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...

Successful applications in this grant program are structured to build the capacity of a museum and/or support the growth and development of museum professionals at an African American museum and/or HBCU; reflect a thorough understanding of current practice and knowledge about the subject matter; define a work plan consisting of a set of logical, interrelated activities tied directly to addressing a key need or challenge; and are designed to generate measurable results that tie directly to the identified need or challenge. IMLS staff review applications for eligibility and completeness. IMLS uses a peer review process to evaluate all eligible and complete applications. Peer reviewers evaluate all eligible and complete applications according to the review criteria listed in the NOFO. Reviewers are professionals in the field with relevant knowledge and expertise in the types of project activities identified in the applications. Peer reviewers must comply with IMLS�s Federal ethics and conflicts of interest requirements.

The requirements to provide cost share differ according to funding level requested in the AAHC program. Cost share is not required for requests from $5,000-$100,000. At least one-to-one cost share from non-federal sources is required for requests from $100,001-$500,000.