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Three-story yellow townhouse with green trim

Program

African American Experience Fund

Carter G. Woodson National Historic Site
NPS Photo / Victoria Stauffenberg

Introduction

Bringing African American stories to the forefront of our national history.

Established in 2001, the National Park Foundation’s African American Experience Fund (AAEF) supports national park sites, partnerships, and projects that tell the stories of African Americans. Work supported by the program spans from helping to establish new national park sites and long overdue preservation efforts to enhancing interpretation and creating new engagement opportunities in parks. By expanding efforts to bring African American stories to the forefront of our national history, projects supported by AAEF are helping amplify African American histories, past and present, in the broader American story.

Program Highlights

A large two-story house with several windows surrounded by green grass on a partly cloudy day
Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument

NPF played  a  significant  role  in  creating  this  park   by   providing   the   necessary   funding   through AAEF in 2013 to purchase the historic property  from  the  Omega  Psi  Phi  Fraternity,  Inc.'s Friendship Foundation.

A single-story ranch-style house with light brown brick and teal siding
Medgar & Myrlie Evers Home National Monument

NPF provided the funding necessary to acquire the Evers' home from Tougaloo College and transfer it to the National Park Service.  NPF provided additional support for capacity and programmatic development as the park prepared for the 60th commemoration of the assassination of Medgar Evers in 2023.

Program Updates