ABout the Collaboration
The National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom program, in collaboration with the Association for the Study of African American Life and History is making $500,000 available for grants in 2023.
National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom
The National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Act of 1998 (P. L. 105-203) directs the National Park Service (NPS) to establish a program that tells the story of resistance against the institution of slavery in the United States (and related territories) through escape and flight. This story is illustrative of a fundamental tenet of this nation that all human beings embrace the right to self-determination and freedom from oppression. Through the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program (NTF), the NPS acknowledges the significance of the Underground Railroad not only in its contribution to the eradication of slavery in the United States, but also as the cornerstone for a more comprehensive national civil rights movement that followed.
The Program is coordinating preservation and education efforts nationwide, and is working to integrate local historical sites, museums, and interpretive programs that have a verifiable association with the Underground Railroad into a mosaic of community, regional, national, and international stories.
The National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program is grateful to the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) for partnering to administer this grant program.
ASALH
Founded by Dr. Carter G. Woodson in 1915, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) has the mission to promote, research, preserve, interpret and disseminate information about Black life, history and culture to the global community. In 1926, Dr. Woodson initiated the celebration of Negro History Week which was expanded in 1976 to Black History Month and ASALH sets a theme each year for this celebration.