Historic Pleasant Grove

Name: Historic Pleasant Grove
Address: 8641 Lewinsville Road, McLean, VA, 22102, US
Telephone: +17035068270
Price range: Not Applicable

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Historic Pleasant Grove

A historic site and museum in McLean, Virginia, this former church was built in 1895 by and for Afric Moore Memorial Museum.

Pleasant Grove has been restored and maintained by the Friends of Pleasant Grove, who hold three free community events a year--a Black History Celebration, a Pleasant Grove Day open house, and a Holiday Carol Sing-along in December--and run the Frances K. Land Acknowledgment: Historic Pleasant Grove stands on the traditional lands of the Tauxenent/Dogue[Doeg] people, who were part of the original

Powhatan Paramountcy, and whose ancestors resided here and throughout Fairfax County since time immemorial. Many Indigenous peoples continue to thrive here today, including descendants of Pleasant Grove founders.

09/27/2023

Join us at Historic Pleasant Grove on Saturday, October 7th at 3pm for a brand-new presentation from the talented Washington Revels Jubilee Voices! They will lead us on a musical journey that traces the legacy of traditional African American music from the 19th century to the Civil Rights Movement, and beyond. See you there!
8641 Lewinsville Road, McLean, Virginia

A historic site and museum in McLean, Virginia, this former church was built in 1895 by and for African and Native Americans. The Friends of Pleasant Grove maintain the building and hold free community events. It is also available for rental.

06/19/2023

Happy Juneteenth! Thanks to those who visited our Pleasant Grove Day open house this weekend. In this photo, the Colbert family peruse their family history in the Frances K. Moore Memorial Museum.

06/09/2023

Join us Saturday, June 17th 10am - 2pm for our annual Pleasant Grove Day fair & open house! Our popular homemade baked goods and classy attic treasures will be on hand as usual. Take a docent-led tour of our museum. Learn the little-known history of the people of color who founded and attended Pleasant Grove...and find out what we're doing today!

05/20/2023

We’re at McLean Day today! Check us out at booth 7 in the Marketplace.

04/22/2023

Join us for a rainy-day movie and Q&A tomorrow at 3pm. We are screening the hour-long documentary "Finding Fellowship" about the integration of a local historically Black church with two White churches in 1968, followed by a panel discussion featuring the filmmaker. See you at Pleasant Grove, rain or shine!

03/21/2023

Join us at Pleasant Grove on Saturday, April 22nd, 3-5pm for a screening of the hour-long documentary "Finding Fellowship," which tells the story of Pleasant View, a historically Black church in Montgomery County, Maryland that integrated with two white churches in 1968...a similar story to Pleasant Grove's. The screening will be followed by a panel of Pleasant View AND Pleasant Grove descendants moderated by the filmmaker, Jason Green. [photo courtesy of Pleasant View Historical Association]

03/08/2023

What do Historic Pleasant Grove and a Super Bowl Ring have in common? Answer: Nazeeh Johnson! Nazeeh, a descendant of Pleasant Grove's founding Sharper family, played in Super Bowl 2023 as a defensive back for the winning Kansas City Chiefs. Here he is celebrating victory on the field. We couldn't be more proud! [photo: Associated Press]

01/16/2023

Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr. today: While Pleasant Grove closed its doors as a congregation in 1968, it was still active at the time of the 1963 March on Washington, just a few miles down the road. Did any of the congregation march? We don't know. If you have any information about this, please leave a comment below or DM us. We'd love to add this to our recorded history.

12/01/2022

Save the date for our free annual Christmas Carol Sing-along. Saturday, December 10th at 3pm at our quaint and festive historic site. 8641 Lewinsville Road, McLean, VA.

11/09/2022

We hosted a table at the Fairfax County History Conference this past weekend. There was an insightful presentation about Historically Black Churches around Fairfax, and it was great meeting history buffs from around the county!

11/08/2022

Friends of Pleasant Grove are welcome to join our Annual Meeting on Tuesday, November 15th at 7pm ET on site at 8641 Lewinsville Road, McLean, VA.

[image: Pleasant Grove in earlier days]

10/31/2022

It was wonderful to tour McLean Community Foundation around Pleasant Grove to show them what their generous 2021 grant allowed us to accomplish this year. In the photo: Renee O'Neill, Judith Mueller, Betty Marie Fields, Steven Bloom MCF, Kelly Green Kahn MCF, Michelle Arcari, Gail Nields, Deborah Jackson, Mary Rouvelas MCF, Martina White

09/21/2022

Join us at Pleasant Grove for our free Black History Celebration on Saturday, October 15th at 3pm. The talented Washington Revels Jubilee Voices ensemble will lift us up with song and an historical reenactment. 8641 Lewinsville Road, McLean, VA.

