Underground Railroad museum sues Trump administration alleging it canceled grant

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March 21, 2026

By Kyla Guilfoil, NBC NEWS

The Underground Railroad Education Center filed a lawsuit Friday demanding that a federal grant be reinstated after it was terminated by the Trump administration.

Mary Liz Stewart, a co-founder of the Underground Railroad Education Center in Albany, N.Y., said the Trump administration’s cancelation of a grant for the museum is a setback to its expansion plans

An Underground Railroad museum in upstate New York alleged in a lawsuit Friday that the Trump administration unlawfully terminated its federal grant on the basis of race, pointing to President Donald Trump’s efforts to dismantle diversity-focused initiatives.

The Underground Railroad Education Center in Albany, New York, alleges that the National Endowment for the Humanities’ cancelation of a $250,000 grant amounted to viewpoint and racial discrimination, violating the First and Fifth Amendments, respectively.

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