Volunteers Needed for 246 Years Project at Morven Park

Morven Park is seeking volunteers to help with database entry for the 246 Years Project — a social justice initiative dedicated to documenting and honoring the millions of enslaved men, women, and children whose names and life stories deserve to be known. For 246 years, the life events of enslaved individuals were recorded in a variety of documents by enslavers managing their “property.” These records survive today in the archives of historic sites, community history organizations, and local courts and are being organized within the custom-built online database, reassembling the pieces to reveal the life events of the men, women, and children enslaved in Loudoun County. The searchable database is available online, free of charge, for public use at morvenpark.org/246years.

To date, dedicated volunteers have helped enter more than 35,000 names and over 4,000 individual records into the database. “We are deeply grateful to the volunteers who have devoted their time and care to this work,” said Stacey Metcalfe, Executive Director/CEO, Morven Park. “Because of their commitment, thousands of names and stories that were once confined to fragile documents are now preserved and accessible to the public. Their efforts are helping restore identity and dignity to individuals whose histories deserve to be remembered.”

Morven Park is looking for individuals who are passionate about making a difference in our community and have experience working with historic documents. A two-hour training session is required, and all data entry will be done at Morven Park on weekdays between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Once trained, volunteers can sign up for a three-hour shift either from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. or from 1–4 p.m. All volunteers must be 16 years of age or older. To sign up to volunteer, visit morvenpark.org/support/volunteer.html.

Join us in this effort to discover, recognize, preserve, and share the names and stories of the millions of men, women, and children that history has ignored for too long. For more information, visit morvenpark.org/246years.

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Morven Park is a 1,000 acre historic estate located at Leesburg, Virginia. Owned and operated by the Westmoreland Davis Memorial Foundation, a non-profit organization, Morven Park first opened to the public in 1967.

Known as the “Central Park” of Loudoun County, Morven Park welcomes 250,000 visitors each year who come to enjoy exquisite scenery, formal boxwood gardens, the Morven Park International Equestrian Center, the iconic Greek Revival mansion, museums, and hiking trails.

As a nonprofit organization, Morven Park relies on donations to preserve the exceptional buildings and grounds, to support our award-winning student programs, and to continue our fun, family-friendly events.