Grace Church and the African Community in Keswick,
Discovering our Historical Heritage
"Favorite Recipes of Old Virginia" 7th edition 1965, courtesy of Hugh Gildea
Grace Episcopal Church, Walker's Parish, is proudly celebrating its 275th anniversary in 2020. Our church's founders include a number of prominent men who have influenced our nation's destiny and whose history is well documented, but the stories of the African American community in the area and their contributions to our local life, economy and history are less well known.
Stimulated by the tragic and historic events in 2017 in Charlottesville and 2020 in our nation, we are committed to learning more, and adding to the knowledge of the history of our community. In accordance with work done by the "Bridges to Understanding" task force, we are resolved to acknowledge the past, to enhance our knowledge of local racial history and to share our knowledge with those interested in learning more.
The African American History Project (AAHP) began with a small committee of church and community members researching published and unpublished books, documents and collecting oral histories. Our research began in the spring of 2020 to take a deeper look at our recorded history and to search for links of our connections to the local black community and churches. The following documents provide a brief overview and introduction to the discovery of our shared community heritage.
We gratefully acknowledge the following individuals for their help in this project:
Ashley M. Williams, Marieka Williams, Becky Kinney, Dennis Morris- St. John Baptist Church;
Julia Randle, Historiographer- The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia
Otto T. Bates-Rose Hill Baptist Church;
Rev. G. Miles Smith, Elizabeth H. Sutton, Kathie Woods, Cathy Bodkin, Hugh Gildea, Lee Gildea, Corky Shackelford, Suzanne Nash- Grace Church
Authors:
Barclay Rives, Grace Church and author of "A History of Grace Church, Walker's Parish"
Niya M. Bates, Zion Hill Baptist Church, author of "Blurred Lines"
Dr. Michael Dickens, Christ Episcopal Church, author of "Like an Evening Gone, History of Christ Episcopal Church”, Charlottesville, VA
Lorenzo Dickerson, St. John Baptist Church, Director, St. John Family Life and Fitness Center, Maupintown Media
Dr. Shelley Murphy, Professor University of Virginia, Director of the Albemarle County Historical Society
Stimulated by the tragic and historic events in 2017 in Charlottesville and 2020 in our nation, we are committed to learning more, and adding to the knowledge of the history of our community. In accordance with work done by the "Bridges to Understanding" task force, we are resolved to acknowledge the past, to enhance our knowledge of local racial history and to share our knowledge with those interested in learning more.
The African American History Project (AAHP) began with a small committee of church and community members researching published and unpublished books, documents and collecting oral histories. Our research began in the spring of 2020 to take a deeper look at our recorded history and to search for links of our connections to the local black community and churches. The following documents provide a brief overview and introduction to the discovery of our shared community heritage.
- Cismont-Keswick Timeline 1737-2020
- Bibliography and Resources
- Stanislaw Makielski was the architect for Grace Church's All Saints Chapel in Stony Point which was built in 1929. He was also the original designer for Grace's Parish Hall and Zion Hill Baptist Church. Stanislaw not only designed various church, government, and private buildings in Charlottesville and the South, but, one year after All Saints Chapel was built, he became the exclusive architect for the American Church Institute for Negroes (ACIN) which was created in 1906 by the Episcopal Church to address African American education in the South by establishing and supporting such secondary schools.
We gratefully acknowledge the following individuals for their help in this project:
Ashley M. Williams, Marieka Williams, Becky Kinney, Dennis Morris- St. John Baptist Church;
Julia Randle, Historiographer- The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia
Otto T. Bates-Rose Hill Baptist Church;
Rev. G. Miles Smith, Elizabeth H. Sutton, Kathie Woods, Cathy Bodkin, Hugh Gildea, Lee Gildea, Corky Shackelford, Suzanne Nash- Grace Church
Authors:
Barclay Rives, Grace Church and author of "A History of Grace Church, Walker's Parish"
Niya M. Bates, Zion Hill Baptist Church, author of "Blurred Lines"
Dr. Michael Dickens, Christ Episcopal Church, author of "Like an Evening Gone, History of Christ Episcopal Church”, Charlottesville, VA
Lorenzo Dickerson, St. John Baptist Church, Director, St. John Family Life and Fitness Center, Maupintown Media
Dr. Shelley Murphy, Professor University of Virginia, Director of the Albemarle County Historical Society
