The LeDroit Building was once home to the first law school founded by women, for women: the Washington College of Law. As a grant recipients, the Washington, D.C. State Historic Preservation Office will create a historic context study of sites in the District of Columbia related to women’s history, particularly to women’s suffrage upon the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Courtesy/Jason Hornick, DC Preservation League

NPS News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Park Service (NPS) Tuesday announced it has awarded $750,000 in Underrepresented Community Grants to support the identification and nomination of sites to the National Register of Historic Places.

The Underrepresented Community grant program focuses on documenting the homes, lives, landscapes, and experiences of underrepresented peoples who played a significant role in national history.

FY 2019 grants will help fund 18 projects to eight states, six tribes, two local governments, the District of Columbia, and the Federated States of Micronesia.

Federal oil and gas revenues from the Outer Continental Shelf provide the lion’s share of deposits into the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF), which is the source of funding for Underrepresented Community grants.

“These competitive grants will help diversify the nominations submitted to the National Register of Historic Places,” said National Park Service Deputy Director David Vela, exercising the authority of the Director. “They will provide assistance to state, tribal, and local governments to identify and preserve sites that will convey a more complete history of our country.”

Examples of projects selected for FY 2019 funding include a historic landscape nomination in the first underrepresented community grant awarded to the Federated States of Micronesia; a historic context study of women’s history in the District of Columbia; documentation of slavery in Massachusetts; and nominations of significant tribal sites in California and Washington.

Applications for $750,000 in FY 2020 funding will be available in the fall of 2020. Eligible applicants include state and tribal historic preservation offices and certified local governments.

For more information about the grants and the Underrepresented Community Grant Program, please visit https://www.nps.gov/preservation-grants/community-grants.html.