Sacramento wins national grant to study the region’s Black history. How they’ll use it

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has been an advocate for recognizing the importance of Black contribution in American history. In 2017, it launched the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund.

The program recently awarded $50,000 to the city of Sacramento to help preserve and create awareness of Black history and cultural resources in the city.

“This is a great award that will allow for the Black experience to be better understood by the whole community and shared with current and future generations of Sacramento’s residents,” said Sean de Courcy, the city’s associate preservation planner.

One of the historic preservation projects that will be funded is the former midtown office of Nathaniel Colley, the first Black attorney in Sacramento.

The city passed an ordinance in October that would recognize the office - located at 1810 S Street - as an official historic landmark.

Sacramento’s Historic Preservation team will partner with Sacramento State history students, history consultants and volunteers from other organizations to research historic sites in the area.

“We are grateful for this opportunity and looking forward to working with the community to help shape the results,” said de Courcy.

They are expected to gather information and sources — primary and secondary — to capture the historical experience of Black Sacramentans.

The project is set to begin in August and won’t be finalized until 2022.

This story was originally published July 20, 2021 at 11:04 AM.