From the Richmond Dispatch, January 17, 1886:
One one of the very successful Mission Sunday schools in the city is the one under the care of the Young Men’s Society of the First Presbyterian church, located on Oregon Hill, corner of Spring and Pine streets. W.S. Donnan, Jr., is the efficient superintendent, ably seconded by his assistant, Mr. A.H. Christian, and a faithful band of teachers. The school now numbers some 250, and is in great need of more teachers.
There’s an elm tree on the 300 block of S. Pine Street that is scheduled to be removed. City workers believe a split in the trunk will lead to future problems if it is not removed. More details about this and other tree removals can be found by clicking here:
http://www.richmondgov.com/Departments/publicworks/docs/listTreeRemovals.pdf
Also, from a City press release:
Richmond Tree Stewards 2010
Are you interested in learning more about proper tree care? The City of Richmond boasts one of the top urban forests in the country, and now you have the opportunity to learn more about the thriving trees in our community.
Who: Richmond residents interested in learning the proper methods of planting and maintaining trees by becoming Tree Stewards
What: Richmond Tree Stewards 2010
Where: Tuesdays at the Round House in Byrd Park and one Saturday class, location TBA
When: Every Tuesday, February 9 – April 13 from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. and Saturday, March 20 from 9 a.m. – noon
Background: Class topics include tree identification, tree biology, soil characteristics, planting and care, health and maintenance, and proper pruning methods. The Tree Planting class will be taught by area tree care industry professionals.
Registration is $95 for city residents and $150 for non-city residents. Each participant is asked to commit to 20 hours of community service upon completion of the program. Tree Stewards who completed the class between 2004-2009 may sit in the classes at no charge. The registration deadline is Friday, January 15, 2010. Checks should be made to Richmond Recreation and Parks Foundation. To download a registration form log onto www.treestewards.rrpfoundation.org or call 646-6785 for more information.
From the Richmond Dispatch, January 13, 1888:
The Day Nursery.
The Day Nursery on Oregon Hill, while not exactly a charity, cannot be made self-supporting on the small scale on which it is at present conducted. It therefore appeals confidently to the support of citizens, especially at the west end of town. Gifts of infants’ clothing will be particularly welcome, and will be received by the matron, 610 China Street; Mrs. Silvey, 209 west Grace street, and Mrs. H. M. Jackson, 800 west Franklin street.
From Byrd House Market announcement:
Come on over to the BHM Renegade Market this Tuesday, Jan. 12, and
pick something up for your cooking pot, your late night snack, your
great breakfast on the go…your road trip, your stay-cation or your
good works on Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Day (Jan. 18).Dedicated and surprise volunteers help make our working world go
round, y’all. Some of you might have noticed that the fence around the
Community Garden is under construction. Well, one fortuitous day last
fall, a local Eagle Scout contender just happened by and noticed our
fence was in need of a little reinforcement. He proposed an entirely
new fence as his leadership project and began work during the
holidays. The fence should come to completion in the next few weeks.We look forward to showing off some of the structural improvements to
the garden and market areas when the 2010 market season begins in
May.Traffic is a mite slow in the cold and darkening minutes before
sundown, so our vendors will start packing up at 5:30. Come early!Stay warm and lively!
A story in this week’s Style magazine gives information on a new federal-local partnership for the Tredegar ironworks site.
The partnership between the American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar and the National Park Service comes as regional planners continue spinning their wheels, quietly debating where to create a central visitor’s center in anticipation of next year’s commemorations of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.
Tredegar, once the iron-smelting backbone of the Confederacy’s industrial effort, has long been a shared site between the National Park Service and the nonprofit civil war center. The new plan means Tredegar’s cohabitants become symbiotic partners on the site overlooked by Ethyl Corp.’s corporate headquarters on Byrd Street.
The partnership is unique within the National Park Service, says David Ruth, superintendent of the National Park Service’s Richmond National Battlefield Park. The federal government and the Civil War center will run jointly the museum’s day-to-day operations and retail functions. Ruth says the partnership with the center is even more comprehensive than the joint public-private effort that runs Gettysburg National Battlefield.
Gettysburg interprets a single battlefield, where Tredegar becomes a gateway to antebellum and war-era Richmond as well as all of the battlefield sites throughout the state. The private side of Tredegar has long focused its Civil War interpretation on a more rounded history of civilian and military life within the context of black, white, Northern and Southern experiences.
To read the rest of the article, click here.
