Historic African-American Cemeteries

Mr. Robertson standing in front of his family cemetery

I recently visited a historic African-American cemetery and met with the cemetery’s owner and caretaker, Mr. Langston Robertson. The cemetery dates from the mid 1800s to the 20^th century and I would estimate at least 100 people are buried there including many of Mr. Robertson’s family members, some of whom were enslaved.  

Mr. Robertson has brought students to the cemetery to teach them about history. He often brings  the original deeds with him and discusses how the cemetery has stayed in the family for many generations.  



Shells, glass and pottery from the cemetery



In cleaning up the cemetery, Mr. Robertson has found numerous pieces of broken glass, pottery, shells, and other items. After researching African-American cemeteries and taking trips to West Africa, he was able to identify these items as being objects, sometimes used or owned by the deceased, placed on graves for various reasons.

A statue from Africa guards the cemetery

In many rural graveyards, African- Americans have marked the final resting places of loved ones in this distinctive manner. Despite the massive conversion of Africans to Christian faiths, many retained former rituals associated with the respect for the dead including placing shells, stones or personal property of the deceased on graves. The practice of placing shells on graves has been traced back to West African beliefs that sea shells enclose the soul's immortal presence.

For more information on African-American burial practices and customs in Virginia, please visit Dr. Lynn Rainville’s website. Rainville, a professor at Sweetbriar College, has been researching African-American cemeteries for years. Currently, she is working on a book tentatively titled, African-American Mortuary Variability: Historic Gravestones and Cemeteries in the Virginia Piedmont.

Tobacco Barns Workshop a Success



Preservation Virginia held a workshop last week about maintaining and repairing barns and log buildings as part of out Tobacco Barns Preservation Project. Over fifty people attended to hear updates on the tobacco barn survey and to hear a great presentation by Luke Ramsey of Ramsey Restoration Inc.



Luke Ramsey giving his presentation



Books on tobacco heritage and log buildings



Historic woodworking tools on display



Ramsey, a Nelson County resident, is a specialist in log building repair and restoration. He showed slides from several projects where log structures in poor condition were completely restored. Ramsey also brought an array of historic wood working tools to display.

Casey Sparks and Kayla Keen with their winning posters

Winners of the middle school poster contest “Preserve our Barns so they a more than a Memory” were also in attendance. More workshops are planned later this year.

Bacon's Castle in 2013

Since our last blog post, Preservation Virginia's Bacon's Castle enjoyed a few group tours including 350 students, teachers, and chaperones from a Hampton Roads public school, historical societies, and car clubs and a couple of familiarization tours from regional historic sites and tourism bureaus.

Students assembled before the Castle
prior to beginning tours.

The Castle concluded general admission operations the weekend following Thanksgiving.  Between December 2012 and February 2013 the Staff will focus on deep-cleaning the Castle, marketing the site to group tour operators and school systems, soliciting and securing new volunteers and interns, and managing an ambitious 2013 Calendar of Events.  Staff will also continue strengthening relationships with community, industry, and tourism partners.  Be sure to follow Bacon's Castle on Facebook to learn of the latest goings-on and our 2013 Calendar of Events.  Although Bacon's Castle may be closed to general admissions over this winter dormancy, the Site is still available for private group tours with at least one-week advance reservations.  Please contact Todd Ballance at (757) 407-8829 or <tballance@preservationvirginia.org> to schedule a private tour.  Happy Holidays!

Ford Model A Car Club visiting Bacon's Castle on a brisk, early November Saturday.

Rosenwald School in Danger of Demolition

Union Hurst School is one of two Rosenwald schools in Bath County, Virginia. Union Hurst School is currently in poor condition and in danger of demolition unless a new owner with the necessary resources is interested in acquiring and rehabilitating it.



Union Hurst School

Rosenwald Schools were built primarily for the education of African-Americans in the early 20th century by Julius Rosenwald, an American clothier who became the president of Sears, Roebuck and Company.



Julius Rosenwald



 

The schools were built from Maryland to Texas using state-of-the-art architectural plans designed by professors at Tuskegee Institute.

