additional grants in FY 2015.