June 4, 2025- Pritzker Military Foundation, founded by Lieutenant Colonel Jennifer N. Pritzker (Retired), is providing a $10,000 donation to The Henry Ford Museum, along with a matching challenge grant of up to $10,000 available through November 15, 2026. This funding will help the Museum’s, Jackson Home, expand and preserve critical oral histories from veterans and key contributors of the Civil Rights Movement. Through this initiative, The Henry Ford will conduct, record, transcribe, and digitize firsthand accounts to ensure these stories are preserved within its permanent collection and shared with audiences across its venues and digital platforms, deepening public understanding of this pivotal era in American history.
“History lives through the voices of those who experienced it firsthand,” said LTC Jennifer Pritzker USA (RET). We are honored to support this effort to preserve and amplify the stories of Civil Rights veterans and contributors for generations to come.”
The Henry Ford is a nationally recognized cultural institution dedicated to preserving and sharing the story of American innovation, ingenuity, and resourcefulness. As one of the largest museum complexes in the United States, it brings history to life through its extensive collections, historic buildings, and immersive experiences across venues such as Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and Greenfield Village. Its mission is to provide unique educational experiences rooted in authentic objects and stories, inspiring people to learn from the past to help shape a better future. Through exhibitions, hands-on learning programs, and global educational initiatives, The Henry Ford serves as a hub for creativity, invention, and lifelong learning.
The Jackson Home is a historic 100-year-old house relocated from Selma, Alabama, that preserves the legacy of the Dr. Sullivan and Richie Jean Jackson family and their central role in the Civil Rights Movement. The home served as a gathering place where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other leaders planned key moments of the Selma to Montgomery marches, which ultimately contributed to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Now being restored to reflect its 1965 appearance, the house will open to the public in June 2026 as an immersive exhibit highlighting how ordinary people helped shape extraordinary change in American history.
“The Henry Ford is grateful for the generous support of Colonel Jennifer Pritzker and Pritzker Military Foundation in helping us deepen the understanding of the American Civil Rights Movement and the important history connected to the Jackson Home,” said CEO of The Henry Ford, Patricia E. Mooradian. “This support is allowing us to expand our oral history work and preserve the voices and stories of those connected to this pivotal moment in American history. We are honored to help share these stories with educators, students, and audiences across the country and around the world.”
The Pritzker Military Foundation is a private foundation that accepts applications by invitation only. There is no open application period.
About Pritzker Military Foundation
Pritzker Military Foundation seeks to support the work of both Pritzker Military Museum & Library—and similar nonprofit organizations—to preserve American military history, restore historic military artifacts and make them accessible to the public, and provide services and essential resources to active-duty military, veterans and families of service members in all branches of the United States Armed Forces. To learn more, visit www.pritzkermilitaryfoundation.org.
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