The Freedmen Historical Marker Program: Honoring the Past, Grounding the Present

Beginning in 2026, the Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust (FRFT) will launch the Freedmen Historical Marker Program—a national effort created for the past and the present of our Verified Freedmen.

This program is not only about remembering where our ancestors stood. It is about affirming where Verified Freedmen stand today—with continuity, documentation, and public recognition rooted in truth.

Past: Restoring What Was Interrupted

Across the United States, Freedmen communities built churches, schools, farms, cemeteries, and mutual aid institutions after emancipation. Many of these places were never formally acknowledged—or were later erased, renamed, or misclassified.

Each historical marker will:

• Identify verified Freedmen locations tied to post-slavery life and rebuilding

• Correct omissions in public records and local histories

• Permanently anchor Freedmen presence in the American landscape

This is about resuming history where our ancestors were forced to stop.

Present: Affirming Verified Freedmen Today

The Freedmen Historical Marker Program also affirms the living status of Verified Freedmen. These markers are not frozen in time; they connect present-day families to documented places and protected records.

For today’s Verified Freedmen, markers:

• Reinforce documented lineage and community continuity

• Establish public recognition tied to verified records

• Protect against misclassification, appropriation, or erasure

This is history that lives with the people—not apart from them.

Sponsored Markers: Shared Stewardship, Protected History

As part of this program, FRFT will add Sponsors to Freedmen Historical Markers. Sponsorship is designed to support preservation and public education without compromising historical authority or cultural governance.

Marker sponsorship will:

• Help fund fabrication, installation, and long-term maintenance

• Support research, documentation, and site verification

• Be formally recorded under FRFT governance standards

Sponsors will be acknowledged in a manner consistent with the dignity of the site and the integrity of Verified Freedmen history. Sponsorship does not confer naming rights, editorial control, or historical authority.

A National Record with Accountability

Every marker placed—including sponsored markers—will be logged and mapped through Freedmen Nation, creating a centralized national record governed by verification standards and documentation protocols.

This ensures:

• Transparency and historical accuracy

• Clear separation between sponsorship and historical authority

• A permanent, searchable record for families and communities

More Than Markers—A Living Continuum

The Freedmen Historical Marker Program is not symbolic recognition. It is status-aligned historical continuity—linking verified past locations to present-day Verified Freedmen under lawful governance.

By marking these sites, FRFT is ensuring that Freedmen history is no longer fragmented into “then” and “now.” It is recognized as one continuous story, carried forward by Verified Freedmen themselves.

This program honors where we came from—

affirms who we are today—

and protects how our history is preserved moving forward.