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Dear Friend,
All of us at the National Trust are spending this month reflecting on African American history and the incredible but often unrecognized contributions that Black people made to the American narrative. In this email, I want to tell you about two crucial projects that help demonstrate how your support can make a lasting impact on the places and stories that capture our unique American history. Our past must be understood so that we can move forward as a nation with stronger compassion and purpose.
As a friend of the National Trust, you know how important historic preservation is in telling the full American story. We’re not just protecting and maintaining extraordinary places—we’re filling in the missing pieces of our heritage, connecting people from the present to the past, and bringing the stories of unsung heroes to life.
These stories can’t be told without your help. I hope you’ll join us on this journey to honor and safeguard the diverse legacy that defines us as a people and a nation. Join the National Trust now to help us save remarkable places where the full American story unfolded.
The National Trust’s top priority is saving America's historic places, and we feel a sense of duty and urgency to protect places like these:
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Brown v. Board of Education Sites
The landmark 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education is a watershed moment in American history that struck down segregation in the nation’s public schools, energized the civil rights movement, and gave hope to millions of Americans.
Brown is most often associated with Topeka, Kansas, but it was actually a coordinated group of lawsuits across many communities. The National Trust is working with local leaders to connect the stories of these places, preserve and interpret the era’s remaining buildings, and give voice to the hundreds of students, parents, activists, and attorneys who fought for dignity and integration. We’ve just worked with Senator Chris Coons and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn to reintroduce legislation that commemorates these historic sites.
Rosenwald Schools
In the early twentieth century, philanthropist Julius Rosenwald and Booker T. Washington built state-of-the art schools for African American children across the segregated South. By 1928, one-third of the South’s rural Black school children attended Rosenwald Schools. When the Supreme Court declared school segregation unconstitutional in 1954, Rosenwald Schools became obsolete. Today, the remaining buildings serve as a testament to overcoming inequality and the importance of Black education and achievement.
The National Trust has a long history working to save Rosenwald Schools. We advocated for recently passed legislation that authorizes a study of sites associated with the legacy of Julius Rosenwald, and we continue to work with our partners to advocate for a national park. Through the Action Fund, we also helped fund Rosenwald School projects in May's Lick, Kentucky and Mars Hill, North Carolina. The Mars Hill project was undertaken by a community group that included former Rosenwald students to help restore a Rosenwald School there. When the project is complete, it will be an interpretative museum about Black history in western North Carolina.
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Now is your chance to make more of this work possible—help us achieve our $25,000 goal in support of our mission to tell the full American story. Your gift will provide needed resources to protect places across our country that embody our country's richly diverse and complex history. Join the National Trust now.
Thank you for your support and for making the important work of historic preservation possible.
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Adele Hixon-Day
Vice President of Individual Giving
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