Museum Grants for African American History and Culture

Museum Grants for African American History and Culture (AAHC) is designed to build the capacity of African American museums and support the growth and development of museum professionals at African American museums. The program supports projects that nurture museum professionals, build institutional capacity, and increase access to museum and archival collections at African American museums and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The program has two goals, each with associated objectives. GOAL 1: Build the capacity of African American museums and HBCUs to serve their communities. Obj. 1.1: Develop, enhance, or expand public programs, exhibitions, and/or school programs. Obj. 1.2: Strengthen museum operations aby developing new or improved strategic plan, management practices, or institutional policies. nd professional management. Obj. 1.3: Improve care and conservation of museum collections and archives, and expand access to collections. GOAL 2: Support the growth and development of museum professionals at African American museums and HBCUs. Obj. 2.1: Develop and implement internship, fellowship, and mentoring programs to support people entering the museum field. Obj. 2.2: Create learning and growth opportunities designed to build knowledge, skills, and abilities of museum staff and/or volunteers.

An applicant to Museum Grants for African American History and Culture must meet geographic and governance criteria and qualify as one of following types of organizations:
1. A museum whose primary purpose, as reflected in its mission, is African American life, art, history, and/or culture, encompassing: the period of slavery; the era of Reconstruction; the Harlem renaissance; the civil rights movement; and other periods of the African American diaspora; and using a professional staff, is organized on a permanent basis for essentially educational, cultural heritage or aesthetic purposes; owns or uses tangible objects, either animate or inanimate; cares for these objects; and exhibits these objects to the general public on a regular basis through facilities that it owns or operates. For more information, please see 2 C.F.R. §3187.3.
2. A public or private nonprofit agency that is responsible for the operation of a museum that meets the eligibility criteria in 1, 2, and 3(a), applying on behalf of the museum.
3. A museum service organization or association whose primary purpose, as reflected in its mission, is to support museums whose primary purpose, as reflected in their mission, is African American life, art, history and/or culture; or
4. A historically black college or university, as defined by the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, 20 U.S.C. Section 1061, and pursuant to Executive Order 13256, dated February 12, 2002.

The IMLS Director takes into account the input provided by the review process and makes final funding decisions consistent with the purposes of the agency’s mission and programs. Funded and non-funded applicants are notified of decisions by email after all deliberations are complete.

IMLS will not release information about the status of an application until the applications have been reviewed and all deliberations are concluded. IMLS expects to notify both successful and unsuccessful applicants of the final decisions by email by August 2026.