I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1704
To amend title 54, United States Code, to establish within the National
Park Service the National Freedom Settlements Preservation Program,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY27, 2025
Ms. K
AMLAGER-DOVE(for herself, Mr. SOTO, Mr. JACKSONof Illinois, Mrs.
M
CIVER, Mrs. BEATTY, Mrs. WATSONCOLEMAN, and Ms. BROWN) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural
Resources
A BILL
To amend title 54, United States Code, to establish within
the National Park Service the National Freedom Settle-
ments Preservation Program, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Revitalizing and Em-4
powering Freedom Settlements Through Opportunity, Re-5
silience, and Education Act’’ or the ‘‘RESTORE Act’’. 6
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7
Congress finds the following: 8
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(1) After the Civil War, over 1,200 Freedmen’s 1
Settlements and Black Towns were established 2
throughout the United States before and after 3
emancipation, with at least 200 towns established by 4
formerly enslaved individuals between 1866 and 5
1930, creating safe, self-sustaining, and thriving 6
communities away from racial violence and economic 7
discrimination. 8
(2) Following the end of slavery, many African- 9
American families who strived for land and housing 10
security established their homes in Black Towns. 11
These towns, founded and governed by recently- 12
emancipated African-American people across the 13
country, were known as Freedmen’s Settlements, 14
Freedom Colonies, or Black Towns. 15
(3) African Americans were often denied access 16
to necessary public systems, such as education, 17
housing, and neighborhood infrastructure. Across 18
many areas of the United States, African-American 19
people were barred from utilizing these services be-20
cause of local segregating laws. 21
(4) Freedmen’s Settlements were established 22
around the provision of community services, often 23
structured around schools and churches, as Black 24
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residents came together to fulfill necessary resources 1
they had been previously denied. 2
(5) Despite these communities being an exam-3
ple of African-American communities’ self-sufficiency 4
amidst a discriminatory society, they were still ter-5
rorized by violent, White supremacist groups which 6
initially excluded them from White systems. 7
(6) Due to harsh circumstances which included 8
violent attacks, exclusion from water and sanitation 9
systems, as well as urban planning to remove Black 10
Towns from railroads, many Freedmen’s Settle-11
ments, which are predominantly in rural areas, are 12
underdeveloped and lack accessibility due to many 13
systemic challenges. 14
(7) Freedmen’s Settlements have been dis-15
proportionately impacted by economic and commu-16
nity underdevelopment, but have the potential to be-17
come thriving communities with proper support and 18
investment that honors their rich history, meets the 19
current needs of their residents, and uplifts commu-20
nity resilience and sustainable development. 21
(8) Many of these Freedmen’s Settlements and 22
Black Towns were destroyed by southern domestic 23
terrorists, or otherwise became impoverished by cen-24
turies of public and private divestment. This in-25
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cludes uncompensated enslaved labor, failed Recon-1
struction, and the unmet Freedmen’s Bureau’s 2
postemancipation promises to transition people who 3
were formerly enslaved into the American economy, 4
Jim Crow laws, economic and housing discrimination 5
through redlining, public housing, and transpor-6
tation policies, and environmental racism. Some 7
towns withstood systemic racism and racial violence, 8
and serve as examples of community resilience. 9
(9) It is difficult to fully quantify and under-10
