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The National Parks Service awarded grants to six churches in April 2024 as part of the agency’s African American Civil Rights Grants from the Historic Preservation Fund.
Of the 39 recipients of the HPS grant, churches received $23.4 million in awards for restoration, preservation, and updates to their institutions, according to Christian Century. Historic Tabernacle Baptist Church Selma AL Legacy Foundation received $744,545 to protect the building interior and enhance air quality. The church is the location of the first mass meeting for the Voters Rights Movement, offering national significance within the civil rights movement, stated NPS.
Historic Campbell Chapel Restoration Project Inc., associated with the Historic Campbell Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Americus, Georgia, will receive $750,000 for structural repairs. The building was designed by Louis H. Persley, Georgia’s first Black registered architect.
Similar grants were awarded to Mother Trinity Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Augusta, Georgia, Union Bethel AME Church in Great Falls, Montana, St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church in Cleveland, Ohio, and Antioch Baptist Church and Cemetery in Crawfordville, Georgia.
NPS And Local Communities
“The Interior Department and the National Park Service are entrusted with using the power of place to tell the story of our country,” said NPS spokesperson Jordan Fifer in a statement shared by Christian Century. “Across America’s National Park System and in local communities throughout our nation, NPS is working to preserve and protect historic sites across the nation that hold the physical memory of our nation’s history.”
“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 NPS director Chuck Sams in a statement shared by News.MT.
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