Congresswoman Brown Announces Federal Funding to Support Recognition of Cleveland’s Historic Black Churches

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Shontel Brown (OH-11) and the National Park Service (NPS) announced the Cleveland Restoration Society will receive a $52,149 federal grant as part of National Register Recognition for Cleveland’s Historic Black Churches.

The funding comes from the National Park Service’s Underrepresented Communities grant program, which works to diversify the sites recognized in the National Register of Historic Places. The grant awarded to the Cleveland Restoration Society was one of 21 announced by the NPS today.

“You cannot understand American History without Black History, and you cannot understand Black history without Black churches,” said Congresswoman Shontel Brown. “I congratulate the Cleveland Restoration Society on receiving this federal funding to complete their nominations of six Black churches in Cleveland to the National Register of Historic Places and commend the Society’s work to help tell our story. In Cleveland and around the country, churches are where we have found strength, solace, and solidarity. At a time when Black History and efforts for diversity, equity, and inclusion are under attack, this grant award is welcome news.”

The grant will fund the completion of six nominations to the National Register of Historic Places for historic Black churches in Cleveland, including the research, writing, nominations, and submission to the Keeper of the Register. The project will increase representation in the National Register of sites related to African American history and cultural heritage in Ohio and the nation, highlighting historic resources—specifically churches—that are integral to the preservation of African American history and cultural heritage in the Midwest.

The churches being nominated for the National Register of Historic Places are:

• Advent Evangelical Lutheran Church, 15309 Harvard Ave.
• Calvary Presbyterian Church, 7820 Euclid Ave. (Now home to New Life at Calvary)
• Emmanuel Baptist Church, 7901 Quincy Ave.
• The Greater Abyssinia Baptist Church, 1161 E. 105th St.
• Greater Friendship Baptist Church, 12305 Arlington Ave.
• Nazarene Baptist Church, 8415 Wade Park Ave.

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