Getty and LA Launch African American Historic Places Project

The Getty Museum and the City of Los Angeles have launched the African American Historic Places Project, a three-year initiative to identify, protect, and celebrate African American heritage sites. Led by the Getty Conservation Institute and the Office of Historic Resources (OHR) within the Department of City Planning, the project will work with local communities and cultural institutions. Of the 1,200 designated historic places in LA, only about 3% are linked to African American heritage, a disparity the project aims to address. A virtual roundtable in December 2020, involving thought leaders, urban planners, and historians, laid the groundwork. Tim Whalen, Director of the Getty Conservation Institute, stated that the goal is to ensure African American stories and places are better known. Brent Leggs, Executive Director of the African Cultural Heritage Action Fund at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, noted the project will shed light on forgotten histories. In 2018, the OHR established a framework for identifying African American heritage based on nine themes including civil rights, segregation, religion, and visual arts. Susan D. Anderson, curator at the California African American Museum, emphasized that LA's history is incomplete without recognizing African American contributions.