About the MLP
The Montevallo Legacy Project (MLP) is a community action group dedicated to finding, preserving, and sharing undertold stories of our town’s past. Founded in September 2022 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, MLP was created to safeguard at-risk local histories and honor legacies that inspire a more inclusive future for all residents.
Our Vision — A diverse community that welcomes all people of goodwill.
Our Mission — To foster a sense of belonging through educational and cultural programs that use storytelling to promote diversity inclusion, hope, good will, and safety. Montevallo is our mission.
How we got started…
MLP's roots are deeply connected to the creation of the Montevallo African American Heritage Trail. Two of our founders, Kathy King and Anitka Stewart Sims, served on the city’s Historical Preservation Commission and helped research sites for the trail. They are pictured here with co-founding board members Harrison Neville and Reggie Holifield.
The stories they uncovered were too compelling to keep quiet. To share them more widely, Kathy and Anitka launched Untold Stories of Black Montevallo, a monthly feature in Montevallo’s Chamber Chatter. Since 2022, over 40 installments have been published.
The enthusiastic response from local readers revealed a broader need: a platform that would regularly center Black history and presence.
In our first year…
We wanted to help the city create something remarkable for a town its size: a Heritage Trail honoring the history and contributions of its African American community. Since then, our mission has expanded to include other underrepresented communities in and around Montevallo.
The MLP officially was established Fall 2022 by two members of the Montevallo Historical Preservation Commission, Kathy King and Anitka Stewart Sims, after city council voted to approve funding for the trail. They were soon joined by Reggie Holifield and Harrison Neville. They wanted to support the effort to recognize African American contributions to the city and to create additional opportunities to give voice and visibility to the Black community in and around Montevallo.
They published their research in a collection of the first sixteen installments of the Untold Stories of Black Montevallo, which had been appearing monthly in Montevallo's Chamber Chatter since October 2021. We co-sponsored a viewing of the documentary 54 Miles from Home followed by a Q&A with producer Phillip Howard and descendants of the campsite families who shared their land with the Selma to Montgomery marchers.
We organized an immersive social justice experience for nearly 100 students and teachers from Los Angeles at the site of the EJI marker on Main Street. We led an effort to locate and commemorate burial sites in a neglected church graveyard that may contain remains of persons of African descent from the 1830s onward..
Moving Forward…
Building on our Heritage Trail origins, we’ve launched several initiatives:
Black History Month Programming: Including the annual Our Own Way community event and, newly added this year, Alabama Black History Night at Parnell Memorial Library.
Untold Stories Archive: Free annual print compilations supported by an online archive.
Community Projects: A Montevallo-themed coloring book highlighting scenes from Black history and a Youth Banner Design Competition celebrating local people and places.
Scholarships: In partnership with the Shelby County NAACP, we’ve awarded scholarships to graduating seniors committed to community leadership.
As we approach our fourth year in September 2025, we’re excited to broaden our reach. Recently, student interns from the Jean O'Connor Internship Program developed a storytelling campaign to connect generations within Montevallo’s LGBTQ community—part of our expanded effort to uncover hidden histories. We're also exploring collaborations with leaders from our growing Hispanic community.
