The African American Heritage Trail of Martha’s Vineyard is a proud recipient of one of 40 grants just awarded by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and funded by its African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund.

Our grant will support expansion and compensation of our research and outreach team, led by our executive director Elaine Weintraub. The two-year grant will deepen our collaboration with one of the nation’s leading preservation professionals and professors, Dr. Fallon Samuels Aidoo, whose research of African American homeownership and entrepreneurship on the Vineyard helps us recognize the value and vulnerability of cottages, cottagers and their businesses in the past and present. The award also enables us to hire a public historian who can engage individuals and institutions on and off the island—from historic district commissioners to seasonal residents and workers—in telling the full story of African American history and culture on Martha’s Vineyard.

We look forward to working with the National Trust to adopt digital technologies for heritage documentation, to strategize preservation of endangered historical sites and to develop education, advocacy and tourism around the Heritage Trail. Moreover, we can’t wait to share our ongoing and planned research of the Vineyard’s African American history and heritage with all those invested in the island’s future.

To learn more about the grant we received and our fellow grantees, visit https://savingplac.es/ActionFund2021 

—African American Heritage Trail of Martha’s Vineyard