The Lincoln High School Preservation Alumni Association submitted a competitive grant proposal in January and won a $500,000 grant award from the Department of Interior, National Park Service (NPS) funded through the Historic Preservation Fund and the African American Civil Rights Program, for preservation related construction to the historic Lincoln High School on Council Street in Sumter.

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This grant, previously announced by Congressman James Clyburn is a part of the National Park Service African American Civil Rights Grant Program’s 2021 awards of $15,035,000 million for 53 projects in 20 states to help preserve sites and history related to the African American struggle for equality. With these funds, organizations and agencies conserve significant U.S. cultural and historic resources, which illustrate, interpret, and are associated with the great events, ideas, and individuals that contribute to our nation’s history and culture.

 

 Rev. Thomas Bowman, President of the  Lincoln High School Preservation Alumni Association said, “Preserving this cultural connection will have a lasting impact because Lincoln High School has deep roots in the community and a preserved structure will cause those roots to grow even deeper. The project will connect local heritage and culture with the legacy of the civil rights movement and the place that served as an important educational center will be a long lasting gift for the community.  It will give the younger generation an opportunity to see the beauty, the resilience and the perseverance of an African American community who made the difference in so many lives by providing an education to so many.”

 

For more information please contact Rose Colclough for questions regarding the National Park Service’s African American Civil Rights Grant Program and the Lincoln High School Preservation Project, or to comment on this or any other proposed Historic Preservation Fund grant project, please contact the State, Tribal, Local, Plans & Grants Division, National Park Service, at 202-354-2020 or stlpg@nps.gov.