09/18/2022

07/05/2022

The Friends of Pleasant Grove mourn the loss of Garry Jewett, co-founder, leader, and core of this organization for many years. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/washingtonpost/name/freeborn-jewett-obituary?id=35554924

View Freeborn Garrettson Jewett's obituary, send flowers and sign the guestbook.

06/22/2022

We've earned a Gold Seal of Transparency with GuideStar/Candid charity watchdog organization! Check out our profile to learn more: https://www.guidestar.org/profile/52-1272271

06/20/2022

Happy Juneteenth...our newest Federal holiday! In 2017, Lonnie Bunch gave a virtual Juneteenth tour of the National Museum of African American History & Culture when he was Director there, before being elected Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Enjoy!
https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/celebrating-juneteenth

05/19/2022

Come say hello at Booth 18 in the Marketplace at McLean Day this Saturday!

05/11/2022

05/03/2022

Find out the fascinating little-known Indigenous history of Pleasant Grove and Fairfax County from esteemed Indigenous storyteller and historian, Rose Powhatan this Saturday, May 7th at 11am. We will also have Indigenous crafts, attic treasures, and our popular bake sale. 8641 Lewinsville Rd, McLean, VA. Rain or shine. Masks required.

04/14/2022

We're happy to bring Pleasant Grove Day back on Saturday, May 7th 10am-2pm! INCLUDING a special presentation entitled "The Indigenous History of Pleasant Grove and its Fairfax County Environs" by esteemed Indigenous storyteller, Rose Powhatan, and Native American activist, Kiros Auld. PLUS our popular attic treasures and bake sales.

02/25/2022

This famous photo "Flower Power" was taken in 1967 during the Vietnam War by Bernie Boston, noted photographer and Pleasant Grove descendant. Sadly, it is just as relevant today.

02/03/2022

We will share our 2022 Black History Celebration date with you as soon as it has been confirmed. In the meantime, here are ways to celebrate Black History Month throughout the DC area...

Celebrate Black History Month and African American history and culture in the Northern Virginia and Washington, DC area. A guide to attractions, museums, and historic sites in the Capital Region.

02/01/2022

Thank you so much, McLean Community Foundation, for a $12,000 grant that we are putting to good use bringing our historic site and museum space back to life! We are framing the walls of our lower level to be insulated and hung with drywall as part of our rebuild.

01/19/2022

Descendants Corner: Warren Jackson is descended from the Sharper family, Pleasant Grove co-founders. He is a fine artist working in the DC area. This striking painting of travelers in a train station, "The Time is Wright," has personal significance in the time, schedule and subjects: the woman in blue and man with cane depict his maternal grandparents. It is currently part of a juried exhibit at the Hill Center Gallery in Washington, DC.

01/17/2022

A moment of reflection on Martin Luther King Jr. Day

12/23/2021

Happy Holidays, one and all, from the Friends of Pleasant Grove

11/22/2021

Maryland Public Television is screening the documentary Finding Fellowship at 9pm tonight, about the merging of three Methodist Churches--one black, two white--in segregated 1968 Montgomery County.

The film tells the story of how three racially-segregated Methodist churches–two white and one black–merged into one in the wake of Dr. King’s assassination. The documentary highlights our need as a community and a culture to preserve stories, memories, and lessons of the past in order to shap...

11/04/2021

Friends of Pleasant Grove are welcome to join our virtual Annual Meeting on Tuesday, November 9th at 7pm ET. Visit our website www.HistoricPleasantGrove.org for information on how to call in to the Zoom meeting.

08/27/2021

In 1867 Black men voted for the first time in Virginia. Among those on the 1867 Fairfax County voter list were Samuel Sharper, William Hatcher and others who would go on to found Pleasant Grove several decades later. You can read more about this transformational time in Virginia history at https://www.virginiamemory.com/online-exhibitions/exhibits/show/remaking-virginia/voting/african-americans-vote

08/02/2021

A number of Friends of Pleasant Grove attended the unveiling of two signs celebrating the contributions of two Black and Indigenous women before and during the Civil War at Freedom Hill Park near Tysons Corner. The descendants of these women would go on to found and attend Pleasant Grove.

Address

8641 Lewinsville Road
McLean, VA
22102

Telephone

+17035068270

Website

http://www.historicpleasantgrove.org/

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