Courtesy of Hugh Gildea
20th Century:
Surviving Change: The Depression, World Wars and Civil Rights
*1907 - May, Rev. Jones resigns
*1908 - Moses Ladd serves as sexton and retires many years later (Rives p. 54)
*1908 - Moses Ladd serves as sexton and retires many years later (Rives p. 54)
*1908- Chanler changes name to Chaloner (Rives. P. 54)
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Mule teams at work at Cloverfields, 1908 photo by E. Joslin, courtesy of Margaret Anderson
*1910 – U.S. census record showed that there were 581 “negro and other non-white farm owners” in Albemarle.
*1910- “Race Agitator is Flogged” runs in The Washington Post
1910-1942 - Rev. Frank Leslie Robinson serves as rector of Grace Church.
*1913 - Booker T. Washington speaks to the Negro Organization Society in Richmond
*1920 - Bates-Cooper family home is constructed.
** 1921 -Diocese reports “8 Negro clergymen serving sixteen congregations with 347 communicants. In the same year there were eight parochial schools for negro children with 231 pupils in attendance.” (p.203 Report of the Racial Study Commission, 1960)
*1922 - Cismont Training School and St. John School are constructed (Rosenwald Schools)
*1910- “Race Agitator is Flogged” runs in The Washington Post
1910-1942 - Rev. Frank Leslie Robinson serves as rector of Grace Church.
*1913 - Booker T. Washington speaks to the Negro Organization Society in Richmond
*1920 - Bates-Cooper family home is constructed.
** 1921 -Diocese reports “8 Negro clergymen serving sixteen congregations with 347 communicants. In the same year there were eight parochial schools for negro children with 231 pupils in attendance.” (p.203 Report of the Racial Study Commission, 1960)
*1922 - Cismont Training School and St. John School are constructed (Rosenwald Schools)
1926-1929- All Saints chapel built in Stony Point, designed by Stanislaw Makielski, and built byJ.A. Walters for $1,736.
Rev. Robinson, according to Rives, "founded the chapel in the interest of getting less affluent members of church and residents of the mountains to church." p. 80
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**1935-John A. Chaloner dies, “40 black voices sing at his funeral” (Rives p.68), Rives mentions “boy who pumped the bellows” of the:” new “organ paid for by $444 donation (p. 70)
1930s-40s - Allman Ladd had a blacksmith shop
February 18, 1940 - Zion Hill Church building burns. ** On a cold winter third Sunday, the church building was completely destroyed by fire. The smaller building that had been used as a Sunday school room and for other church activities was also destroyed. But with the belief that the church was only a building the members knew that the true church of God could never be destroyed. On February 23 of that same year, a meeting was called at the home of Sister Mary Cosy to discuss plans for rebuilding. Zion Hill’s sister church, St. John, offered the privilege of holding meetings there. Rev. Robinson of Grace Episcopal Church at Cismont gave half of the funds for the new building; church members pledged the other half. Through the grace of God, with help from friends, and with a devout and determined small congregation, on the first Sunday in November of 1940, only nine months later, the present church building was dedicated to the service of God. (From the Zion Hill website: https://www.zhbcva.com/history)
**1949- Council of the Diocese of Virginia policy change in the Constitution and Canons to give the Negro the same “official” status as white members of the Diocese.
** 1950-1959 -Trustees of the Diocesan Missionary Society, supplemented by the annual Diocesan appropriations gives aid to support sixty scholarships for Negro Episcopal youth to attend Church-supported colleges. (p. 203, Report of the Racial Study Commission, 1960)
*1950s-1990s -Blue Bomar’s Cismont Gulf serves area. Blue Bomar, according to local resident’s accounts, was a loyal neighbor and friend, engaged in the local community, both black and white. He was a leader in the establishment of the East Rivanna Fire Company, and encouraged the inclusion and participation of black members, in addition to helping with the local black boy scout troop.
*1940s -Maxfield Road neighborhood was neatly organized, known as Scuffletown.
*1930s-40s - African American men worked in construction and as day laborers
*1954 - Grace Church fully integrated sometime after October* (discussed but not confirmed by vestry)
**-Nov. 22, 1955 - Roslyn Trustees adopt resolution to integrate summer youth conferences and to permit Young People’s Fellowships without racial restrictions. (Report of Racial Study Commission, p. 205, 1960)
**1950’s-according to lifetime Grace member and local resident Hugh Gildea, there are two boy scout troops in Keswick-Troop #91 sponsored by Grace Church, and an all-black troop based in the Cismont- Maxfield Road neighborhood. He said they had a white leader, Mr. Spicer, and held events and ball games at a community field located at the end of Maxfield Road.
