Dr. Nishani Frazier and students in the Public History and History program have been working with cemeteries in North Carolina in the areas of advocacy and protection, historical research and long-term preservation. In the case of the West Chapel Hill cemetery, a historically black burial site which dates back to the 1800s, their role is advocacy.

Last year, Dr. Nishani Frazier took students from her Introduction to Public History class to Chapel Hill, NC to visit West Chapel Hill Cemetery. Cemetery descendants were concerned that developers might build on a portion of the Black cemetery section that was not within the fence. The Public History program became involved with the descendants after learning that the city of Chapel Hill failed to follow through on its own recommendations for the cemetery’s care. Two recommendations from the city survey included: documentation of the cemetery’s history through oral history interviews with community members and a second review of cemetery grounds via Ground Penetration Radar. Due to Dr. Frazier’s group meeting with the city and descendants, Chapel Hill paused the project to complete both recommendations.

This Fall, Dr. Frazier worked with the History Graduate Student Association co-Presidents, Liam McCandless, a Public History MA student and Public History PhD student, John Goncalves, to organize a Public History cemetery workshop for first and second year public history and traditional history MA students to revisit the descendants in West Chapel Hill. During the meeting students and descendents received updates on the ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey conducted by New South, the company hired by Chapel Hill to canvas the site.

The group first met with the descendants to discuss protection and advocacy for the historically Black burial site before heading over to the cemetery. At the cemetery site, students were able to study the landscape and see the outside portion of the fenced area.

As part of the workshop, students collected oral histories from the community elders. McCandless noted that, “the oral histories have been very helpful in terms of mapping what elders remember as the boundaries of the cemetery.  The first time we went, we talked to an individual who was very specific on where he remembered the boundaries of the cemetery being, which was very helpful information to give to New South and the development company.” 

Liam further explained that the community does not wish to put a stop to the project, but rather they want to ensure that if the project is carried through, that it is not carried through on any burial sites.

Liam, whose research focuses on 19th century black labor, specifically in public spaces, found the workshop to be a great learning experience in terms of public advocacy. “Taking oral histories and community building is something that’s been very important for my experience, but it’s also something that I know is very personal to a lot of the people in Chapel Hill as it gentrifies. Helping the community reconnect with the past has been a great experience. The work doesn’t directly tie in with my research necessarily, but its helping me broaden my horizons”