1953————90 year Anniversary ————2023
Discover the Rich History of Historic Pleasant Grove School 1933 - 1953
Through 90 years of racial segregation and funding disparity, black schools in Clarendon County fight for equal education.
Historical Pleasant Grove Marker Brick Walkway
$130.00
Join us today January 2024 our official kickoff by purchasing an engraved brick(s) to support the preservation of this historic building and to create a new multipurpose center to tell the stories from students attending these rural schools in Clarendon County. This new building speaks to the past as well as provides inspiration and understanding for future generations.
The bricks and pavers will be incorporated in the sidewalks that connect to the Historical Marker.
Order you brick now. Print your PDF below.
Uncovering of artifacts at the Pleasent Grove school Campus
The Historic Pleasant Grove School Finding in building
The Historic Pleasant Grove School Finding in building
The Historic Pleasant Grove School Finding in building
This along with other artifacts were found in phase 2 of the restoration project in November, at the Pleasent Grove school. We are in a process of trying to find what decade as we go through this process.
The Historic Pleasant Grove School
The Historic Pleasant Grove School Finding in building
The Historic Pleasant Grove School Finding in building
The Historic Pleasant Grove School commemorative bag given in 1992 to the reopening of the Community Center
Explore Historic Pleasant Grove School
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Pleasant Grove School was significant in education and ethnic heritage. one of the oldest surviving purpose-built schools for black students in Clarendon County, South Carolina, and the only surviving pre-war school in the rule Alcolu community. The significance began in 1933 when the black community in Alcolu purchased land and built the school through volunteer fundraising efforts and ended with the school closure in 1953.
Pleasant Grove was a segregated school serving black children during the Jim Crow era and operated in the Clarendon County, white-run school, District. Functioning as a community hub, Pleasant Grove school had a basketball court a baseball field behind the building. There was an active teacher, association, and in-house kitchen for the hot lunch program, and the 4-H activities for the local children. The school closed in 1953, at that time 159 students were enrolled.
The Pleasant Grove School along with other small real schools were replaced by South Carolina’s school equalization program. A state effort to preserve segregated public education. Pleasant Grove School is emblematic of how African Americans pursued civil rights in the early 20th century within the structures of white supremacy.
The school construction represents a major community effort to provide education for local black children, despite the lack of meaningful investment from the government. The building also uses a physical manifestation of the inequality in school facilities that would help spark to fight against segregation in Clarendon County. Limitations of the small, volunteer-funded, vernacular school building demonstrate the inequalities between black and white schools of the period. after World War II, the continued disparity of between the black and white education experiences resulted in the local black community pursuits and integration school facilities, a component of the fight for civil rights. Pleasant Grove school is a rare extended survival of the Jim Crow era segregated school system in Clarendon County.
PHASE ONE took place on March 5. 2023
The photo above, you can see the amount of work that was done . Explore the landscape of Historic Pleasant Grove School. The historical layers was removed to guide you through the history and significance of each element of the school and surrounding land.
President Pleasant Grove Restoration and Alumni
Conversation with Joe Evans about his experience as a student in the 1940s at Pleasant Grove School in Alcolu South Carolina
Events and updates
Join us for a variety of fun and engaging events and activities that celebrate the legacy of Historic Pleasant Grove School.
PLEASANT GROVE ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
ROOSEVELT DANEY. SR
Roosevelt Daney, Sr. is the eldest son of the late Lionel ‘Sing’and Evelyn Evans Daney of Manning, SC. He attended Pleasant Grove school in Alcolu, South Carolina. Roosevelt (known to his siblings and many others as ‘Bro’) always had a knack for singing and playing the piano and guitar. Even as a child, he had a love for music that was instilled in him by his loving parents. He was a talented singer, piano player and self-taught guitar player. He met is wife, Vallie Ree (known to Roosevelt as ‘Ree’), at an early age. They both attended Cypress A.M.E. church in Alcolu, SC. Roosevelt and Ree dated for several years. On September 2, 1956 they were joined in holy matrimony in Alcolu, SC at the home of the bride.
A few years later, Roosevelt and Ree resided in Baltimore, Maryland where all six of their children were born. While in Baltimore, Roosevelt worked full-time and joined his brothers singing in the gospel quartet group, The Swannee Jubilee Singers. After living in Baltimore for many years, Roosevelt and Ree decided to return back to their roots in Manning, South Carolina where he worked as a foreman at AirCap Industries. Roosevelt branched out in Manning and formed his own gospel quartet, The Bright Stars. He continued his service and duty in the church as chairman of the Trustee Board and Minister of Music at Cypress Fork A.M.E., Shiloh A.M.E. and Harmony Presbyterian churches. He continued to fulfill his passion and love for singing and playing the keyboard\piano for several churches in the local area. He later worked for the South Carolina Highway Department until his retirement. Thereafter, he was employed with the Clarendon County School District in the Food Services Department.
Roosevelt was a determined man of God who believed in hard work, perseverance and the bond of family. To his family, he was a dedicated husband, father, brother, grandfather and uncle.Additionally, he was well known and highly respected in the community as a leader, mentor and teacher.
Swannee Jubilee Singers
Take the opportunity to go back in time and listen to music played by and sung by Pleasant Grove Grammer school student.
WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU GUYS
STAND STILL JORDAN -a live recording of Roosevelt Daney Sr in his Home
301 CONCERT CHOIR - IDENTIFIED
CAN YOU IDENTIFYNUBER (#6 )PERSON
PHOTOS FROM THE PAST
ANY PHOTOS OF SCHOOL PLEASE FORWARD TO US
Send photos to : Email Hpgschool12@gmail.com
“Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; …………….they just have the heart.”
Historic Pleasant Grove School
1012 Joe Marie Road, Alcolu, South Carolina 29001, United States