There were a number of professional grooms and horsemen that worked in the local horse business on area farms. (See Oral History- Lloyd Boston) The Keswick Horse Show, among other area horse shows, included a groom’s class that was a popular and competitive event, after which there would be a “pass the hat” to collect cash contributions that were later distributed amongst the black exhibitors.
1958 -Massive Resistance instituted in Charlottesville to stave off public school integration.
*1959 - Zion Hill Baptist Church and Grace Church forged an amicable relationship according to Niya Bates, and oral history as well as letters from Grace archives.
1959-1964 - Reverend Carnan advocates welcoming of visitors regardless of color (no encounter ever happens) 8 vestrymen oppose and resign, 4 remaining-including Corky Shackelford-go to consult with Bishop Robert Gibson who writes letter to Carnan to “sit tight, be nice, and calm troubled waters” (Rives, p.105)
**1960-Integration of schools, end of Cismont 2 story segregated school (R.p.11)
Rev R.A. Johnson begins 40-year service as pastor of Zion Hill (Rives. P.124)
**1961- Stone Robinson School was created from the combination of the Overton School and Cismont School. The school was named in honor of Rev. Robinson of Grace Church and Mrs. Mary Stone of nearby Morven farm.
**1964 - The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Civil Rights Act of 1968, enacted as part of the Great Society program of President Lyndon B. Johnson, incorporated several key elements of the Civil Rights Act of 1875.
1964 - New Vestry created, Corky Shackelford serves on new Vestry along with Capt. R. Blair and two others. Rev Carnan resigns, New Rectory constructed (Rives. P.107)
1968 - First women serve on vestry, Mrs. Paul Grinde serves as treasurer.
**1970 - New Parish house built.
**1976-1993 - Stuart Henderson serves as rector.
**1989 - Southwest Mountains Historic District is formed to preserve rural nature of the community, with coordination by Katharine L. Imhoff and the Piedmont Environmental Council. In 1991 it is listed with the Virginia DHR-Division of Historic Resources
*1980s - Black neighborhoods were carved out of the Southwest Mountains Rural Historic District, following guidelines of the organizing body which is composed of white board members. **Bates considers this exclusion as a loss of opportunity for the black communities for architectural recognition that might offer potential tax assistance in funding for historic preservation.
*1984 - At least one African American property was incorrectly listed as uninhabited in survey.
*Later 1980s - Proposed area for Southwest Mountains Rural Historic District is surveyed
*1995 - Julie Norton becomes Rector after a two-year search.
*1997 - The Virginia Outdoors Foundation was created to preserve rural land.
Dec. 31, 1999 - Joint service of Grace Church and Zion Hill for New Year “Y2K” to bury time capsule.
1959-1964 - Reverend Carnan advocates welcoming of visitors regardless of color (no encounter ever happens) 8 vestrymen oppose and resign, 4 remaining-including Corky Shackelford-go to consult with Bishop Robert Gibson who writes letter to Carnan to “sit tight, be nice, and calm troubled waters” (Rives, p.105)
**1960-Integration of schools, end of Cismont 2 story segregated school (R.p.11)
Rev R.A. Johnson begins 40-year service as pastor of Zion Hill (Rives. P.124)
**1961- Stone Robinson School was created from the combination of the Overton School and Cismont School. The school was named in honor of Rev. Robinson of Grace Church and Mrs. Mary Stone of nearby Morven farm.
**1964 - The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Civil Rights Act of 1968, enacted as part of the Great Society program of President Lyndon B. Johnson, incorporated several key elements of the Civil Rights Act of 1875.
1964 - New Vestry created, Corky Shackelford serves on new Vestry along with Capt. R. Blair and two others. Rev Carnan resigns, New Rectory constructed (Rives. P.107)
1968 - First women serve on vestry, Mrs. Paul Grinde serves as treasurer.
**1970 - New Parish house built.
**1976-1993 - Stuart Henderson serves as rector.
**1989 - Southwest Mountains Historic District is formed to preserve rural nature of the community, with coordination by Katharine L. Imhoff and the Piedmont Environmental Council. In 1991 it is listed with the Virginia DHR-Division of Historic Resources
*1980s - Black neighborhoods were carved out of the Southwest Mountains Rural Historic District, following guidelines of the organizing body which is composed of white board members. **Bates considers this exclusion as a loss of opportunity for the black communities for architectural recognition that might offer potential tax assistance in funding for historic preservation.
*1984 - At least one African American property was incorrectly listed as uninhabited in survey.
*Later 1980s - Proposed area for Southwest Mountains Rural Historic District is surveyed
*1995 - Julie Norton becomes Rector after a two-year search.
*1997 - The Virginia Outdoors Foundation was created to preserve rural land.
Dec. 31, 1999 - Joint service of Grace Church and Zion Hill for New Year “Y2K” to bury time capsule.
