History Keepers: Porters Road

Community historians keep the history of Porters Road alive.

Community Historians

In the spring of 2024 the "Mapping Black Landscapes" class at the University of Virginia worked with community historians from the Porters Road community in Esmont to map and research the history of their community. Our work was made possible by the history-keeping of longtime residents, who generously shared their memories with us. The profiles that follow are intended to honor their commitment to community history. Thanks to UVA students Carlehr Swanson, Aindrila Choudhury, and Sophia Jang for launching this oral history project.

Peggy Scott

Longtime Esmont resident Peggy Scott was born at the University of Virginia Hospital in Charlottesville in 1958. She spent her childhood in a primarily white neighborhood that was more or less equidistant to Keene, Charlottesville and Esmont, but the proximity of her mother’s grandmother and aunts created a sense of community. When she and her mother, Viola Turner, moved to Esmont, the tight-knit Black community centered on Porters Road helped bridge the geographical distance from their own relatives. Scott recalls her mother buying eggs from a Miss Swan, and meat and produce at reasonable prices from other neighbors. "Everybody had gardens and everybody took care of everybody,” she says. The two most important institutions were the church and school, which were centers not only of education and religion but social life. The various social events held there--Sunday and Wednesday services, annual revivals, Easter programs, May Day celebrations, movie screenings in the school gym--were occasions for the wider community to gather, connect, and break bread together. Scott attended the B.F. Yancey Elementary school until the 5th grade, and joined New Hope Baptist Church at the age of 14. In her 30s, Scott transferred her membership to a Pentecostal church after many of the elders at New Hope voted to dismiss a female pastor for what they called "cause." When the female head of her new church was overrun by the male bishop, she returned to New Hope--this time more vocal in her support of women’s ministry, joining several church boards to make her voice heard. Scott, a semi-retired oncology RN with the University of Virginia’s School of Medicine, also ran a local store with her husband Dusty for a number of years. Though she lives a few miles away, New Hope Baptist Church and the former elementary school, now a thriving community center, continue to anchor Scott’s life in Esmont. 

Karl Bolden

Karl Bolden was born March 15, 1959, in Albemarle County at the University of Virginia Hospital. A lifetime Esmontonian, Bolden proudly declares himself as a Bolden and a Gardner, Nelson, Jones, Thomas, and Wayne, highlighting his deep roots in Esmont dating back to the 1800s. This ancestral connection is especially strong, as Bolden lives in his grandfather's home, which is surrounded by generations of family homes. The Bolden family are a longtime force in the Esmont community, owning farmland on both ends of the community, along with Thomas' Store. A young Bolden spent much time tending to his family’s farm as a child, recalling it as hard work at the time but a fun activity in retrospect. He remembers Porters Road as a place where the community took care of one another and provided all the fun a young person needed. Fun included Sunday dinner at his grandfather's house, football or basketball with a neighbor, nights around the Victrola, and an occasional event at the Odd Fellows Lodge. Bolden attended BF Yancey Elementary School and later, when schools integrated, Scottsville Elementary School. Bolden enjoyed Yancey but recalled Scottsville being tougher student-teacher wise, "You were either going to be successful or be left behind. You had to prove it was worth the time and effort the teacher invested in you." Later, he attended Jack Jouett Middle School in Charlottesville and Albemarle High School. Bolden says Albemarle was a unique experience, as it was the first time he saw a combination of poor, middle-class, and wealthy kids who wanted nothing to do with each other. Bolden, a “three point something student,” followed the advice of his grandfather to “get an education” and a “skill” no matter the cost. After graduation he worked for Comdial, a manufacturer of telephone systems, and later as an engineer, project manager, and operations director for Fidelity Technologies out of Reading, PA. He traveled the world for the company, but always returned home to Esmont on the weekends. Bolden says he noted a significant change in Esmont’s town population when the nearby quarries closed and the Lane Brothers, known for their cedar chest and other furniture, moved out. However, since the Porters Road population was largely agricultural, the people who lived there would take care of themselves no matter what. In 2018, having reached his goal of visiting every state in the continental U.S., he retired. He now finds joy in working with the seniors of his community and sharing the vibrant history of Esmont with the next generation. And with the average age of Esmont residents rising, he’s happy to see new families moving in to enjoy the rural landscape.

