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African American Schools in Virginia: A Multiple Property Document (MPD) Project

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The Cuckoo School

In early 2024, the Commonwealth of Virginia was awarded $75,000 in grant funds through the National Park Service's (NPS) Underrepresented Communities Grant Program to support the development of a statewide historic context report for African American schools. The project resulted in a Multiple Property Document (MPD), a NPS form used for documenting topically related historic properties. The information in MPDs is primarily intended to streamline the nomination of related individual sites or historic districts to the National Register of Historic Places, however, the historic context and architectural analysis included in the MPD also can support the development of interpretive materials, historical highway markers, and other preservation initiatives.

To illustrate how the MPD can simplify the nomination of African American schools, this project also resulted in a National Register of Historic Places nomination for the Cuckoo School in Louisa County (pictured in this article). The two-room Cuckoo School was constructed ca. 1925 as a public school for African American children and is representative of many similar schools in operation before African American school consolidation efforts began in some parts of Virginia during the 1930s.

Both the African American Schools in Virginia MPD and the Cuckoo Elementary School nomination were approved by DHR’s board in June.

DHR and CPG conducted a virtual public information session at the end of this project on Thursday, June 26th. The meeting provides more information about the MPD and how to use it. A recording of the information session can be found here.

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