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Links to Preservation Resources
State Organizations
California Downtown Association mission is to lead the way in the development of strong central business districts that support the local economy and enhance the quality of life for residents and visitors.
California Historical Society was founded in 1871. A nonprofit, privately funded, membership organization, CHS is the state’s official historical society. Its mission is to inspire and empower Californians to make the past a meaningful part of their contemporary lives.
California Main Street Alliance is the official state coordinating organization for the California Main Street Program and the National Main Street Center.
California Preservation Foundation is a statewide nonprofit organization, founded in 1977, dedicated to the preservation of California’s diverse cultural and architectural heritage.
California State Office of Historic Preservation (OHP) is responsible for administering federally and state mandated historic preservation programs to further the identification, evaluation, registration and protection of California’s irreplaceable archaeological and historical resources under the direction of the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO), a gubernatorial appointee, and the State Historical Resources Commission.
Society of California Archaeology is a nonprofit scientific and educational organization dedicated to research, understanding, interpretation and conservation of the heritage of California and the regions that surround and pertain to it.
National Organizations
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation is an independent federal agency that, as directed by NHPA, serves as the primary federal policy advisor to the President and Congress; recommends administrative and legislative improvements for protecting our nation’s heritage; advocates full consideration of historic values in federal decisionmaking; and reviews federal programs and policies to promote effectiveness, coordination, and consistency with national preservation policies.
Alliance for Historic Landscape Preservation is an inter-disciplinary professional organization which provides a forum for communication and exchange of information among its members. It is dedicated to the preservation and conservation of historic landscapes in all their variety, from formal gardens and public parks to rural expanses.
American Association for State and Local History provides leadership and support for its members who preserve and interpret state and local history in order to make the past more meaningful to all Americans.
Association for Preservation Technology International (APT) is a cross-disciplinary, membership organization dedicated to promoting the best technology for conserving historic structures and their settings.
National Preservation Institute is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization offering specialized information, continuing education, and professional training to those involved in the management, preservation, and stewardship of our cultural heritage.
Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) is the only not-for-profit (501c3) foundation in America dedicated to increasing the public’s awareness and understanding of the importance and irreplaceable legacy of its cultural landscapes. Through education, technical assistance, and outreach, we broaden awareness of and support for historic landscapes nationwide in hopes of saving this diverse and priceless heritage for future generations.
The Land Trust Alliance unites and champions organizations in local communities working to save natural areas.
National Alliance of Preservation Commissions is the only organization devoted solely to representing the nation’s preservation design review commissions. NAPC provides technical support and manages an information network to help local commissions accomplish their preservation objectives. The Alliance also serves as an advocate at federal, state and local levels of government to promote policies and programs that support preservation commission efforts.
National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers (NCSHPO) is the professional association of the State government officials who carry out the national historic preservation program as delegates of the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended (NHPA) (16 USC 470).
National Main Street Center leads a coast-to-coast network of more than 1,200 state, regional, and local programs, powerfully linked through a preservation-based strategy for rebuilding the places and enterprises that create sustainable, vibrant, and unique communities.
National Park Service archeologists, architects, curators, historians, and other cultural resource professionals work in America’s nearly 400 national parks to preserve, protect, and share the history of this land and its people. Beyond the parks, the National Park Service is part of a national preservation partnership working with American Indian Tribes, states, local governments, nonprofit organizations, historic property owners, and others who believe in the importance of our shared heritage – and its preservation. Click here to learn more about the programs offered by NPS and how they can help in your community. California is served by the Pacific West Region Office.
National Park Service’s Technical Preservation Services is the nation’s leading provider of information and guidance on the care of historic buildings. Technical Preservation Services provides the tools and information necessary to take effective measures to protect and preserve historic buildings, ranging from historic masonry and window repairs to lead paint abatement to accessibility for people with disabilities.
National Trust for Historic Preservation is private nonprofit organization with more than a quarter million members, the National Trust is the leader of the vigorous preservation movement that is saving the best of our past for the future. For more than 50 years the National Trust for Historic Preservation has provided leadership, education and advocacy to save America’s diverse historic places and revitalize our communities. National Trust for Historic Preservation, Western Regional Office serves California.
