2 African-American monuments in the Chicago area received national grants, including the South Side Church which hosted Emmett Till’s funeral

CHICAGO (WLS) – The African-American Cultural Heritage Action Fund has awarded $ 3 million in grants to preserve 40 African-American monuments across the country, including two in the Chicago area.

The church that hosted Emmett Till’s funeral, Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ on the South Side of Chicago, will receive $ 150,000.

The 14-year-old from Chicago was killed by a white mob for allegedly hissing at a white woman while visiting relatives in Mississippi in 1955.

Till was the cousin of Marvel’s husband McCain Parker. She said the grant money will be used for structural repairs.

“We certainly want to preserve the memory and legacy of Emmett Till,†said McCain Parker, management consultant for the project.

The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund is a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

“The Action Fund was created in the aftermath of Charlottesville and it was an opportunity for the National Trust to demonstrate the power of historic preservation as a tool of racial equity and justice,†said Brent Leggs , executive director of the fund.

The Robbins Historical Society and Museum in Robbins receives $ 80,000 from the fund. The Historical Society and Museum are restoring SB Fuller’s former home into their future home. At one point, Fuller owned the largest black-owned business in the country, which included a cosmetics line and newspapers.

“We struggled to find ways to raise funds to open it so that we could set up our museum there,†said Tryone Haymore, executive director of the Robbins Historical Society.

McCain Parker says the goal is to eventually turn Roberts Temple Church into a museum.

“One of the things about preserving history is that forgotten history is sometimes repeated,†she said.