Warner & Kaine Announce More Than $800,000 For Preservation Of Virginia’s Civil Rights Legacy In Richmond & Danville

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine announced $818,090 in funding to preserve African American Civil Rights Movement sites at the Williams Community Resource Center in Danville and the Third Street Bethel AME Church in Richmond.

“Virginia is home to many sites that were key in the fight for civil rights and equality. I am pleased that this funding will help protect this part of American history for many generations to come,” said Warner.

“African American history has deep roots in Virginia, and we must honor the movements that made the United States a better country by preserving the sites that were integral to that change,” said Kaine, a former civil rights lawyer. “I am proud that today’s funding will help preserve this history and commemorate the sacrifices and triumphs of countless Virginians.”

The Williams Community Resource Center in Danville will receive $413,369 for structural rehabilitation. The site was home to the Williams family, who were heavily involved in the local Civil Rights Movement and fought for the desegregation of public facilities in the area.

The Third Street Bethel AME Church in Richmond will receive $404,821 for structural rehabilitation. The 3rd Street Bethel Baptist Church served as a location for African Americans to safely meet during the Civil Rights Movement to plan community events.

The awards are available through the National Park Service’s African American Civil Rights Grant Program to document, interpret, and preserve the sites and stories related to the African American struggle to gain equal rights as citizens in the 20th Century.

Last year, Warner and Kaine introduced the 400 Years of African American History Act – legislation that would establish a commission to plan programs and activities in 2019 across the country to recognize the arrival and influence of Africans in America.

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