The Conservation Fund and National Trust Team Up to Save Black Heritage Sites

Protecting at-risk lands before they are lost is what The Conservation Fund has excelled at for more than forty years. We move quickly to secure at-risk places, holding them until permanent protection is in place.  

Now, we will use that same expertise to secure historically significant African American heritage sites before they are lost. Under this new partnership, the National Trust will help advance preservation efforts and long-term stewardship for sites The Conservation Fund has secured, creating a stronger pathway from acquisition to restoration.  

Our partnership was inspired by a recent success protecting the Ben Moore Hotel in Montgomery, Alabama, whose brick walls once echoed with the conversations and courage of leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rev. Ralph Abernathy. For decades, the hotel served as a hub of empowerment for a community excluded elsewhere. 

Last year we protected the Ben Moore before it could be demolished or sold. This year, it was named to the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places list. 

Together, we will work to ensure the Ben Moore and many other places are protected and restored, preserving not just the physical place but the legacy of the stories, struggles, and triumphs contained within.