Preservation Action is a 501c4 nonprofit organization created in 1974 to serve as the national grassroots lobby for historic preservation. Preservation Action seeks to make historic preservation a national priority by advocating to all branches of the federal government for sound preservation policy and programs through a grassroots constituency empowered with information and training and through direct contact with elected representatives.
Preservation Directory.com is the online resource for historic preservation, building restoration and cultural resource management in the United States & Canada. Their goal is to foster the preservation of historic buildings, historic downtowns and neighborhoods, cultural resources and to promote heritage tourism by facilitating communication among historic preservation professionals and the general public.
Sacred Places is the only national, non-sectarian, non-profit organization devoted to helping congregations and their communities sustain and actively use older and historic sacred places.
Trust for Public Land (TPL) is a national, nonprofit, land conservation organization that conserves land for people to enjoy as parks, community gardens, historic sites, rural lands, and other natural places, ensuring livable communities for generations to come.
Historic Preservation Publications and Blogs
PUBLICATIONS
California State Office of Historic Preservation: Preservation Matters
National Park Service: Heritage News
Common Ground: Preserving Our Nation’s Heritage
Common Ground: Archeology and Ethnography in the Public Interest (1994-2001)
CRM: The Journal of Heritage Stewardship
National Trust for Historic Preservation: Preservation
OTHERS
BLOGS
California Arts Council offers grants as well as provides a great resource to search for other grants by applicant type and field.
California Council for the Humanities – The California Documentary Project
The California Documentary Project are for film, video, radio and new media projects that document the California experience, as we as explore issues of significance to Californians.
California Cultural and Historical Endowment
The Endowment is devoted to telling California’s history as experienced by the many diverse peoples of California and is intended to help strengthen and deepen Californians’ understanding of the state’s history, its present society, and themselves.
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Entitlement Communities Program
This program is administered by every local community development department.
Grants.gov is your source to FIND and APPLY for federal grants.
The Getty Foundation funds individuals and institutions whose mission is to advance the understanding and preservation of visual arts. The fund focuses on: Access to Museum and Archival Collections, Art History as a Global Discipline, Advancing Conservation Practice, and Leadership and Professional Development.
The Home Depot Foundation’s goal is to create thriving communities for families by creating healthy, affordable homes as the cornerstone of sustainable communities.
Institute of Museum and Library Services – Conservation Assessment Program
CAP provides general conservation assessments of a museum collection, environmental conditions, and site. Professionals help identify conservation priorities, thereby helping direct organization strategies for improved collections care, and long-range planning and fund-raising.
Institute of Museum and Library Services – Conservation Project Support Grants
The Conservation Project Support grants are for museums to develop and implement institution-wide approaches to care for their collections. Museums should apply for their projects that require the highest conservation needs. Conservation care must be the primary goal of the projects.
Institute of Museum and Library Services – Museum Assessment Program
The MAP is supported by both the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the American Association of Museums. It helps museums plan for the future, and assess strengths and weaknesses.
Institute of Museum and Library Services – 21st Century Museum Professionals
The 21st Century Museum Professionals Grants program is meant to help increase the capacity of museums by improving the knowledge and skills of museum professionals. Grants can be applied to a wide variety of activities surrounding the improvement of professional skills for better museum operations and organizations.
Institute of Museum and Library Services – Connecting to Collections Statewide Implementation Grants
All types of museums are eligible for these grants, except for federally operated and for-profit museums. Museums must demonstrate that they exhibit objects to the general public.
Institute of Museum and Library Services – Museums for America
IMLS’s largest grant program is the Museums for America. This helps museums support projects and ongoing activities. The grants enables museums to serve the public more effectively by assisting with high-priority activities that advance the institution’s mission and strategic goals. The funds may be used for a wide variety of projects.
Institute of Museum and Library Services – Museum Grants for African American History and Culture
These grants help enhance institutional capacity and sustainability through professional training, technical assistance, internships, outside expertise, and other tools. Eligible applicants are museums whose primary purpose is African American life, art, history and culture. Public or private nonprofit organizations who primarily support these museums are also eligible.
