On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-AL, issued a press release celebrating an announcement that the National Parks Service (NPS) recently awarded almost $3.4 million to preserve 10 civil rights preservation efforts in Alabama’s Seventh Congressional District.

Four of those projects, designated more than $1.8 million collectively, are in Selma.

“I have always believed that the extraordinary history of Alabama Seventh District can drive economic revitalizations and promote its heritage tourism to create jobs,” Sewell said. “This money is necessary, not only for the preservation of physical sites and markers, but also to preserve the history of African Americans’ struggle for civil rights in the state of Alabama and that struggle’s impact on our nation.”

Congress appropriated funding in 2018 for the African American Civil Rights (AACR) grants program through the Historic Preservation Fund and this year’s recipients, spread across Sewell’s district, include historic churches, schools and homes, each of which “played a pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement.”

Also slated to receive funding are various museums memorializing the dynamic period of activism that broke out during the 1950s and 1960s.

“Learning the history of our country and people allows us to better understand where our nation stands today,” Sewell said. “I am committed to ensuring that the bravery and blood, sweat and tears of the courageous Foot Soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement are never forgotten and our history will never be erased.”

Locally, the Gateway Educational Foundation and Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church are marked to receive $500,000 for restoring the home of Amelia Boynton, a key figure in the Selma to Montgomery marches – the home is currently in a state of massive disrepair.

For Selma City Councilwoman Jannie Thomas, who represents the ward in which Boynton’s home is located, the possibility of renovating the historic property is an exciting prospect.

“It would be an honor to rehabilitate that property and honor Amelia Boynton,” Thomas said. “I’m so glad somebody is going to do something with that place. Miss Boynton deserves that recognition.”

Thomas also has a personal connection to the home – as a child, she played with Boynton’s grandchildren there and often heard stories from the civil rights activist about the movement; later in life, she was a tenant of Boynton’s in a nearby home.

“I grew up in that neighborhood,” Thomas said. “I used to go to that house. I am a product of that community.”

Brown Chapel AME Church is also on track to receive an additional $500,000 for phase three of its own preservation work.

Tabernacle Baptist Church, often recognized as the “birthplace of the Voting Rights Movement” will also receive funding – $37,950 for its “Oral Histories of the Untold Tabernacle Story” program and an additional $50,000 for a historic structure report and an assessment of its stained glass.

“The NPS grants to historic Tabernacle Baptist Church are the fulfillment of long-time needs,” said Dr. Verdell Lett Dawson of Tabernacle Baptist Church. “We are happy to receive funding to preserve our historic building with integrity and to preserve our untold story for present and future generations.”