Anniston, AL – The National Parks Service (NPS) awarded $21 million to 16 states from money Congress appropriated for the African American Civil Rights Grant Program through the Historic Preservation Fund. In Alabama $3.1 million in grants were awarded to six civil rights preservation projects in Alabama. NPS Director Chuck Sams stated “The National Park Service is proud to award this grant funding to our state and local government and nonprofit partners to help them recognize places and stories related to the African American experience, since 2016, the African American Civil Rights program has provided over $100 million to document, protect and celebrate the places, people and stories of one of the greatest struggles in American history.”
In Anniston the project awarded funds was the Anniston Civil Rights Trail. NPS granted the City of Anniston $74,800 to go toward story mapping, formalization of operations and maintenance of the Anniston Civil Rights Trail. The Anniston Civil Rights and Heritage Trail Committee began the project in 2010 to help people know more about Anniston’s civil rights history. On the Anniston website it states, “Many students were not educated on the events or the people who risked their lives to bring about change, as local history is currently not part of the standard school curriculum.” The trail currently includes ten historic sites.
City of Anniston Planning and Economic Development Director Toby Bennington made the following statement, “The City of Anniston is thankful to have received $74,800 from the National Park Service’s African American Civil Rights Grant Program! The African American Civil Rights Grant Program helps document, interpret, and preserve sites and stories related to the African American struggle to gain equal rights as citizens. The grants are funded by the Historic Preservation Fund (#HPF) and administered by the National Park Service. The grants fund a range of planning, development, and research projects for historic sites, including documentation, interpretation, education, architectural services, and repairs. “This grant provides our city with the opportunity to provide further awareness and education of our civil rights trail. By partnering with the National Park Service, the City of Anniston and its Main Street Program will work to evolve our trail through the development of story mapping, a chronicle of historic events and sites through pictures and oral descriptions.”
