"Preserving History, Expanding Community"
About us
We are an organization that seeks to protect and preserve the legacy of the rural Pine Grove School (Rosenwald) and the African American community it served for decades sowing seeds of greatness for future generations to harvest (1917-1964).
The AMMD Pine Grove Project was born as an extension
of the Agee-Miller-Mayo-Dungy Family Association when
the family, whose ancestral ties are deeply rooted to this
historic school, learned that Pine Grove School was at
risk of being sold for delinquent taxes. Within a week
family and close friends raised sufficient funds to rescue
this irreplaceable historic school. In June 2018, another
threat emerged; a mega-landfill was being proposed to
be installed adjacent to Pine Grove School. With this
information, we added environmental justice to our
preservation cause. By late Summer AMMD Family
Association had galvanized the community to work
toward preserving our history and protecting our
environment.
Since it’s inception, AMMD Pine Grove Project has
connected with organizations and citizens with similar
objectives to raise awareness of the the historical
significance of the segregated Pine Grove School. The
Pine Grove Project has grown into a coalition of former
students, concerned citizens, environmental and social
justice activists, historic preservation organizations,
educational institutions, historians, scientists, authors,
educators, attorneys, and, most importantly life long
members of the historic Pine Grove Community.
The primary objective of the AMMD Pine Grove Project is
to protect, restore, and repurpose the historic Rosenwald
Pine Grove Elementary School to serve the entire County
as a Cultural Center; with particular emphasis on African
and Native Americans to Cumberland’s rich history.
Alfred Austin
Cheryl Belt
Sonja Branch-Wilson
Genay Hines-Tucker
Lloyd James
Muriel Miller Branch - Director
Dorothy Rice
Michael Scales
Angela Booker, Treasurer
Austina Johnson, Genealogist/Historian
Muriel Miller Branch, President
Sonja Branch-Wilson, Vice-President
Dorothy Rice, Recording Secretary
Austina Johnson, Genealogist/Historian
Michael Scales, Parliamentarian
Alfred Austin
Lloyd James
Fannie Robinson
Queen Shabaaz
Pine Grove School is designated a historic site.
Preservation Virginia Announces: Pine Grove School Community On 2020 List of Most Endangered Places
*************************
The Pine Grove School Community, a rural community of businesses, churches, cemeteries and homes of students and teachers who attended the Pine Grove Rosenwald School in Cumberland County, is under threat from a proposed 1,200-acre landfill that, if approved, will fundamentally change the historic character of this 100-year old community and put residents at risk from major environmental hazards. The threat to the Pine Grove School Community is symbolic of the continual and systematic failure to adequately protect Virginia’s historic African American historic sites.
News Articles
Proposed Cumberland County Landfill
The link to sign the petition from this article: Petition here
Clinic Joins Fight To Preserve Historic Black Schoolhouse | University of Virginia School of Law
DHR – Virginia Department of Historic Resources » 024-5082 Pine Grove Elementary School
It’s Not Right: Cumberland Residents Say…...
Cumberland Residents Cross Racial Lines to Fight Third Attempt at a Landfill
Mega-landfill proposal threatens rural community, historic school
Rosenwald School - Muriel Miller Branch
Pine Grove Project - VA Most Endangered Historic Site 2020 video
The fight for environmental justice Town Hall with Dr. Benjamin Chavis
1924-1925
Ms. Beatrice Daniel
Ms. Marguerite S Washington
1925-1926
No Record
1926-1927
Ms. Mary Gilliam
Ms. Pearl Washington
1927-1928
Ms. Ethel R Smith
1928-1929
Ms. Martha Parker
Mrs. Mary E. Gilliam
1929-1930
Mrs. Mary E. Gilliam
Mrs. Mary G. Parker
1930-1931
Mrs. Aurellia Fleming
Ms. Beatrice Fleming
1931-1932
Mrs. Mary E. Gilliam
1932-1933
Mr. Harrison Fuller
1933-1935
Mrs. Mary E. Gilliam
Mr. B.L. Bezeman
1935-1936
Mrs. Mary Gilliam
Mr. Robert C. Scott
1936-1942
Mrs. Ella Thomas
Ms. Kate Brown Booker
1942-1954
Mrs. Mary E. Gilliam
1954-1955
Mrs. Betty C. Scales
1955-1956
Mrs. Aretha Thornton (Miller)
1956-1964
Mrs. Betty C. Scales
Thank you, D’Naijah Ridley. She is a Senior at Thomas Jefferson HS - IB Program. We appreciate you!!!!
In commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ’s birthday and as a part of National Day of Service AMMD Pine Grove Project will host a webinar featuring stories from homegrown Civil Rights activists. This is also your opportunity to join the social, racial, and environmental justice movement in the Pine Grove Community spearheaded by the AMMD Pine Grove Project. “Join us as we grow!”
P.O Box 28332 Henrico, VA 23228
+1 (202) 643-AMMD (2663)
ammdpinegroveproject@gmail.com