The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)

Preservati­on group awards $1.1M for African-American historic sites

- Photos and text from wire services

NEW ORLEANS — Grants totaling $1.1 million will help support important African-American heritage sites including the homes of jazz musician John Coltrane and playwright August Wilson, a Virginia location central to the slave trade and civil rights locations in Birmingham, a preservati­on group has announced.

The money from the African-American Cultural Heritage Action Fund is part of an effort by the National Trust for Historic Preservati­on to preserve and promote African-American historic places.

Brent Leggs, who directs the fund, says African-American historic places traditiona­lly have been undervalue­d and underfunde­d.

“Through the action fund we have the opportunit­y to raise the visibility and the full contributi­ons of AfricanAme­ricans to our nation. We have the opportunit­y to highlight stories and places of activism achievemen­t and community, to rewrite history and tell a new story about a black America,” he said.

He says the group and outside advisers narrowed down the 830 applicants from 42 states to 16 awardees. The grants are given in four categories: capacity building; project planning; capital; and programmin­g and interpreta­tion.

The trust plans to raise a total of $25 million over five years to preserve and highlight African-American historical contributi­ons.

The recipients constitute a range of sites and needs across America. Some like Shockoe Bottom in Richmond, Va., are connected with the slave trade while others, like the John and Alice Coltrane Home, in Huntington, N.Y., are connected with African-American artistic contributi­ons.

Historic Bethel Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., is part of a consortium of civil rights sites in the city that received a grant. Martha Bouyer of Bethel Baptist says the church, home to famous civil rights activist pastor Fred Shuttleswo­rth, will use the money for a historic structures report — a detailed accounting of the building which can guide future preservati­on efforts.

“I’ve been trying for years to get this done,” Bouyer said of the grant.

Paul A. Ellis Jr. is executive director of the August Wilson House in Pittsburgh, Pa., which pays homage to the AfricanAme­rican playwright who wrote such works as “Fences.” Ellis, who’s also Wilson’s nephew, said the organizati­on will match the $50,000 grant from the trust and use it to create a series of interpreti­ve exhibits and interactiv­e techniques that “tell the story of August Wilson and the community that served as the inspiratio­n for his plays.”

“That’s why it means so much to get this grant, to keep moving forward with this project,” he said. “We’re here in August Wilson’s hometown and we want the world to know his story.”

 ??  ?? This Dec. 24, 1933, photo shows the restored historic Dillaway-Thomas house.
This Dec. 24, 1933, photo shows the restored historic Dillaway-Thomas house.
 ??  ?? The Freedom House Museum in Alexandria, Va., in 2013.
The Freedom House Museum in Alexandria, Va., in 2013.

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