How it Started
The Cincinnati Historic Preservation Action Plan plan includes a chapter dedicated to providing a more equitable culture of preservation. Specifically to identify, document, recognize/designate, and preserve sites of black history.
In conjunction with this plan, Cincinnati Preservation created a Sites of Black History Committee in 2022 and with local grant funds from the Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile Jr., Foundation hired a part-time Black Sites Researcher to identify sites. Through this work, Cincinnati Preservation identified over 200 sites on the Cincinnati Sites and Stories free app and mapping site.
Closing the Gap
However, more funds were needed to build upon this work, and move the needle on the number of sites of Black history that are recognized for their significance and protected from demolition. According to Census records, from 1850 to 1970, Cincinnati’s black population steadily grew from 2.8% of the population to 27.6%. However, on both sides of the river in Greater Cincinnati, only 2.1% of sites and districts listed locally are for their association with Black history. Even fewer sites and districts of Black history are listed on the National Register at 1.8%.
By tying together disparate pieces of scholarship and previous local efforts, Cincinnati Preservation has been awarded national and local funds to produce Greater Cincinnati’s Black and African American Historic Context Study over a year long period.
Thank you to the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr. Foundation for their support.
Preserving Sites of Black History
A context study will make this important history available to the public and serve as a foundation for numerous new National Register nominations and Local Historic designations. These listings will acknowledge, celebrate and preserve our region’s sites of Black history. The final document will assist with long-term historic preservation planning and community revitalization.
The area of the study would include Cincinnati, many of the first ring suburbs that had strong ties to Black heritage, and Northern Kentucky. The region has a significant amount of sites of Black History (most of which are currently unprotected and undesignated) in part, due to the location along the Ohio River which bridges the former slave state of Kentucky and free state of Ohio respectively. Also, there is a rich Black heritage that is woven into diverse facets of the region’s history and this should be recognized and celebrated.
Impact
This context study will document major historical themes including the social, political, religious, economic, educational, artistic, physical, and architectural environment in the Cincinnati region that influenced the growth of the Black community and how it changed over time. It will also identify associated property types (buildings, structures, sites, districts, and objects) that remain here. Furthermore, it will identify contributions made by individuals and groups of individuals, as well as factors and trends outside of our community that had an impact on what was happening locally.
While it is not intended to be a complete and comprehensive history of the Black population in the Cincinnati region, it should be a strong next step in documenting the contributions of the Black individuals and community to the cultural and physical fabric.
Future support will be needed to continue growing Cincinnati Preservation’s Sites of Black and Underrepresented Communities Initiative. This context study is an early step in a multi-phase initiative.
Thank you Supporters
African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Action Fund is the largest U.S. resource dedicated to the preservation of African American historic places, and Cincinnati Preservation is honored to be one of 30 award recipients in 2024.
“The National Grant Program represents the Action Fund’s enduring commitment to telling the full American story – one that makes room for Black resilience, creativity, and achievement,” said Brent Leggs, Executive Director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. “History is crucial to our nation’s understanding of where we’ve come from, who we are today, and how we envision our future. These grants will support critical preservation efforts to revitalize and sustain tangible links to our shared past that we hope will inspire future generations.”
“The Haile Foundation is proud to support the Cincinnati Preservation Association and the Greater Cincinnati Black and African American Context Study,” said John Yung, Program Manager at the Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr. Foundation. “The Cincinnati region is home to a plethora of stories, sites, and distinguished figures of cultural significance to the city, region, and country. We at the Haile Foundation are looking forward to what Cincinnati Preservation will find and how we can better celebrate, honor, and understand the diversity of our city’s cultural heritage.”