March / April 2022 UAiNSIGHT publication
The City of Upper Arlington and Upper Arlington Schools are partnering to build a park-like memorial on the site of the new Upper Arlington High School in recognition of the Pleasant Litchford family cemetery that had been located on that site.
Pleasant Litchford was a master blacksmith who had been enslaved in Virginia in the 1800s, bought his own freedom and went on to settle in the area that is now Upper Arlington. He built a successful business and purchased the land that is now home to the high school as well as Northam Park and Tremont Elementary School. Among Mr. Litchford’s many contributions to the area were establishing a school for African-American children and being a founding member of the Second Baptist Church, which provided an important voice in the anti-slavery movement.
The memorial will be located on the south end of the new Upper Arlington High School, where the cemetery was located. It will be a space that encourages learning and reflection for students and community members. Through this partnership, Upper Arlington Schools will fund $200,000 of the project through bond funds, and the City of Upper Arlington will appropriate $100,000 to fund and enhance the project.
The memorial will also be featured in the City’s History Trail Program, a partnership project with the Upper Arlington Historical Society. The History Trail is comprised of physical markers and signs in our community that help tell the story of Upper Arlington’s history, with supplemental information and resources available on the UA History Trail website. If you see a bronze round marker with a paw print next to a community sign, scroll to uahistory.org to learn more about the site’s historical significance.