During a 2021 interview I did with author and poet Clint Smith, we discussed the origin of the title of his book How the Word is Passed. In that conversation he said, “For many people, history is not about empirical evidence. It is not about primary source documents. It is about a story that they have been told. And it is a story that they tell, it is an heirloom that is passed down across generations, across family, across community.”

As preservationists we recognize just how imperative it is to understand how these histories are shared and passed down over the years—while also working to preserve the places where these memories are held. And, as we reckon with the inequities inherent in the systems of preservation, many organizations and preservationists are also working hard to document and map these spaces of the Black experience in the United States

Last year I began a series of short resource lists related to historically excluded communities. These lists were meant to provide preservationists (at all levels) a glimpse into some of the resources and work being done to preserve these important histories, and provide examples for others that may just be getting started—or just want to learn more.

The lists in this series include:

• Locating Latinx History in the United States
• Learning About LGBTQ Spaces Through Mapping and Context Statements
• Five Ways to Learn about Asian and Pacific Islander American History

As with these other compilations, this set focused on Black history is not meant to be comprehensive. What I have pulled together below is a collection of mapping projects, context statements, organizations, podcasts, and stories to share the different ways that Black history is being preserved and shared. Also at the bottom of the article is a brief list of some of the more recent articles, stories, and webinars from Preservation Leadership Forum and on Saving Places, including the work of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund.

This list has been compiled in collaboration with Lawana Holland-Moore, program officer for the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund.

Mapping Projects

• The African American Heritage & Culture of North Carolina Digital Asset Map
• Preserving Significant Places of Black History: African American Landmarks and Historic Districts in New York City
• Tufts University: African American Trails Project
• Mapping Newark & New Jersey Black History
• Mt. Olive Cemetery Veterans Tour
• The Rosenwald Schools
• Alabama Historical Commission Historic Preservation Map Initiative (with layers for Black History sites)

Organizations

• Association for the Study of African American Life and History
• National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum
• The History Makers
• The Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice
• Association of African American Museums
• WeGOJA Foundation
• National Civil Rights Museum

Theme Studies, Context Statements, and Resources

• National Park Service Theme Studies: Civil Rights in America, Racial Desegregation of Public Accommodations, Racial Desegregation in Public Education in the United States, and Racial Voting Rights, African Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Africanisms
• NPS African American Heritage Main Page
• Los Angeles Citywide Historic Context Statement: African American History of Los Angeles (2018)
• San Francisco African American Historic Context Statement (2016)
• The African American Experience in Louisiana (2012)
• African American Historic Places and Culture (Georgia, 1993)
• Preserving African American Historic Places
• Preserving Rosenwald Schools

 Podcasts

• Historically Black (Limited Series)
• Black Belt Voices
• Urban Roots: Lost Voices of Cincinnati
• In Black America (NPR)
• 1619 Project Podcast

Recent Stories from Preservation Leadership Forum and SavingPlaces.org

• [Webinar Series] Brown v. Board of Education (full list at the bottom of the page)
• The Colorful Past and Bright Future of Azurest South, Home of a Pioneering Black Architect
• A New Orleans Rehabilitation Marks a Fresh Start for the Site of a Key Civil Rights Moment
• A Place to Grow: Lucille Clifton’s Life in Baltimore
• The Power of the Easement: Protecting the Legacy of Nina Simone
• Protecting the Physical Legacy of Hurd v. Hodge and the Hurd Family
• Out of the Shadows: Reinterpreting a National Trust Historic Site
• Reconsidering Celebrations at Sites of Enslavement
• African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund: Stories
• HBCU Cultural Heritage Stewardship Initiative