AMMD Pine Grove prepares to stabilize building, debut film ‘More than a School'
Free Press staff report | 3/21/2024, 6 p.m.
The past and future of the historic Pine Grove School will be the focus of two events hosted by the AMMD Pine Grove Project during the last week of March and the first week of April.
The history of the Pine Grove community centers around Pine Grove Elementary School. Completed in 1917, the Pine Grove School is a part of a system of schools conceived by Booker T. Washington and supported through the philanthropy of Julius Rosenwald. The school has been recognized on the Virginia Landmark Register and National Register of Historic Places. The school is documented as part of Preservation Virginia’s survey of African-American and Rosenwald Schools.
Through the years, the school not only educated students, it served as a community center and gathering place for the nearby residents. The school closed in 1964. However, the spirit of the school lives on in its graduates who have organized the Agee Miller Mayo Dungy (AMMD) Pine Grove Project and work to protect the historic African-American school at the heart of the community.
On Sunday, March 24, at 3 p.m., Cumberland County residents are invited to attend the Pine Grove Project’s monthly meeting that will focus on construction to stabilize the historic school, located at 267 Pinegrove Road. To register for the meeting, please visit https://tinyurl.com/ammdpgpeventsreg.
Also, on April 5, the Pine Grove Project will help debut the first showing of the documentary “Pine Grove: More than a School” produced by Departure Point Films.
The premiere is at 5 p.m. in the Robert Russa Moton Museum at 900 Griffin Blvd., and includes a keynote address from Kwesi M. Daniels, orator and head of the Architecture Department at Tuskegee University.
Tickets cost $30 and may be purchased at