Edward Brooks

Edward Rydell Brooks was born May 28, 1960. His ancestral connections to the Porters Road community go back several generations through two branches: the Gardener family (his mother's name was Ruth Lucilla Gardener Brooks, and his great-grandparents, Jasper and Louise Gardener, were natives of nearby Keene); and the Nelson family (his maternal grandmother was Hattie Nelson). "Lots of people are related up and down this road," Brooks says, noting the pride community members take in each other's accomplishments. As a child he was among the first Black students to integrate both Scottsville Elementary School, as a first-grader in 1966, and B.F. Yancey Elementary School, as a second-grader the following year. He remained at Yancey through fifth grade. Brooks was baptized and attended church at New Green Mountain Baptist Church, where his mother was a pianist, as her mother Hattie had been. His mother was also a member of the local chapter of the Household of Ruth, the women’s arm of the Odd Fellows. His family has always been active in local civic organizations, including the Southern Albemarle branch of the NAACP, the Progressive Club, and the Garden Club. For fun growing up, he recalls attending house parties, school events like the May Day celebrations, the Miss Black Albemarle pageant, and baseball games on Saturdays and Sundays. Trained in broadcasting, with a mellifluous voice to this day, Brooks worked in gospel radio in Washington, D.C., a natural outgrowth, he feels, of his mother’s and grandmother's vocations as church pianists. After 17 years traveling and working for State Farm Insurance across Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina, Brooks was hired as program coordinator for the Yancey School Community Center, which operates out of the former B.F. Yancey Elementary School. He calls that decision he calls "life-changing." Now Brooks works daily to make Esmont a more equitable place to live, providing a vibrant place where community members can gather but also building awareness of the disparities in education, income disparities, and housing that continue to challenge local residents. 

Dawn Johnson

Dawn Roxanne Starks Johnson was born on a beautiful Sunday afternoon on June 10, 1962, at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville. She is the daughter of Lewis Jr. and Barbara Epps Starks. The land on which her house stands has been home to the Starks family for several generations. Johnson can trace her family roots in Esmont back to the 1800s. Living in the Chestnut Grove area, Johnson recalls being among the first Black families and one of the only families in the area with the proper amenities. The church was essential to Johnson's life as she has been a lifelong Chestnut Grove Baptist Church member. She recalls that many area churches, such as New Hope Baptist Church, Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, and New Green Mountain Baptist Church, were united, especially during annual revivals. For a young Johnson, fun included playing with her siblings and cousins on her family's property, occasional trips to the James River and Natural Bridge, movie days and visits to local restaurants, and ice cream from Colleen's in Nelson County, where her mother was from. Johnson's mother, who she described as a local activist, greatly influenced her, participating in the NAACP, Women's Auxiliary, and advocating for better road conditions. For schooling, Johnson attended BF Yancey Elementary and later, after the schools were integrated, Scottsville Elementary. Johnson recalls integration not being "a bad experience" because her mother worked in Scottsville, and her siblings were close by. She later attended Jack Jouett in Charlottesville and Albemarle High School. Johnson was an athlete throughout school, participating in basketball, volleyball, and track. With the love and influence of her family, Johnson has dedicated her life to creating positive change in her community. She has had a 40-plus-year career at the University of Virginia and is an administrative supervisor for the Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging. She is still an Esmont resident, currently residing there with her husband and two sisters (Venise & DeShanta) close by: for Johnson, home and family are truly where her heart is. All her fond memories and special places revolve around time spent on the Starks family property or with family. Whereas the Esmont demographic has changed quite a bit since Johnson was a child, Johnson notes developments like paved roads as an improvement. As Johnson continues to advocate in her community and share Esmont's rich history, she thinks about what this work may be to her ancestors and believes they are proud.

Hope Robinson

Hope Robinson was born in 1971 in Albemarle County and grew up in Keene, Virginia, just north of Esmont. She often spent time with her family in the area, visiting her grandmother in the country, playing in the creek with her cousins, and joining other kids for movie nights on Fridays. She has fond memories of the tightly knit community, from Girl Scout meetings at B.F. Yancey Elementary to church summer camps and Vacation Bible School at New Green Mountain Church. One focal point for kids was the 4H Club (Esmont Clovers), one of the only Black 4H clubs in Virginia, which provided summer camps, social skill building, agricultural activities, and cooking instruction. As a child, Robinson attended Scottsville Elementary School, Walton Middle School, and Albemarle High School. As one of the few Black children at Scottsville, Robinson recalls a distinctly different schooling experience from her cousins at Yancey, which was predominantly Black and had Black teachers. However, Robinson’s experiences and the support she received from a parent advocate encouraged her to attend a historically Black college, Virginia State University. In her current work, Robinson notes that her upbringing in a small community showed the importance of connection, and gave her “the power and the ability to go and advocate for change even though it may not always be immediate.” As a child, she remembers elders in the community advocating against bussing children from Keene and Esmont to Western Albemarle. And like the adults and role models in her community growing up, Robinson deeply values giving back to the next generation and providing the necessary skills to “go out and make changes, and just reaching out to neighbors, meeting the community needs.” Although Esmont has changed since she grew up, Yancey has continued to serve as a pillar in the community by connecting people through activities and through local community support such as the food bank. In Robinson’s opinion, the support for Yancey Community Center is indicative of Albemarle County beginning to recognize and address the needs of the Esmont community, and is building back connections.