Kentucky Heritage Council
Kentucky African American Heritage Commission Lincoln Preservation Grants program announced

FRANKFORT, Ky. – The Kentucky African American Heritage Commission is now accepting applications for a new grant program for preservation projects highlighting President Abraham Lincoln’s heritage and Kentucky as his birthplace.  Administered in partnership with the Kentucky Heritage Council / State Historic Preservation Office, these grants are available to state and local governments and non-profit organizations operating within the Commonwealth

The goal of the grant program is to provide opportunities for projects that highlight African Americans’ legacy with relation to President Lincoln in Kentucky.  An African American-related Lincoln site or project is defined for the purposes of this grant program as any site or project that would preserve and add to our knowledge of Kentucky African Americans up to 1900.  These projects can have as their theme: the nature of slavery and emancipation, the Civil War, abolition, and reconstruction.

A total of $22,000 in state funds has been allocated for the Kentucky African American Heritage Commission Lincoln Preservation Grants by the Kentucky Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, which is spearheading statewide activities in conjunction with the national bicentennial celebration from 2008 through 2010.  Funds are available over a two-year period to support:

• Identification and nomination of African American Lincoln-related sites to the National Register of Historic Places
• Acquisition and rehabilitation of African American historic sites associated with Lincoln’s legacy
• Development of African American heritage tourism programs associated with Lincoln’s legacy
• Conferences, educational projects or events that interpret Kentucky’s history as it relates to Lincoln’s legacy and African Americans

Applications must be postmarked or hand-delivered to the Kentucky Heritage Council office, 300 Washington Street, Frankfort, by 4:30 p.m. (EST) Friday, November 2, 2007.

Applicants must demonstrate a minimum match of 20% of requested grant funds, either cash or in-kind contributions or a combination of both.  Applications will be evaluated on relevance of the project to Kentucky’s Lincoln Bicentennial celebration, quality of the project and application, other funds leveraged for the project, level of community support for the project, significance of historic places impacted, immediacy of need and the applicant’s ability to complete the project.  Funded projects must be completed on or before February 12, 2010.

“The Lincoln legacy is, perhaps, more complex for Kentucky African Americans than for most other groups and most other sections of the nation,” said Dr. Blaine Hudson, Kentucky African American Heritage Commission chair.  “Although Lincoln opposed slavery on principle, he was willing to permit its continued existence in Kentucky even after the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation.  At the same time, Lincoln and his generals did not block the purposeful movement of Kentucky African Americans to emancipate themselves during the Civil War – often by fleeing slavery to enlist in the Union Army.”

“We hope to use these funds to help communities tell parts of this fascinating and complex story,” he said.

The Kentucky Lincoln Bicentennial Commission has adopted several themes and outcomes to guide bicentennial programming, which can serve to direct project proposals.  Complete guidelines and an application form are available at the Kentucky Heritage Council Web site, www.heritage.ky.gov.  For questions, call Tressa Brown, Historic Preservation Coordinator, at (502) 564-7005, ext. 125 or email tressa.brown@ky.gov

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Administered through the Kentucky Heritage Council / State Historic Preservation Office, an agency of the Kentucky Commerce Cabinet, the Kentucky African American Heritage Commission works to identify and promote awareness of significant African American influences upon the history and culture of Kentucky and to support and encourage the preservation of Kentucky African American heritage and historic sites.