We hired a consultant team to do community outreach to gather feedback:

• Lange Johnson Development
• Equity Strategies, LLC
• 106 Group 

Lange Johnson Development has worked with many underrepresented communities in the Twin Cities. They have led many conversations and encourage collaboration among stakeholders. 

The engagement project:

• Focused on the needs and wants of the Black community
• Sought feedback about:
  • Important places and events
  • Neighborhoods of interest
  • People who shaped the history of Minneapolis
• Welcomed knowledge and expertise of all community members.
• Built on past efforts of community members to document African American heritage.

Watch videos of the engagement events

Funding

• The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund (AACHAF) grant funded this project. The AACHAF grant is from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
• The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation also supported the project.

This project represents a new approach to heritage preservation in Minneapolis.

The final report includes:

• A summary of community engagement activities and presentation materials
• A draft outline for a historic context about African Americans in Minneapolis
• An initial list and map of places in the city that may be significant to the African American community.

We need to do more research and engagement before we can formally recognize places. The City has not initiated the local designation process for any property as a result of this project.

Next steps

• We received two grants to fund the next phase. We plan to hire a consultant to write the historic and cultural context study.
• We continue to engage with project stakeholders and interested community members.