Civil rights and the Civil War will be interpreted in new ways this year with $1 million in diversity grants from Dominion Virginia Power.
The utility company is having a news conference today at 1:30 p.m. at the Richmond Marriott downtown to announce donations to projects at the Robert Russa Moton Museum, CenterStage and the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Foundation, among others.
"We've supported diversity projects for a very long time," said Marjorie Grier, director of corporate philanthropy. "This is made up of 32 grants in all, with three of the new ones being interesting because they also represent anniversaries."
The Moton Museum in Farmville will use its $250,000 grant for a film dramatizing the events of April 23, 1951, when students walked out of the Moton School to protest unequal education for blacks. Their lawsuit, Davis v. Prince Edward, became part of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case decided by the Supreme Court in 1954.
Producer/director Tim Reid has finished shooting the film and expects to finish editing it by the end of next month, said Lacy Ward Jr., museum director. The film's premiere on April 23 will start a 12-month countdown to the 60th anniversary of the student walkout.
CenterStage will use $50,000 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of a sit-in by Virginia Union University students to desegregate the Thalhimers lunch counter. CenterStage was built on the Thalhimers site.
The Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Foundation will use $100,000 for its second 150th anniversary Signature Conference, this one at Norfolk State University in September on "Race, Slavery and the Civil War: The Tough Stuff of American History." James O. Horton and James McPherson will be among the scholars.
Other recipients include Virginia State University, $100,000 for two scholarship programs; and Virginia Union University, $250,000 as the third installment of a $1 million commitment to the school's financial base.
Grants to other organizations total $92,000 for arts and culture, $45,000 for community-development initiatives and $70,000 for educational initiatives.
Dominion also is holding its annual "Strong Men and Women: Excellence in Leadership" program tonight. This year's honorees are President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, who are portrayed in the annual portrait of the winners but will not be at the event. The keynote address will be by Elaine Jones, president and director-counsel emeritus of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
Teresa Danso-Danquah at Henrico High School is one of the winners in an essay-writing contest. She receives a laptop computer, and her school gets $1,000.
Contact Katherine Calos at (804) 649-6433 or kcalos@timesdispatch.com.
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