Kentucky African American Heritage Commission

• Next round of KAAHC grants will open: TBD 
  

2025 America250KY Grant Program​ Recipients

Bethlehem Baptist Church —  $5,000

Cemetery Restoration and Memorial Monument

This project will restore the historic cemetery grounds and install a memorial monument at the site where Bethlehem Baptist Church once stood in Daviess County. Established by formerly enslaved members of Green Brier Baptist Church following the Civil War and the passage of the 13th Amendment, Bethlehem Baptist Church served as a vital center of worship, fellowship and community organization for more than 135 years, until its structure collapsed in 2018.

The cemetery restoration and monument will create a permanent place of remembrance and reflection, preserving the legacy of generations who shaped African American life in the region and ensuring their stories are not erased from the historical record.

Camp Nelson Education and Preservation Foundation — $5,000

Second annual Freedom Day Festival Research and Documentation

Funding will support research and documentation for the 2026 Freedom Day Festival, celebrating African American art, culture and the national significance of Camp Nelson and other United States Colored Troops (USCT) recruiting stations in Kentucky.

The festival will feature African American writers, poets, painters, musicians and descendants of USCT soldiers and refugees. Grant funds will help offset artist fees, honorariums and production costs, including stage and tent installation, amplifying public engagement with stories of freedom and liberation.

James Harrod Trust Inc. — $5,000

Forgotten Founders: The African American Community at Fort Harrod

This research initiative seeks to recover and preserve the identities of African Americans who lived in Harrodsburg in 1777, when approximately 20% of the settlement’s 198 residents were African American.

Through contracted genealogical and historical research, the project will examine deeds, wills, tax records, manuscripts and other primary sources to reconstruct the lives of these overlooked individuals. Findings will be preserved at local research institutions and shared through public display materials, reframing Harrodsburg’s early history to include those whose names and contributions have long remained absent from public memory.

Lexington History Museum — $5,000

Documenting the Lives of 10 USCT Soldiers

In partnership with Dr. Amy Murrell Taylor of the University of Kentucky and Steve T. Phan of Camp Nelson National Monument, the Lexington History Museum will produce a panel exhibit tracing the lives of up to 10 Lexington-area men who enlisted in the United States Colored Troops at Camp Nelson in 1864 and 1865.

The exhibit will explore how military service shaped African American citizenship during and after the Civil War, examining both the advances and ongoing challenges to securing inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. KAAHC funds will support exhibit design, printing and display, with completion anticipated by Aug. 1, 2026.

African American history in Kentucky has roots in the Commonwealth’s earliest history, as African Americans accompanied and assisted Daniel Boone on his arrival to the new frontier in 1769. Later, as a border state during the Civil War, Kentucky’s unique condition did not lessen the cruelty and pain of slavery. However through hard work, strength and perseverance, African Americans prevailed, and today these experiences have left a lasting legacy of places that Kentuckians take pride in preserving.

The Kentucky Heritage Council and Kentucky African American Heritage Commission are dedicated to preserving buildings and places important to the history of African Americans. Kentucky has an array of sites that tell the story of slavery, the Underground Railroad, Civil War, education and civil rights, and a historically Black college is leading research efforts. Many architecturally significant buildings and museums preserve and promote local African American heritage. KHC has also worked in partnership with organizations across the state to identify remaining Rosenwald Schools in an effort to preserve and rehabilitate them.