I have not seen this covered yet by the other neighborhood blogs- here’s the announcement:
Virginia coalition to hold ‘Jan. 9 March on the State Capitol for Jobs,
Peace & Justice’On Saturday, Jan. 9, the Virginia People’s Assembly, a statewide coalition
of labor, community and peace organizations, will sponsor a march on the
State Capitol to oppose more budget cuts and layoffs of state workers.The demands of the march include: “Jobs, Peace, Justice! Don’t balance the
budget on the backs of Virginia’s workers! Make the big corporations pay
their fair share of Virginia’s tax burden!”The announcement of the march follows outgoing Gov. Tim Kaine’s proposal
for the 2010-2012 state budget, which includes $2.3 billion in new cuts,
including the loss of 2,543 state jobs, 664 through direct layoffs, as
well as slashing aid to cities and counties. The new cuts would be in
addition to the more than $7 billion already cut from the present two-year
budget in response to declining revenue caused by the ongoing national
recession.Bob McDonnell, who takes office as Virginia’s new governor on Jan. 16, has
already rejected revenue increases proposed by Kaine, so the actual
threatened cuts and layoffs will likely be even more severe.“Gov. Tim Kaine and incoming Gov. Bob McDonnell are both talking about
more layoffs of state workers, more cuts in social programs, higher
university tuition and less aid to the cities and counties,” said Lillie
Branch-Kennedy, a prisoner rights advocate and founding member of the VPA.
“But nobody is talking about the fact that Virginia has one of the lowest
corporate income tax rates in the country. We say raise the tax rate for
the biggest corporations and you won’t have to balance the budget on the
backs of working people and the poor!”On Jan. 9, the VPA and its allies and supporters will rally at 3 p.m. at
Kanawha Plaza, at 8th and Canal streets next to the Federal Reserve
Building in downtown Richmond. At 4 p.m., participants will march through
the city’s Financial District, past the offices of the banks and
corporations the VPA charges are not paying their fair share of the
state’s tax burden. The march will end at sundown outside Capitol Square.
City permits have been obtained for both the rally and march.The march and rally will be preceded by a meeting for VPA affiliates and
allies, to be held from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at St. Stephen’s Baptist
Church, 505 N. 33rd St. in the city’s East End.The Virgina People’s Assembly was formed in the fall of 2008 to sponsor a
march and rally on the opening day of the 2009 General Assembly session.
Organizers of the march and rally scheduled for Jan. 9, 2010, include the
Richmond organizations Richmond Jobs with Justice; Defenders for Freedom,
Justice & Equality, Resource Information Help for the Disadvantaged;
Prisoners & Families for Equal Rights & Justice; and United Parents
Against Lead National, Inc.; the Coalition for Justice (Blacksburg) the
People United (Charlottesville); Plowshare Peace Center (Roanoke);
Mexicanos Sin Fronteras / Mexicans Without Borders (Prince William
County); OffBase GI Coffeehouse (Norfolk) and many individual activists.A complete list of endorsers follows this announcement.
For more information, call (804) 644-5834 or e-mail
vapeoplesassembly@gmail.com. Also, visit the VPA Web site at
www.vapeoplesassembly.org.The following organizations and individuals have endorsed the
Jan. 9 March on the State Capitol for Jobs, Peace & JusticeAfter Downing Street; David Swanson, Co-Founder – Charlottesville
Phyllis T. Albritton – Blacksburg
Breanne Armbrust, Director, Richmond Jobs with Justice
Michael S. Berg, Peace & Social Justice Activist – Norfolk
J. Daniel Bickett, Activist – Richmond
Lillie “Ms. K” Branch-Kennedy, Director, Resource Information Help for the
Disadvantaged (RIHD)
Margaret Breslau, Chair, Coalition for Justice -Blacksburg
Rev. Indee Hopewell Brown, Concerned Virginian -Midlothian
Rain Burroughs, Code Pink – Richmond
Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality
Ana Edwards, Chair, Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project – Richmond
Sa’ad El-Amin, Human Rights Activist – Richmond
Lillie A. Estes, Community Strategist – Richmond
Flying Brick Library – Richmond
Rev. J.E. Gash, Exec. Minister, The Active Hand Ministry – Richmond Pastor
Benjamin W. Harris Jr., Concerned Community Activist – Richmond Rev.
Marilyn Heckstall, Activist – Richmond
Pearl & Lawrence Hopewell, Concerned Virginians – Richmond
Rev. Rodney Hunter – Richmond
Rev. George Jordan, Founder, A.F.R.I.C.A. – Richmond
King Salim Khalfani, Executive Director, Va. State Conference NAACP Little
Flower Catholic Worker Farm – Louisa
May Day 2010 – Richmond
Mexicanos Sin Fronteras – Prince William County
Donnell Newton, Community Activist – Norfolk
Tom Palumbo, Interim Project Manager, OffBase Coffeehouse & Activist
Center – Norfolk
The People United
Rev. Nichole Phillips, Concerned Virginian – Midlothian
Tench Phillips, President, Art Repertory Films, Inc – Norfolk
Charity Pierce, President, Afrikana (VCU)
Plowshare Peace Center – Roanoke
Prisoners & Families for Equal Rights & Justice
Prosser-Truth Division #456, UNIA-ACL
RePHRAME – Richmond
Richmond Anarchist Black Cross
Richmond Peace Education Center
Richmond Reproductive Freedom Project
Richmond Social Justice Collective
Adria Scharf, Peace Activist – Richmond
Jennifer Schockemoehl, Labor Organizer – Richmond
Self-Improvement and Education Center – Norfolk
Queen Zakia Shabazz, Director, United Parents Against Lead National, Inc.
