Texas Historical Foundation is excited to announce that ten non-profit organizations across the state have been selected to receive grant funding for historic preservation projects in our Spring 2024 grant cycle. Below is a summary of each project:
- Brenham Heritage Museum, Brenham, received support for their upcoming “European Immigrants to Washington County” exhibit, exploring the cultural roots of the hill country community.
- The Grace Museum, Abilene, will apply their grant towards creating immersive visitor experiences in their exhibit “Full Steam Ahead: The Texas and Pacific Railway”, transporting museum-goers back to the heyday of the storied rail line with a replica ticketing booth and railcars.
- Center for Big Bend Studies, Alpine, will use grant funds to study and archive artifacts discovered at the Tranquil Rockshelter site in West Texas, continuing the chain of discoveries in this archeologically rich area that challenge preconceived ideas about the peopling of North America.
- Baylor University, Waco, received funding for research utilizing molecular analysis to search for signals of early human presence in Texas’ Trans-Pecos region, work that explores the exciting potential of biomarkers to provide critically needed information without disturbing fragile archeological sites.
- Reedy Chapel AME Church, Galveston, was awarded funds for their annual Juneteenth event, celebrating emancipation in the cultural home of Juneteenth in Texas by retracing the steps of the historic 1866 procession.
- Caddo Mounds State Historic Site Friends Association, Alto, will apply granted funds to a class and film series introducing a new generation to traditional Caddo pottery techniques.
- Four nonprofits received funding to pursue National Register of Historic Places inclusion for endangered rural African American heritage sites. These groups include Jean Mills Jefferson Memorial Fund, Brenham, for the 1905 Brenham Normal and Industrial College, once a school for children of emancipated families in Washington County; Meetinghouse Revival, Corsicana, for the Wesley Chapel CME, originally founded in the mid-1800s to serve enslaved congregants in the town’s now-historic East Side community; Dabney Hill Missionary Baptist Church, Somerville, for Dabney Hill Lodge, a former fraternal lodge and sole remaining institutional structure associated with the Dabney Hill Freedom Colony; First Independent Baptist Church, Corsicana, for the church of the same name, originally founded by emancipated congregants in 1886.
Congratulations to all of our Spring 2024 grant recipients! We look forward to seeing these projects completed and we celebrate the impact they will have on preserving Texas history.
About THF Grants
Since 1954, the Texas Historical Foundation has supported historic preservation and education projects across the state, empowering communities to preserve their own pieces of Texas' history. Learn more on our website.
Header image: A reconstructed Caddoan hut, image courtesy of the Caddo Mounds State Historic Site (Texas Historical Commission), 2024