To promote collaboration between white and black citizens, Rosenwald required communities to commit public funds to the schools, as well as to contribute additional cash donations. Black communities all over the south raised more than $4.7 million to aid in construction of the schools. Over 4,500 schools, 200 teachers' homes, and other buildings were constructed through the use of matching grants.

By 1932, the facilities could accommodate one-third of all African-American children in the South.

In 2002, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named Rosenwald Schools near the top of the country's most endangered places and created a campaign to raise awareness and money for preservation. Rosenwald Schools were awarded National Treasure status in 2011.

For more information on helping save the Union Hurst Rosenwald School, contact Sonja Ingram at singram@preservationvirginia.org or 434-770-1209.

The DOVE (Desegregation of Virginia Education) Project



Paula Martin Smith as a Young
Girl During Virginia's Desegregation Era



In 1951, sixteen-year old Barbara Johns and other African-American students walked out of the Robert Russa Moton High School in Farmville to protest the school’s poor conditions. Their actions became part of the movement to desegregate public schools in the Unites States.

Virginia’s public schools remained segregated until 1954 when the United States Supreme Court ruled that segregation was unconstitutional in the landmark case Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, KS.    

A new project, the DOVE project (Desegregation of Virginia Education) was created by Virginia AARP, Old Dominion University and the Urban League of Hampton Roads, Inc. to identify, locate, catalog and encourage the preservation of records such as photographs and newspaper articles during the time of Virginia’s desegregation process. The project also includes a traveling exhibit to various localities in the commonwealth to acquire oral histories.

In 2012, the exhibit toured locations in Hampton, Richmond, Farmville, Lynchburg, Alexandria, the Eastern Shore and Roanoke to gather personal accounts and artifacts from the 1940s to the 1980s related to the desegregation of Virginia schools.

The DOVE team will be visiting Danville on Saturday, November 10 at the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History. The public is invited to share photographs, documents, and memorabilia and to participate in oral history collecting. 

  

Danville native Paula Martin Smith is featured on the DOVE exhibit posters and in the DOVE brochures. Read in Evince Magazine how Paula was surprised when she found out the image of her was chosen for the program. In the article, Paula also recounts how when she was a young girl, she was escorted off a Danville city bus because she would not move to the back.  

Please see the DOVE blog for more information and resources.

Bacon's Castle cools-down from Summer and warms-up for Autumn

Classic Car Club of Virginia visits
Springtime Bacon's Castle

Preservation Virginia’s Bacon’s Castle’s staff, interns, and volunteers had a very busy Summer with projects, group tours, and community development and prepare for a vibrant 2013.  As we cool-down from Summer here is a review and as we warm-up for Autumn here is a preview!

Summer Review

Projects

Our interns were busy undertaking cultural resource management assignments including teak wood garden benches cleaning and preservation, garden maintenance, fence post cleaning and painting, community development, marketing, exhibit and museum maintenance, special event facilitation, guided group tours, and daily museum and gift shop operations.  Enjoy this SlideShare presentation detailing many of one of our intern’s projects and accomplishments.

Group Tours

Docent Bill Murphy tours the
Colonel Joshua Fry Chapter, Daughters of the American Colonists

Over the Summer we had the pleasure of hosting classic car clubs, church groups, fellow museum operators from other historic sites, historical societies and clubs, and college & university school groups.  Enjoy this SlideShare presentation in promotion of Group Tours at Bacon’s Castle.

Community, Volunteer, and Internship Development

Site Coordinator Todd Ballance addresses the
Surry Chamber of Commerce about 2013 special events

The staff at Bacon's Castle continues to seek new community advocates, volunteers, and interns whenever possible.  We routinely-engage Surry and Isle of Wight Counties business and tourism leaders in efforts of developing new stakeholders and partnership opportunities.  We hope that through consistent participation in the Surry County Chamber of Commerce and periodically presenting before the Surry County Board of Supervisors we develop better understanding and appreciation of Bacon's Castle's new five-year plan.  We’ve also directly contacted Virginian, Washingtonian, and North Carolinian institutions of higher education in efforts to recruit interns and partner with professional volunteer administration associations and Surry County 4-H to secure more local volunteerism.  Enjoy these additional SlideShare presentations on opportunities you may wish to consider:

Membership Meeting of the Surry County
African American Heritage Society at Bacon's Castle

Volunteer Opportunities

Internship Opportunities

Autumn Preview

Slave Dwelling Project

Preservation Virginia’s Bacon’s Castle is proud to work with national, regional and local partners in presenting this important and provocative presentation on the institution of American slavery and how preserving the Site’s last remaining slave quarters is an important project in preserving an African American heritage structure and educating generations to come on this part of our history.  Join us and Mr. Joe McGill at Bacon’s Castle on October 6, 2012.  Please inspect and share this flyer on the Project.  See you on the 6th!

