National Trust Awards $13.5 Million to Preserve Historically Black Churches in 2026

The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, a division of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, awarded $13.5 million in preservation grants to historically Black churches in 2026.

The funding was distributed in two rounds. An initial $5 million went to five churches on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. A second round of $8.5 million was awarded in February 2026 to 33 additional churches. The grants support capital projects, endowment building, organizational capacity, and interpretive programming.

Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, received funding to hire a Director of Development and build a preservation endowment. The church was the site of the 1963 bombing that killed four young girls during the Civil Rights Movement.

Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once preached, received a grant to develop an oral history tour for visitors.

Pilgrim Baptist Church in Chicago, Illinois, received funding for interpretive programming exploring its influence on gospel music. The church is widely credited as the birthplace of gospel music in America.

Other recipients include First African Baptist Church in Savannah, Georgia, for stained-glass window restoration, and Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago for masonry and roofing repairs.

The National Trust said the grants recognize that Black churches serve as anchors of faith, culture, democracy, and community. The organization noted that many of these buildings face urgent structural needs and lack the financial resources to address them without outside support.