The National Park Service (NPS) today awarded $4.48 million to eight projects in seven states as part of the Historic Preservation Fund's (HPF) 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.
“Equal rights are an enduring struggle in America. Through the History of Equal Rights grant program, the National Park Service helps States, Tribes, local governments, and nonprofit organizations invest in locally-led preservation of historic structures honoring some of our nation’s most defining and important history,” said NPS Director Chuck Sams. “In September 2022, Secretary Haaland and I visited Benedict College, one of today’s History of Equal Rights grant recipients, and witnessed firsthand the impact of these dollars in practice. I am proud that with this newest grant Benedict College will be able to continue its work on Duckett Hall.”
This year’s grants will support the preservation of sites like the Detroit Association of Women’s Clubs historic headquarters building and Shaw University’s historic women’s education building Estey Hall.
- The historic Detroit Association of Colored Women’s Clubs, today known as the Detroit Association of Women’s Clubs, bought the William Lennane house in 1941 to serve as headquarters for the association. From this headquarters house, the association, and particularly its president, Rosa Gragg, addressed numerous social issues, including African American civil rights. This grant will foster its ongoing preservation by producing a historic structure report and a nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. The grantee is matching the project with $10,000.
- Built in 1874, Estey Hall was the first building constructed for higher education of Black women in the United States at Shaw University, one of the oldest Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the nation. Named after the industrialist donor, Jacob Estey, who contributed to the hall’s construction, it is the oldest surviving building of the university’s 150-year history of educating Black women. This grant will continue the preservation of Estey Hall by repairing its roof.
| Location | Project | Grantee | Award |
| Alabama, Selma | Critical Electrical Upgrades for Tabernacle Baptist Church | Historic Tabernacle Baptist Church - Selma AL Legacy Foundation, Inc. | $750,000 |
| Georgia, Marietta | Exterior Rehabilitation of Girard Elementary School | Girard 3.0 | $750,000 |
| Louisiana, Many | Sabine High School Exterior Rehabilitation Phase 1 | SHSRP Management Group, Inc. | $748,650 |
| Michigan, Detroit | Women's Clubs Building Historic Structure Report & National Register Nomination | City of Detroit | $75,000 |
| North Carolina, Oxford | Rehabilitation of the Mary Potter School Shop Building | National Mary Potter Club, Inc. | $743,918 |
| North Carolina, Raleigh | Phase 2 Roof Preservation of Estey Hall | Shaw University | $538,200 |
| Ohio, Wilberforce | Phase 2 Interior Rehabilitation of Tawawa Chimney Corner | The Bishop Reverdy C. & Emma S. Ransom Foundation | $749,999 |
| South Carolina, Columbia | Duckett Hall Rehabilitation Project Phase II | Benedict College | $130,483 |
| Total | $4,486,250 |
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. Authorized at $150 million per year, the current legislation authorizing the HPF ends in 2023. 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 nps.gov/stlpg.
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