Surry County student postcard

School Field Trips

As the 2012/2013 school season is upon us, we look towards showcasing the 40-acre historic site as a must see destination in presenting early Virginia and American history to students from all over the Country.  We have a couple school systems already booked for this Autumn and look forward to serving more systems in the near future.

Familiarization Tours

We cordially-invite government, business, and tourism leaders, school group field trip  coordinators, and tour operators to schedule complimentary private group tours of the Castle to learn more about of our exciting five-year plan and new educational offerings.  In providing these FAM tours, we hope to introduce a new generation of stakeholders and advocates to our super rare and precious historic treasures.  We have FAM tours scheduled for this Autumn with group tour operators, motor coach companies, and Virginia Tourism Corporation representatives.  Our hope is through these efforts we will enter 2013 with a more energized community and knowledgeable clientele ready to book their next, must see tours at Preservation Virginia’s Bacon’s Castle!  Give us a call, follow-us on Facebook, and keep in touch with us.  Re-familiarize yourself with your Bacon's Castle!

Danville, Virginia -Making Historic Strides

Written by Guest Blogger Sarah Latham, President of Danville Historical Society

The City of Danville is moving forward with its River District plans.  The first phase of historic downtown redevelopment will focus on widening the sidewalks to make them more pedestrian-friendly and beautiful.  The widened walkways will also accommodate outdoor seating for eateries.  Danville wins award for River District Plan.

At the same time the city government has hired firms to create master plans in portions of two historic neighborhoods: the Monument-Berryman neighborhood that contains historic mill housing in the Tobacco Warehouse District, and parts of the Old West End (OWE) National Register Historic District.  The focus of the OWE master plan is on areas where numerous historic houses have been cut up into multi-unit apartments, as well as on the “Five Forks” area that was formerly a thriving residential/retail/commercial district. 

In addition, the city is partnering with the Danville Historical Society on some initiatives.

The Danville Historical Society received a grant from the Danville Regional Foundation earlier this year to create a “gathering space” on the (city-owned) grounds of the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History.  

Trail marker with brass tobacco leaf

This gathering space will have a circular patio, seating and vertical granite slabs that will serve both as sculpture and as kiosks containing visitor information.  The space will also be the starting point for the Historical Society’s guided tour of Danville’s Millionaires Row.



Fred Meder's mother, Elaine, helping create trail markers



DHS board member Joyce Wilburn and DHS member Fred Meder conceived and spearheaded the plan.  They received cooperation from the Danville Museum, the City of Danville, Pittsylvania County and Caswell County for the project.  Visitor information for the city and both counties will be available at the kiosks.

As part of this plan, Joyce Wilburn and DHS board member Paula Smith developed a self-guided walking tour of the Holbrook-Ross National Register Historic District in Danville.  Holbrook-Ross is a neighborhood created by professional African-Americans shortly after the Civil War.  The Danville Regional Foundation grant provided funds to print brochures of the walking tour.

Finally, the plan also includes placing trail markers along the routes of the Millionaires Row and Holbrook-Ross tours.  Fred Meder designed and fabricated the markers.  The City of Danville has agreed to do the necessary work to place these markers in the sidewalks.

This Historical Society initiative has led to a new collaboration with the City of Danville: the development of a Heritage Walking Trail in Danville’s historic downtown and Tobacco Warehouse District.  Local attorney R.J. Lackey conceived the idea for a heritage walking trail and soon learned that the DHS had two trails.  Working with Mr. Lackey and the City of Danville, the DHS is helping map out the overall proposed trail, linking the two existing ones with the new ones.  The DHS will also research and create content for information kiosks and signage along the routes of the trails.