stand the history and current status of all the 11
Freedmen’s Settlements in the United States due to 12
lack of research and investment in analyzing, pre-13
serving, and supporting these historic settlements, 14
towns, and communities, with a large part of this 15
history held by the descendants of the founders and 16
residents. 17
(10) A lack of accurate information is typical of 18
African-American history following the Civil War, 19
due to disenfranchisement of African Americans 20
from predominantly White, institution-based docu-21
mentation. 22
(11) Freedmen’s Settlements were often— 23
(A) poorly recorded; 24
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(B) excluded from historical maps and 1
databases; 2
(C) recognized only through oral traditions 3
and community memory; and 4
(D) suffered from the negative con-5
sequences of systemic racism, such as the cal-6
culated exclusion from crucial infrastructure 7
like water systems or railroads. 8
(12) Recognizing and providing resources for 9
Freedman’s Settlements through Federal identifica-10
tion, designation of historic status, comprehensive 11
documentation, funding, and physical commemora-12
tion would lead to greater equity and investment in 13
historically disadvantaged communities that have 14
faced centuries of racism, discrimination, environ-15
mental and climate injustices, and violence. 16
(13) A handful of former Freedmen’s Settle-17
ments have received State or local designation for 18
their historic status, offering them an opportunity 19
for preservation and public acknowledgment, such as 20
the Freedmen’s Town Historic District in Houston, 21
Texas. 22
(14) There is an ongoing call, gaining much 23
traction today, to preserve and document the history 24
of Freedmen’s Settlements, leading to projects such 25
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as the Texas Freedom Colonies Project, the Map-1
ping Blackness Project, as well as the Freedmen’s 2
Bureau Search Portal created by the National Mu-3
seum of African-American History and Culture, 4
among others. 5
(15) The presence and location of historic 6
Freedmen’s Settlements should be recorded. There 7
should be coordinated national, State, local, and 8
Tribal efforts to preserve and restore Freedmen’s 9
Settlements. 10
(16) Freedmen’s Settlements are an integral 11
component of the heritage of the United States, and 12
their preservation and revitalization crucial for the 13
communities themselves as well as a more complete 14
understanding of American history and the ongoing 15
struggle for racial equity. Establishing a program to 16
recognize previously underserved Freedmen’s Settle-17
ments would help communities identify and record 18
these settlements, preserve local history, and better 19
inform development decisions and community plan-20
ning. 21
(17) By investing in the preservation of Free-22
dom Settlements, which include Freedmen’s Settle-23
ments, Freedom Colonies, and Black Towns, the 24
United States has an opportunity to honor the leg-25
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acy of self-determination and community-building 1
that these settlements represent, while also creating 2
models for sustainable, equitable community develop-3
ment that can inform broader efforts to address his-4
torical inequities and build stronger, more inclusive 5
communities across the Nation. 6
SEC. 3. NATIONAL FREEDOM SETTLEMENTS PRESERVA-7
TION PROGRAM. 8
Division B of subtitle III of title 54, United States 9
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 10
‘‘CHAPTER 3092—NATIONAL FREEDOM 11
SETTLEMENTS PRESERVATION PROGRAM 12
‘‘309201. Definitions.
‘‘309202. Purpose.
‘‘309203. National Freedom Settlements Preservation Program.
‘‘309204. Authority to award grants.
‘‘309205. Freedom Settlements Study.
‘‘309206. Registry.
‘‘309207. Private Property Protection.
‘‘309208. Cooperative agreements and memoranda of understanding.
‘‘309209. Freedom Settlements Advisory Committee.
