Coalition for American Heritage Applauds African American Burial Grounds Network Act Introduction in Congress

The Coalition for American Heritage commends Representatives Alma S. Adams (NC-12) and A. Donald McEachin (VA-04) for introducing the African American Burial Grounds Network Act today and urges swift passage of the bill to chronicle and preserve African-American burial grounds for future generations.

The legislation would create a voluntary national network of historic African-American burial grounds and establish a program to educate the public and provide technical assistance for community members and local organizations to research and preserve burial sites and cemeteries within the Network. The African American Burial Grounds Network Act would:

  • Create a voluntary, nationwide database of historic burial grounds, with the consent of the property owner, that relate to the historic African-American experience;
  • Provide technical assistance to local public, private, state and local partners to research, survey, identify, record, preserve, evaluate, and interpret these burial grounds;
  • Establish educational materials for community members, local groups, and schools about African-American burial grounds; and
  • Make available grants for local groups to research, survey, identify, record, and aid in the preservation of sites within the Network.

The legislation has been endorsed by a number of national and local organizations: Coalition for American Heritage, Society for American Archaeology, Society for Historical Archaeology, American Anthropological Association, American Cultural Resources Association, The National Trust for Historic Preservation, Howard University, Association of Black Anthropologists, the Afro-American Historical & Genealogical Society Inc., Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Preservation of African American Cemeteries Inc., United States Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites, Save Our Heritage Organization, Preservation North Carolina, Preservation Virginia, Enrichmond Foundation, Florida Public Archaeology Network, Preservation Maryland, Council for Northeast Historical Archaeology, Illinois Archaeological Survey, the Wake Forest Historical Museum, the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, Virginia Humanities, the Council of Virginia Archaeologists, The Coltrane Group, Black Genealogy Research Group of Oklahoma, River Road African American Museum, River Road African Burial Grounds Coalition, Shadow Lawn Memorial Gardens Maintenance & Perpetual Care Association, Preserve Arkansas, Northwest Arkansas African American Heritage Association, Georgia African American Historic Preservation Network, and Charlotte Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission.