Largest Preservation Fund in U.S. History Invests $3 Million to Save Black Landmarks

The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund plans a $3 million contribution to help protect African American sites.

Some of the landmarks that will be preserved are the National Negro Opera Company, founded in 1941 as the first Black-owned opera company in the country. People’s AME Zion Church in Syracuse, New York, will also receive some of the funds. The church was built in 1910-11 is Syracuse’s oldest standing African American church.

Since being created in 2017, the Action Fund has supported preservation efforts for 105 landmarks through its national grant program. The grants have totaled $7.3 million. The Action Fund now holds $50 million in funding, making it the greatest preservation effort for African American sites in history.

Executive director of the Action Fund, Brent Leggs, says that recipients of the funds have represented “centuries of African American resilience, activism, and achievement.”

“Together, they help document the true, complex history of our nation. By preserving these places and telling their stories, preservationists can help craft a more accurate American identity and inspire a commitment to justice.”

Thanks to philanthropists MacKenzie Scott and Dan Jewett’s $20 million gift, the preservation work was made possible in part. Former President George W. Bush and Mrs. Bush, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust, the Chapman Foundation, and an anonymous grant in memory of Ahmaud Arbery also contributed to the Action Fund’s substantial funding.