‘‘§ 309201. Definitions 13
‘‘In this chapter: 14
‘‘(1) A
DVISORY COMMITTEE .—The term ‘Advi-15
sory Committee’ means the Freedom Settlements 16
Advisory Committee established under section 17
309209. 18
‘‘(2) F
REEDOM SETTLEMENT .—The term 19
‘Freedom Settlement’ means a community estab-20
lished by formerly enslaved African Americans fol-21
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lowing emancipation (also commonly referred to as 1
‘Freedmen’s Settlements’, ‘Freedom Colonies’, or 2
‘Black Towns’). 3
‘‘(3) P
ROGRAM.—The term ‘Program’ means 4
the National Freedom Settlements Preservation Pro-5
gram established under section 309204. 6
‘‘(4) S
TUDY.—The term ‘Study’ means the 7
study required under section 309205. 8
‘‘§ 309202. Purpose 9
‘‘The purpose of this chapter is to— 10
‘‘(1) recognize the importance of Freedom Set-11
tlements, including communities established by for-12
merly enslaved people, free African Americans, and 13
their descendants, the sacrifices made by those who 14
used the Underground Railroad in search of free-15
dom, equality, and material security, and the vision 16
of Settlements founders; and 17
‘‘(2) authorize the Secretary of the Interior to 18
coordinate and facilitate Federal and non-Federal 19
activities to identify, research, record, preserve, com-20
memorate, honor, and interpret the history of Free-21
dom Settlements, their significance as a crucial ele-22
ment in the evolution of African-American history, 23
and their relevance in fostering the spirit of racial 24
justice and wealth equality. 25
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‘‘§ 309203. National Freedom Settlements Preserva-1
tion Program 2
‘‘(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 3
within the Service a program to be known as the ‘National 4
Freedom Settlements Preservation Program’. 5
‘‘(b) D
UTIES OFSECRETARY.—In carrying out the 6
Program, the Secretary shall develop a program for the 7
provision of grants in accordance with section 309204(a), 8
in consultation with— 9
‘‘(1) organizations, experts, and community 10
leaders who serve African-American communities; 11
‘‘(2) organizations involved with Freedom Set-12
tlements; and 13
‘‘(3) residents and descendants of residents of 14
Freedom Settlements. 15
‘‘(c) D
ONATIONS.—The Secretary may accept dona-16
tions of funds, services, or property for the purposes of 17
carrying out this chapter. 18
‘‘(d) C
ONSENT OFPRIVATEPROPERTYOWNERRE-19
QUIRED.—Freedom Settlements may only be considered 20
for a grant under the Program— 21
‘‘(1) with the consent of the owner of the appli-22
cable property; and 23
‘‘(2) at the request of an individual, landowner, 24
private or nonprofit organization, State, Tribal, or 25
local government, or other entity. 26
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‘‘(e) SCOPE.—The Secretary may consider the fol-1
lowing for inclusion in the Program: 2
‘‘(1) All units and programs of the National 3
Park Service determined by the Secretary to pertain 4
to Freedom Settlements. 5
‘‘(2) Historic properties pertaining to Freedom 6
Settlements. 7
‘‘(3) Other governmental and nongovernmental 8
facilities and programs of an educational, research, 9
or interpretive nature that are directly related to 10
Freedom Settlements. 11
‘‘§ 309204. Authority to award grants 12
‘‘(a) I
NGENERAL.—In carrying out the Program, the 13
Secretary may award grants to eligible entities described 14
in subsection (b)(1) for— 15
‘‘(1) the identification of Freedom Settlements 16
that may qualify for the Program; 17
‘‘(2) cultural and heritage preservation, restora-18
tion, and tourism program development of Freedom 19
Settlements; 20
‘‘(3) related research and documentation of 21
Freedom Settlements; 22
‘‘(4) capacity-building to operate and maintain 23
recognized Freedom Settlement sites; and 24
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‘‘(5) educational programming about Freedom 1
Settlement history. 2
‘‘(b) A
PPLICATIONS.— 3
‘‘(1) E
LIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Each of the fol-4
lowing entities are eligible for a grant under the 5
Program: 6
‘‘(A) A property owner of a property asso-7
ciated with Freedom Settlements. 8
‘‘(B) Tribal, State, or local governments. 9
‘‘(C) Community organizations that have 10
demonstrated local leadership and a commit-11
ment to community development. 12
‘‘(2) S
UBMISSION.—To be eligible for a grant 13
under this section, an eligible entity shall submit to 14
the Secretary an application at such time, in such 15
