WASHINGTON — A new $25 million fund is being set up through the National Trust for Historic Preservation to help ensure that historical sites important to African-American history are no longer endangered. The African-American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, announced Wednesday, will be financed through partnerships with groups like the Ford Foundation and the JPB Foundation, and already has more than $3 million on hand. The National Trust named Shockoe Bottom one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in 2014, and is working to add a memorial park to the area. The fund was created during the discussion on whether Confederate monuments and memorials should be taken down. “We were concerned that the narrative around historical monuments and markers that was all about tearing things down,” said Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation.

Source: National Post November 15, 2017 08:21 UTC