The National Park Service announces the expansion of the African American Civil Rights Grant Program (AACR) and the availability of grant funding. This year, the program will document, interpret, and preserve sites and stories telling the full story of the long struggle for African American civil rights from the transatlantic slave trade onwards across two separate grant funding opportunities. Previous grant projects had been limited to the 20th century. The NPS 2008 report, Civil Rights in America, A Framework for Identifying Significant Sites, will serve as the reference document in determining the appropriateness of proposed projects and properties.
AACR Grants are funded by the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF), administered by the NPS, and will fund a broad range of preservation projects including survey and inventory, National Register nominations, oral histories and more. Grants are awarded through a competitive process and do not require non-Federal funding match. Congress has appropriated $15.5 million in FY2020 funding for History and Preservation projects.
Grants are available to fund two type of projects: "history" and "preservation." History grants will support interpretive and research-based projects, while preservation grants will fund planning and "bricks and mortar" preservation/conservation work on historic buildings and structures.
- More information and applications for AACR History Grants are at Grants.gov AACR History- P21AS00199
- More information and applications for AACR Preservation Grants are at Grants.gov AACR Preservation- P21AS00200
