WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN), along with U.S. Reps. Lacy Clay (D-MO-1) and Jason Smith (R-MO-8), today introduced a bipartisan bill to create an African American Civil Rights Network – a national network of historic sites, stories, research facilities, and educational programs connected to the African American Civil Rights Movement. The African American Civil Rights Network Act would also establish a National Park Service (NPS) program to educate the public, and provide technical assistance for documenting, preserving, and interpreting the history of the Civil Rights Movement.

“Building a network of historic sites connected to our Civil Rights Movement is one small way we can preserve the legacy and struggle of those who bravely risked their lives to demand full and equal participation in our democracy,” said Brown. “This will guarantee future generations can learn from their stories.” 

“The African American Civil Rights Network will help recognize and preserve as part of our national history sites that are central to the Civil Rights Movement, such as Memphis’ Mason Temple, the Church of God in Christ, and the Lorraine Hotel,” Alexander said. “This network will ensure the Civil Rights Movement remains at the front of our history and will help our children grow up learning about this pivotal movement.” 

“The purpose of our legislation is to recognize, preserve, protect and share the remarkable American story of the modern struggle for civil rights, a unique national experience that touches every American, regardless of their age or heritage,” said Clay. “The historic network would create tremendous educational opportunities by recognizing those brave souls from all walks of life who fought to make the promises enshrined in our constitution finally ring true.”

The bill is supported by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

“We applaud Sens. Brown and Alexander on introduction of the African-American Civil Rights Network Act,” said Thomas J. Cassidy, Vice President, Government Relations and Policy, National Trust for Historic Preservation. “By linking the historic sites, routes, corridors, and regions that defined the struggle for African-American equality, this bill will deepen our understanding of the relationships between the people and places of the modern Civil Rights movement, and help us to better appreciate its context and complexity. Creating programming that ties together sites, activities, and research on civil rights will produce a richer and more complete picture of a critical time in our nation’s history.”

The African American Civil Rights Network would initially look to include historic sites identified by the NPS’ Civil Rights Initiative like Mason Temple in Memphis, TN, where Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “Mountaintop” speech the day before his assassination. There is also the opportunity for additional sites to be added like Miami University’s Western Campus in Oxford, OH, where students trained to register African American voters in Mississippi during Freedom Summer.

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