Action Fund Awards 13.5 Million Dollars to Preserve Historically Black Churches Across America

The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, a division of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, has awarded a total of 13.5 million dollars in grants to historically Black churches across the United States in 2026, representing one of the most significant investments in the program's history.

The funding was distributed in two rounds: 8.5 million dollars to 33 churches in the latest grant round, and an additional 5 million dollars to five churches announced on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The grants support a wide range of preservation needs, including capital projects, endowment building, organizational capacity, programming, and project planning.

Among the recipients are some of the most historically significant Black churches in America. The 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, a global symbol of the Civil Rights Movement that survived a tragic bombing in 1963, received funding to hire a Director of Development and build a preservation endowment. Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Was baptized and later preached, received support for an interpretive educational tour.

Other notable recipients include the First African Baptist Church in Savannah, Georgia, organized in 1773 and regarded as one of the oldest historically Black churches in the United States; Pilgrim Baptist Church in Chicago, considered the birthplace of gospel music; and the Clinton AME Zion Church in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, associated with the formative years of scholar and activist W.E.B. DuBois.

'These sacred sites anchor Black faith, culture, democracy, and community,' said the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The grants will help restore stained-glass windows, repair structural damage, create community spaces, and develop interpretive tours at churches that have served as cornerstones of African American life for generations.