manner, and containing such information as the Sec-16
retary may require. 17
‘‘(c) A
UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 18
are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 19
out this section $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 20
through 2031. 21
‘‘§ 309205. Freedom Settlements Study 22
‘‘(a) S
TUDY.—The Secretary shall conduct a study 23
to identify key sites that— 24
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‘‘(1) illustrate the period in American history 1
when formerly enslaved African Americans estab-2
lished Freedom Settlements to provide their commu-3
nities with education, security, and belonging which 4
were previously denied under slavery and discrimina-5
tory laws; and 6
‘‘(2) may be suitable for inclusion in the Pro-7
gram. 8
‘‘(b) C
ONSULTATION.—The Study shall be conducted 9
with public involvement and in consultation with— 10
‘‘(1) the Advisory Committee; 11
‘‘(2) State and local officials; 12
‘‘(3) educational institutions; and 13
‘‘(4) other interested organizations and individ-14
uals. 15
‘‘§ 309206. Registry 16
‘‘The Secretary shall maintain and regularly update 17
a comprehensive registry of Freedom Settlements, as they 18
are identified and verified through the research and docu-19
mentation process outlined in this chapter, including but 20
not limited to historically documented settlements engaged 21
in preservation efforts, such as— 22
‘‘(1) Nicodemus, Kansas; 23
‘‘(2) Africatown, Alabama; 24
‘‘(3) Mound Bayou, Mississippi; 25
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‘‘(4) Eatonville, Florida; 1
‘‘(5) Boley, Oklahoma; 2
‘‘(6) Hobson City, Alabama; 3
‘‘(7) Allensworth, California; 4
‘‘(8) Freedmen’s Town Historic District, Hous-5
ton, Texas; 6
‘‘(9) Independence Heights, Texas; 7
‘‘(10) Mossville, Louisiana; 8
‘‘(11) Oberlin Village, North Carolina; 9
‘‘(12) Kinloch, Missouri; 10
‘‘(13) New Philadelphia, Illinois; 11
‘‘(14) Rosewood, Florida; 12
‘‘(15) Weeksville, New York; 13
‘‘(16) Freedman’s Village, Arlington, Virginia; 14
‘‘(17) Sandy Ground, New York; 15
‘‘(18) Princeville, North Carolina; 16
‘‘(19) Greenwood District (Black Wall Street), 17
Tulsa, Oklahoma; and 18
‘‘(20) Freedmen’s Town, Dallas, Texas. 19
‘‘§ 309207. Private Property Protection 20
‘‘Nothing in this chapter— 21
‘‘(1) authorizes the Secretary to require or af-22
fect the management or use of private property with-23
out the written consent of the owner of the private 24
property; or 25
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‘‘(2) prohibits the Secretary from providing 1
land management guidance or requirements relating 2
to private property as a condition of a grant pro-3
vided to the owner of the private property under this 4
chapter. 5
‘‘§ 309208. Cooperative agreements and memoranda 6
of understanding 7
‘‘The Secretary may enter into cooperative agree-8
ments and memoranda of understanding with, and provide 9
technical assistance to, the heads of other Federal agen-10
cies, States, units of local government, Tribal govern-11
ments, regional governmental bodies, African American- 12
serving groups, residents and descendants of residents of 13
Freedom Settlements, scholars of this specific history, and 14
nonprofit organizations such as the Chisholm Legacy 15
Project, Ubuntu Climate, and the Texas Freedom Colonies 16
Project, educational institutions, and private entities— 17
‘‘(1) to achieve the purposes of this chapter; 18
‘‘(2) to facilitate cooperation with the Advisory 19
Committee; and 20
‘‘(3) to ensure effective coordination of the Fed-21
eral elements and non-Federal elements provided a 22
grant or other assistance under the Program with 23
System units and programs of the Service. 24
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‘‘§ 309209. Freedom Settlements Advisory Committee 1
‘‘(a) I
NGENERAL.—In carrying out the Study under 2
section 309205, the Secretary shall establish a committee 3
to be known as the ‘Freedom Settlements Advisory Com-4
mittee’ to assist with the Study. 5
‘‘(b) C
OMPOSITION.—The Advisory Committee shall 6
be composed of members, appointed by the Secretary, 7
who— 8
‘‘(1) are residents or descendants of residents 9
of Freedom Settlements; 10
‘‘(2) have demonstrated expertise in— 11
‘‘(A) African-American history; or 12
‘‘(B) Reconstruction or Jim Crow era his-13
tory; or 14
‘‘(3) are community leaders and advocates for 15
African-American community heritage, preservation, 16
and development.’’. 17
Æ
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