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NPS United Colored American Cemetery vault
The United Colored American Cemetery receiving vault will be repaired as part of this grant award. 
Photo Courtesy of The Union Foundation 

February 22, 2024 - WASHINGTON – The National Park Service on Wednesday awarded $5 million to eight projects in six states as part of the Historic Preservation Fund‘s History of Equal Rights grant program, which focuses on the preservation of sites directly associated with the struggle for all Americans to gain equal rights. 

This year’s grants are made to sites significant to the equal rights of women; Hispanic and African Americans; laborers; and the LGBTQ+ community. 

“In our American experiment to create a more perfect union, we’ve struggled to meet our core principle of equal rights for all, but we continue moving forward in order to achieve a better future,” said National Park Service Director Chuck Sams. “The National Park Service is proud to help States, Tribes, local governments, and nonprofit organizations invest in locally-led preservation of historic structures which tell hidden stories of our nation’s history.” 

This year’s grants will support the preservation of sites like the Arlington Street Church in Boston and the United Colored American Cemetery in Cincinnati

  • The Arlington Street Church in Boston, Massachusetts, was built in 1861 and displays grand 16th-century Italian Renaissance and 18th-century English architecture primarily created in New Jersey brownstone ashlar. The building and congregation have hosted LGBTQ+ rights organizations and LGBTQ+ cultural events such as the Boston chapter of DignityUSA since 1977, and the nation’s first LGBTQ youth prom in 1981 as organized by the Boston Alliance of LGBTQ+ Youth (BAGLY). This grant will restore the missing South Stairs and provide other accessibility improvements. 
  • The United Colored American Cemetery was dedicated in 1883 after the original African American cemetery in Avondale, Ohio, was expelled to make way for White development. Cemeteries, like all significant institutions, were subject to segregation and inequal protection for African Americans. It took more than one year to transfer the tombstones, coffins, and remains, but damage to coffins and tombstone misplacements were common. Moreover, a lack of security during the long removal and reburial process left both locations vulnerable to vandalism, looting, and destruction by outside parties. This grant will preserve the cemetery with structural repairs to the burial vaults, monument cleaning and repair, and accessibility & security improvements. 

FY2023 History of Equal Rights Grant Awards 

Location 

Project 

Grantee 

Award 

Alabama 
Marion 

Structural Improvement to the Zion Chapel Methodist Church 

Zion Chapel Methodist Church 

$748,900  

Colorado 
Las Animas 

Boggsville (Boggs & Prowers House) Preservation: Final Phase 

Bent County Historical Society 

$522,732  

Colorado 
Pueblo 

Preservation of the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company Medical Dispensary 

Bessemer Historical Society, Inc. 

$648,048  

Georgia 
Valdosta 

Rehabilitation Planning for Dasher High School 

Coastal Plain Area Economic Opportunity Authority 

$80,853  

Illinois 
Peoria 

Peoria Women's Club Rehabilitation 

Peoria Women's Club 

$750,000  

Massachusetts 
Boston 

Arlington Street Church South Stairs and Accessibility Improvements 

The Foundation for the Preservation of 20 Arlington Street, Inc. 

$749,467  

Ohio 
Cincinnati 

United Colored American Cemetery Preservation 

The Union Foundation 

$750,000  

Ohio 
Cleveland 

Phase 2 Rehabilitation of the Eleanor B. Rainey Memorial Institute Building 

Cliquepoint Data Foundation 

$750,000  

Total 

   

$5,000,000 

Through the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF), Congress appropriated funding for the History of Equal 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 NPS, 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 the Historic Preservation Fund. 

Source: NPS