The group Preservation Virginia works all over the Commonwealth to help commemorate and conserve previous places where people have lived. One of their initiatives is called Voices Remembered and seeks to tell the stories of Black Virginians.
To that end, Preservation Virginia has named five African American fellows who will each receive $10,000.
“Planning for the fellows program began in 2021 through the guidance of an advisory committee of Black leaders to increase the number of trained community preservationists helping save African American historic sites in Virginia,” reads a press release.
Two of those chosen are doing work in this area of Virginia.
Lorenzo Dickerson is an Albemarle County filmmaker who has produced several works including Raised / Razed which documents the destruction of the Vinegar Hill neighborhood in the mid-20th Century. His first film from 2014 is called The Coachmen and documents the life of his second great-grandfather. Take a look at his work at his site Maupintown Media.
“Mr. Dickerson’s project as a part of the Preservation Virginia African American Fellowship is an oral history and short documentary-style film that tells the story of the St. John Elementary School in Cobham, Virginia, which opened in 1922 to replace the previous school building and provide a better learning space for African American students,” reads the press release.
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