Historically black colleges across US awarded $7.7 million for preservation projects
The National Park Service is doing its part to maintain the celebrated campuses of historically black colleges and universities in the U.S.
On Friday, the agency announced $7.7 million in grants to aid preservation projects at 18 HBCUs across 12 states. The funding, which the NPS awards annually, will support “the physical preservation of National Register listed sites on HBCU campuses to include historic districts, buildings, sites, structures, and objects,” according to a news release.
The nation’s HBCUs have benefited from more than $60 million in grants awarded by the agency in the last 25 years, the NPS website states.
“These grants help us to honor the legacy of HBCUs in serving our nation’s higher education needs,” David Vela, Deputy Director for the National Park Service, said in a statement. “Funding awarded this year will help preserve 18 historic properties on HBCU campuses in 12 states, many of which are listed in the National Register.”
Among this year’s grant recipients are Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama; Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland; and Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina, among others.
The money will be used to maintain historic sites, buildings and structures such as the James B. Dudley Memorial Building at North Carolina A&T University, also in Greensboro, according to NPS. Another $266,000 will also be used to renovate the school’s Morrison and Murphy Halls, the latter of which was NC A&T’s first dining hall.
National Park Service officials said the grant money will also go toward “pre-preservation studies, architectural plans and specifications, historic structure reports, and the repair and rehabilitation of historic properties” at the institutions.
Projects receiving funding this year also include :
North Carolina
- Bennett College — $460,000 for renovations to the Historical Susie Jones Alumnae House
- Livingstone College — $500,000 for the preservation of the Historic Andrew Carnegie Library
South Carolina
- Benedict College — $500,000 for the Pratt Hall Preservation Project
- Claflin University — $446,569 for the Trustee Hall Preservation and Restoration Initiative
- South Carolina State University — $50,000 for the SCSU Forensic Analysis/Assessment of Wilkinson Hall Project
Georgia
- Morehouse College — $500,000 for the Samuel T. Graves Hall Exterior Repair and Restoration Project
Mississippi
- Jackson State University — $496,023 for the preservation of the Historic Mt. Olive Cemetery
Louisiana
- Grambling State University — $500,000 for renovations to the Health Center in Grambling State University Historic Village
- Southern University and A&M College — $499,938 for preservation of the Archives Building
Texas
- Texas College — $500,000 for renovations to the D.R. Glass Library
The yearly grants are made possible through the Historic Preservation Fund, which uses revenue from federal oil leases to provide assistance for a variety of preservation projects, according to the National Park Service. The funds are then appropriated by Congress.
This story was originally published April 24, 2020 at 4:22 PM with the headline "Historically black colleges across US awarded $7.7 million for preservation projects."