Governor Hochul Announces $3.8 Million New York State African American Heritage Grant Program

Governor Hochul today announced a $3.8 million new grant program to support and promote the history and achievements of African Americans and people of African descent throughout the State. The New York State African American Heritage Grant Program (NYS AAH) will provide grants to assist nonprofit organizations and local governments in documenting, interpreting, and preserving places and stories of historical and cultural importance to the African American experience in New York.

“At a time when crucial elements of public history are under assault from Washington, New York State is stepping up to the stories of all of our residents. This new grant program will help expand the ways we teach, preserve, and celebrate Black history in New York,” Governor Hochul said. “We look forward to working with community partners to foster a greater understanding of Black New Yorkers’ contributions to our state.”

Funded through a state appropriation to the Commission on African American History, the grant program was created to educate the public about sites and people connected to a broad spectrum of Black history across New York. All eligible projects must focus within the period from 1627, when the first enslaved Africans arrived in New Amsterdam, to 1975, the latter part of the Black Arts and Black Power movements.

There are two project categories in the grant program: education projects and capital projects. Up to $2.8 million will be available for education grants to support education, interpretation, programming, research, and/or documentation projects that highlight, uncover, uplift, and amplify the contributions and history of African Americans in New York State — with a maximum award of $150,000. Up to $1 million is available for capital grants that support pre-development planning and design, construction, or a combination of both for existing buildings, structures, or sites related to African American heritage– with a maximum award of $200,000. Detailed information about the grant program is available at parks.ny.gov/grants.

The New York State African American Heritage Grant Program is administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP), Division for Historic Preservation, in partnership with the New York State Commission on African American History (Commission) and the New York State Department of State (DOS).

New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Acting Commissioner Kathy Moser said, “In New York, we are committed to telling our whole history and this grant program will provide a new resource for storytellers, history ambassadors and community stewards to share, research and preserve New York’s Black History. We’re proud to partner with the Commission on African American History and the Department of State to encourage and enhance this important work and thank Governor Hochul for her leadership in this and other history initiatives that support New Yorkers now and into the future.”

New York State Secretary of State Walter T. Mosley said, “As New York State continues to celebrate Black History Month by helping highlight the sites and people connected to a broad spectrum of Black history across our nation, New Yorkers can simultaneously celebrate and preserve the contributions the African American diaspora has made in our state. Governor Hochul’s $3.8 million grant will support and promote the history and achievements of the African American community throughout the state and will help assist organizations and local governments to document and preserve places and stories Black New Yorkers have helped to mark and shape within the very fabric of our many current state traditions, economics and cultural experience we all embrace to this very day.”

Nonprofit organizations registered in New York State and municipalities (city, village, town, county) committed to embracing, preserving, and sharing the history, placemaking, and achievements of African Americans in New York State through targeted education and capital projects are eligible to apply to the NYS AAH Grant Program. Examples of nonprofit organizations eligible to apply for this opportunity include Black cultural institutions, local preservation organizations, historic sites or museums, historical societies, Friends Groups, faith-based organizations, and burial ground or cemetery associations.

Interested applicants are strongly encouraged to participate in upcoming informational webinars. Interested applicants can sign up for informational updates here. All applicants will be required to complete a brief online pre-application questionnaire to confirm the project’s eligibility for this program.  Upon eligibility confirmation, the full application package will be provided. Additional information, including dates of upcoming webinars and availability of the pre-application, will be announced in spring 2026.

The grant program builds on the work of the New York State Commission on African American History. Established by Governor Hochul in 2022, the Commission serves to highlight contributions by Africans and African Americans to New York State and the Nation.