I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 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 
FEBRUARY 27, 2025 
Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE (for herself, Mr. SOTO, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mrs. 
MCIVER, Mrs. BEATTY, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, 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-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Revitalizing and Em-
powering Freedom Settlements Through Opportunity, Re-
silience, and Education Act’’ or the ‘‘RESTORE Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) After the Civil War, over 1,200 Freedmen’s 
Settlements and Black Towns were established 
throughout the United States before and after 
emancipation, with at least 200 towns established by 
formerly enslaved individuals between 1866 and 
1930, creating safe, self-sustaining, and thriving 
communities away from racial violence and economic 
discrimination. 
(2) Following the end of slavery, many African- 
American families who strived for land and housing 
security established their homes in Black Towns. 
These towns, founded and governed by recently- 
emancipated African-American people across the 
country, were known as Freedmen’s Settlements, 
Freedom Colonies, or Black Towns. 
(3) African Americans were often denied access 
to necessary public systems, such as education, 
housing, and neighborhood infrastructure. Across 
many areas of the United States, African-American 
people were barred from utilizing these services be-
cause of local segregating laws. 
(4) Freedmen’s Settlements were established 
around the provision of community services, often 
structured around schools and churches, as Black 
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residents came together to fulfill necessary resources 
they had been previously denied. 
(5) Despite these communities being an exam-
ple of African-American communities’ self-sufficiency 
amidst a discriminatory society, they were still ter-
rorized by violent, White supremacist groups which 
initially excluded them from White systems. 
(6) Due to harsh circumstances which included 
violent attacks, exclusion from water and sanitation 
systems, as well as urban planning to remove Black 
Towns from railroads, many Freedmen’s Settle-
ments, which are predominantly in rural areas, are 
underdeveloped and lack accessibility due to many 
systemic challenges. 
(7) Freedmen’s Settlements have been dis-
proportionately impacted by economic and commu-
nity underdevelopment, but have the potential to be-
come thriving communities with proper support and 
investment that honors their rich history, meets the 
current needs of their residents, and uplifts commu-
nity resilience and sustainable development. 
(8) Many of these Freedmen’s Settlements and 
Black Towns were destroyed by southern domestic 
terrorists, or otherwise became impoverished by cen-
turies of public and private divestment. This in-
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cludes uncompensated enslaved labor, failed Recon-
struction, and the unmet Freedmen’s Bureau’s 
postemancipation promises to transition people who 
were formerly enslaved into the American economy, 
Jim Crow laws, economic and housing discrimination 
through redlining, public housing, and transpor-
tation policies, and environmental racism. Some 
towns withstood systemic racism and racial violence, 
and serve as examples of community resilience. 
(9) It is difficult to fully quantify and under-
stand the history and current status of all the 
Freedmen’s Settlements in the United States due to 
lack of research and investment in analyzing, pre-
serving, and supporting these historic settlements, 
towns, and communities, with a large part of this 
history held by the descendants of the founders and 
residents. 
(10) A lack of accurate information is typical of 
African-American history following the Civil War, 
due to disenfranchisement of African Americans 
from predominantly White, institution-based docu-
mentation. 
(11) Freedmen’s Settlements were often— 
(A) poorly recorded; 
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(B) excluded from historical maps and 
databases; 
(C) recognized only through oral traditions 
and community memory; and 
(D) suffered from the negative con-
sequences of systemic racism, such as the cal-
culated exclusion from crucial infrastructure 
like water systems or railroads. 
(12) Recognizing and providing resources for 
Freedman’s Settlements through Federal identifica-
tion, designation of historic status, comprehensive 
documentation, funding, and physical commemora-
tion would lead to greater equity and investment in 
historically disadvantaged communities that have 
faced centuries of racism, discrimination, environ-
mental and climate injustices, and violence. 
(13) A handful of former Freedmen’s Settle-
ments have received State or local designation for 
their historic status, offering them an opportunity 
for preservation and public acknowledgment, such as 
the Freedmen’s Town Historic District in Houston, 
Texas. 
(14) There is an ongoing call, gaining much 
traction today, to preserve and document the history 
of Freedmen’s Settlements, leading to projects such 
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