World Heritage Initiative Receives Grant To Recognize Civil Rights Sites

ATLANTA—Georgia State University’s initiative to preserve sites associated with the American Civil Rights Movement has received a $50,000 grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior and the National Park Service.

Grants totaling $12.6 million were given for projects that preserve sites and highlight stories related to the African American struggle for equality in the 20th century.

Georgia State will nominate sites to be added to the World Heritage List created by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 1972 to recognize sites that should be conserved for current and future generations of humanity.

The Georgia State World Heritage Initiative oversees the work of scholars preparing a statement of justification for inscription under World Heritage Criteria, historic preservationists determining the authenticity and integrity of the sites, and property owners and stakeholders charged with stewardship of the properties.

Led by faculty members from the Georgia State Department of History, Heritage Preservation, African American Studies and the Georgia State Center for Neighborhood and Metropolitan Studies, the World Heritage Initiative began in October 2016. More than 150 sites have been identified for consideration, although the final nomination will consist of a dozen places associated with the Modern Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

“This award signifies an endorsement of our efforts to enhance the recognition, understanding and preservation of iconic sites associated with the American struggle for racial equality and to share that story with an international audience,” said Glenn T. Eskew, professor of history and the World Heritage Initiative project director.

The grant was made through the African American Civil Rights Grants Program, which began in 2016 and provides assistance for a broad range of preservation projects. It will fund a critical component of the project: the first round of community outreach sessions during which the Georgia State team will meet with property owners and stakeholders to discuss the World Heritage Program, the nomination process and the crafting of site management plans and buffer zones to protect the properties in perpetuity.

Learn more about the Georgia State World Heritage Initiative at https://worldheritage.gsu.edu. For a list of grant recipients, click here.

Featured Researcher