MetLife Foundation – Grants in Culture and Public Broadcasting
The MetLife Foundation’s Museum and Community Connections program awards grants to museums for exhibitions and other programs where the missions is to reach into diverse communities, and bring art into people’s lives.
National Endowment for the Arts Grants for Arts Projects
The NEA Grants fund institutions whose projects are vehicles for any of the following: the portfolio of American Art is expanded, Americans throughout the nation experience art, and Americans of all ages acquire knowledge or skills in the arts, and American communities are strengthened through the arts.
The National Endowment for the Humanities
The NEH administers a variety of grants throughout the year.
The National Endowment for the Humanities – America’s Historical and Cultural Organizations: Planning and Implementation Grants
The organization’s planning and implementation grant support for projects and programs are for projects in the humanities that explore stories, beliefs, and ideas that to deepen our understanding of the world.
The National Endowment for the Humanities – Humanities Collections and Reference Resources Program
This program administers fund to projects which provide essential foundation for scholarship, education, and public programming in the humanities.
The National Endowment for the Humanities – Preservation and Access Education and Training
This grant helps the staff of cultural institutions, large and small, obtain the knowledge and skills needed to serve as effective stewards of humanities collections. Programs that prepare future generations of conservators and preservation professionals are also supported.
The National Endowment for the Humanities – Preservation and Access Research and Development Grants
The Preservation and Access Research and Development grants are for projects which support major challenges in preserving or providing access to humanities collections and resources.
The National Endowment for the Humanities – Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections
The Sustaining Heritage Collections program funds helpt cultural institutions meeth the complex challenge of preserving large and diverse holdings of humanities materials for future generations.
National Park Service American Battlefield Protection Program
Land and Water Conservation Fund assistance is available to States and local communities. The purpose of this fund is to help these organizations acquire and preserve threatened Civil War battlefield land. The American Battlefield Protection Program invites proposals for battlefield preservation projects once a year.
National Park Service Tribal Preservation Programs & Grants
The Tribal Preservation Grants are directed towards helping Indian Tribes preserve their historic properties and cultural traditions. Leveraged with tribal and private funds in cooperative projects, these federal grants benefit tribal, National Park, and non-profit groups altogether.
National Trust Preservation Grants
National Trust Preservation Grants cater to a wide variety of organizations and purposes. Assistance is given for: preservation planning, educational efforts, preservation emergencies, recapture of an authentic sense of place, restoration & interpretation of historic interiors, expansion of preservation field services, and preservation organization development.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation –For Those Seeking Commercial Funding
The National Trust for Historic Preservation offers commercial funding for those restoring or improving income-producing properties.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation –For Those Seeking Historic Homes Funding
The National Trust directs to a list of funds offering benefits that allow the restoration of a historic house or structure for a primary residence.
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act Grants (NAGPRA)
The NAGPRA Program administers Consultation/Documentation and Repatriation Grants. Section 10 of the act authorizes grants for museums, Indian tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations. The grants are meant for work involving consultation, documentation, and repatriation of Native American cultural items.
Partners for Sacred Places is a national, non-sectarian, non-profit organization devoted to helping congregations and their communities sustain and actively use older and historic sacred places.
Preservation Directory- Grants and Funding Sources
This directory provides grants and funding sources with helpful information for each type of opportunity.
Preserve America Grant Program
This Preserve America matching-grant program provides planning funding to designated Preserve America Communities. It helps support preservation efforts involving heritage tourism, education, and historic preservation planning.
Save America’s Treasures Grant Program
These grants are for preservation and/or conservation work on nationally significant intellectual and cultural artifacts, and nationally significant historic structures and sites. A competitive process is set in place for eligible applicants. The grants require a dollar-for-dollar, non-Federal match.
Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA21) – National Historic Covered Bridge Preservation Grants
This program helps fund States in efforts to preserve, rehabilitate, or restore the country’s historic covered bridges. “Historic covered bridge” specifically means a covered bridge listed, or eligible for listing on the National Register for Historic Places.