Brian Taylor, Democratic Congressional Candidate, 7th District
UE Local 160, Va. Public Service Workers Union
VA CARAT (Virginia Community Action & Response Against Toxins)
Virginia Solidarity Association
Joan Wages – Floyd County
Phil Wilayto, Editor, The Virginia Defender
The Wingnut – Richmond
Cathy Woodson, Activist – RichmondOutside Virginia
The Virginia People’s Assembly is attracting attention from beyond Virginia.
As of Dec. 21, the Jan. 9 march has been endorsed by:Pam Africa, Co-Chair, The International Concerned Family & Friends of
Mumia Abu Jamal – Philadelphia
Ramona Africa, Minister of Communication for The MOVE Organization –
Philadelphia
A.N.S.W.E.R.Coalition
Black Workers for Justice
Noam Chomsky, Professor, MIT – Lexington, Mass.
Donna S. Dewitt, President, S.C. AFL-CIO – Columbia, S.C.
Fellowship of Reconciliation – USA
Sara Flounders, Co-Director, International Action Center
Yoshie Furuhashi, Editor, MRZine
Teresa Gutierrez, Co-Coordinator, May 1st Coalition for Worker & Immigrant
Rights
Mike Konopacki, Huck/Konopacki Labor Cartoons – Madison, Wis.
National Assembly to End the Iraq & Afghanistan Wars & Occupations Rostam
Pourzal, Former President, Campaign Against Sanctions & Military
Intervention in Iran (CASMII) – Washington, D.C.
I have not seen it yet, but Oregon Hill resident Shawn Jones tells me he will soon be releasing a zine about Oregon Hill. Judging from some of the contributors, it should be interesting.
Hey Ya’ll, I have been compiling a zine about Oregon Hill. Finishing up now and hoping to publish this month. Also, taking last minute contributions through this week if anyone is interested.
Thanks,
Shawn
Shawn’s email is goshawnjonesgo@hotmail.com if you would like to drop him a line.
Excerpt from Times Dispatch article (with some links):
Several local high schools have been ranked among the nation’s best in a recent issue of U.S. News & World Report.
For the third consecutive year, Richmond’s Community and Open high schools have made the list with silver and bronze rankings, respectively.
Henrico County’s Deep Run and Godwin high schools also made the list for the second consecutive year, with both earning a silver ranking.
In 2008, Deep Run, Godwin and Community high schools earned a silver ranking from U.S. News & World Report, while Open earned bronze.
Standard & Poor’s School Evaluation Services conducts the rankings, which are based on student performance on state tests, disadvantaged student performance, and the opportunities provided to students for Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses.
In Virginia, about 22,000 public high schools were analyzed. Nationwide, 561 schools received gold or silver rankings, and in Virginia, eight schools received such designations. There were 36 bronze recipients in Virginia and 1,750 nationwide. Thomas Jefferson High School in Alexandria received the highest ranking in the report, published Dec. 10.
Despite these accomplishments, Open High, at least in the Grace Arents school building, is still scheduled to be closed in the future, even though there is the Goldman plan.
From the Times-Dispatch, January 2, 1904:
In the presence of a large congregation that practically filled the house, the beautiful new St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, of this city, was consecrated yesterday morning with Impressive exercises, led by the bishop of Virginia.
The new house of worship Is one of the handsomest In the State. Its completion and consecration was an event of no little moment to Episcopal Virginia, and the attendance was the larger, and more interested on account of this fact. The beautiful bullding, the gift of one generous member of the congregation, is, besides, the center of one of the most Interesting religious enterprises here or anywhere. St. Andrew’s parish ls known far and near for tho great wok it is doing. The ceremonies of yesterday were therefore of unusual note.
THE EXERCISES.
Tho consecration service began about 11 o’clock. In the front pew to the right of the center aisle were Miss Grace Arents, who contributed the entire
amount for the erection of the church; and Mr. Charles Bower, Mrs. D. N.
Walker, Mrs. O’Brien, and Mr. Woodson, who founded St. Andrew’s Mission In
1875.
Apart from the regular New Year’s Eve noise, there are several residents’ reports that New Year’s Eve parties at VCU students’ houses last night on Cherry and Laurel Streets were out of control and lead to street brawls and vandalism. Police and ambulances were on the scene, but no word on any arrests or specific injuries.