NEW ORLEANS – More than $1 million in African American Civil Rights grants will be directed to four projects in Louisiana designed to preserve historic Civil Rights sites and stories.
Just under $500,000 will help fund the rehabilitation of the Robert “Bob” Hicks House and 1906 Mill House, $500,000 will go to the City of Shreveport for the preservation of the Old Galilee Missionary Baptist Church, $25,000 will go to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference Educational Pavilion and Central City Civil Rights Corridor Project, and $50,000 will help fund the “Cuttin’ Cane Ain’t All We Do” exhibit at the West Baton Rouge Museum.
“An integral part of the Interior and National Park Service mission is to help preserve and tell America’s story,” U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke said. “These grants will benefit places, like the Robert Hicks House and 1906 Mill House, all across the nation to help tell an essential piece of that story through the African American struggle for civil rights and equality.”
Nationwide, $12.6 million in grant money has been designated for 51 projects in 24 states.
“Through the work and engagement of public and private partners, these grants will preserve a defining part of our nation’s diverse history,” National Park Service Deputy Director Dan Smith said. “By working with local communities to preserve these historic places and stories, we will help tell a more complete narrative of the African American experience in the pursuit of civil rights.”
Funds will be disbursed through the U.S. Department of the Interior and the National Park Service.