The Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center will conduct archeological excavation and research at a historical site thanks to a federal grant.
$73,000 will fund research at the site of Cataract House, a hotel that once stood on the banks of the Niagara River that was destroyed by fire in 1945.
The hotel's free Black waitstaff risked their lives to ferry enslaved people across the river to freedom in Canada in the late 19th century.
Executive Director of the Niagara Falls National Heritage Area, Sara Capen, said the cash will help uncover and protect the stories of the underground railroad in Niagara Falls.
"It is said that aside from land, fire and air, a story is the oldest thing on Earth," she said. "National Heritage areas are the keepers of America's story. This is why we're here today - we work to reveal a soul of a place, to uncover the layers, to protect not only the stories but the voices of the stories."
The money was awarded to the center through the National Park Service's Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program - a federal agency.
The grant was jeopardized by a a memo released by the Office of Management and Budget placing a hold on federal funding - a move blocked by a federal judge earlier this month.
Congressman Tim Kennedy (D, NY-26), who announced the funding, said federal money can now flow again.
"The Executive Order that the President of the United States signed was unlawful, and the judicial system did its job and reversed the president's order to freeze that funding. That allowed funding like this to actually come to our community and agencies across the country," Kennedy said.
