New Name, More Funding for African American Sites in Maryland
By Stacy Montgomery, Capital Grants Administrator
As of October 1, the African American Heritage Preservation Program (AAHPP) will officially become the Speaker Adrienne A. Jones African American Heritage Preservation Program, in honor of the groundbreaking delegate from Baltimore County. Jones served as a delegate in the Maryland State legislature from 1997 until 2025, and in 2019 she became the first woman and the first African American to be named Speaker of the House.
The program’s renaming pays homage to Jones’ tireless advocacy of Maryland’s African American history and culture. Her legacy includes founding the nonprofit behind the Baltimore County African American Festival in the mid-1990s and championing legislation that redirected federal settlement funds to the state’s historically Black colleges and universities. The settlement was in acknowledgement of the chronic underfunding of these institutions.
“Naming the African American Heritage Preservation Program after The Honorable Speaker Adrienne A. Jones is a great reflection of her lifelong commitment to preserving places that tell important stories.”
The Reverend Alicia Hundall, Cowdensville A.M.E. Church (Baltimore County)
Cowdensville A.M.E. Church
Speaker Jones also had many direct ties to the AAHPP. She supported numerous grant applications from sites in her home district (District 10), including recent awardees like Cowdensville A.M.E. Church. Reverend Alicia Hundall with Cowdensville A.M.E. Church shared that “Speaker Jones has been a champion for securing the future of historic sites and ensuring their stories are not lost.” Jones also advocated for projects statewide, like the preservation of the Boys Village Cemetery in Cheltenham. Her vote to increase annual grant funding from $1.5 million to $5 million in 2022 significantly expanded the number of African American sites receiving support through the program.
A headstone at the Boys Village Cemetery in Cheltenham. As Speaker, Adrienne A. Jones advocated for the cemetery’s preservation and supported the application for funding through the AAHPP.
Since it was established in 2010, the AAHPP has awarded over $30 million to nearly 250 sites of historical and cultural importance to the African American experience in Maryland. These grants have funded a wide variety of urgent capital needs, from roof replacements to foundation repair, as well as the acquisition of endangered properties and the construction of new buildings and additions. Addressing the capital needs of these sites has given organizations the opportunity to dedicate more revenue toward public outreach and education. Each year, the program receives far more applications than it can fund, along with requests to fund non-capital work like interpretation and staffing, which the capital grant cannot support. Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture (MCAAHC) Chair Kali-Ashet Amen sees this “as an investment in Maryland’s African American civic and cultural infrastructure.”
“…in this Semiquincentennial year, the new non-capital grants will help organizations build the capacity to tell fuller stories, support public learning, and make our statewide heritage landscape stronger.”
Kali-Ashet Amen, MCAAHC Chair
In her last year as speaker, Adrienne A. Jones introduced House Bill 1010, which created a non-capital grant under the AAHPP. This legislation responds to overwhelming constituent feedback gathered during the development of the statewide preservation plan, Heritage2031, and completes one of the plan’s key strategies. Administered jointly by MCAAHC and the Maryland Historical Trust, the goal of this non-capital grant program is to invest in the staffing, planning, and programming of Maryland’s African American heritage sites. While AAHPP capital grants fund bricks-and-mortar preservation projects, the goal for non-capital grants is to address a persistent gap: the organizational and programmatic capacity needed to keep heritage sites active, relevant, and community-centered.
“Communities across Maryland told us what they needed. AAHPP capital grants have saved the buildings; the new non-capital grants will fund the exhibits, the programs, and the community work inside them. Neither one preserves this history alone. This program now does both, under the name of a Speaker who has spent her career making sure Maryland’s whole history is told.”
Chanel C. Johnson, MCAAHC Executive Director
With $250,000 allocated for its first round in FY27, applications will open on October 1 and close on November 20, 2026. Grantees will be notified in March 2027. The Maryland Historical Trust and MCAAHC encourage interested organizations to visit the program webpage and watch the program webinar to learn more about the grant program.
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