March 06th, 2019

National database seeks to protect hundreds of black burial grounds in South Carolina

POST & COURIER ARTICLE BY Caitlin Byrd cbyrd@postandcourier.com
Political Reporter , Mar 3, 2019

SCANLONVILLE — When Edward Lee was a child, everybody in the neighborhood knew about the cemetery.

The graves rested beneath the moss-draped oaks that overlooked Molasses Creek, a body of water meant to allow for safe passage of spirits back to Africa.
Even while hunting nearby for turkey or deer, Lee said, there was one rule everyone followed: You don’t hunt in the graveyard.

Today, a federal push is underway to keep the stories of African-American burial grounds like Scanlonville alive. Last month, U.S. Reps. Alma Adams of North Carolina and Donald McEachin of Virginia — two black Democrats from Southern states — introduced the African-American Burial Grounds Network Act.

The proposal calls for the creation of a national database of historic African-American burial grounds as part of the National Park Service. If passed, the legislation would provide federal funding for the voluntary initiatives that research, record and preserve such sites, along with technical support.

The database would be voluntary and require the consent of the property owner to be included in the network. It is unclear how much the undertaking would cost, as the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has yet to release its assessment.

Scanlonville’s history would be of interest, something Lee alluded to while unhooking the 20-foot yellow chain that separates the cemetery from the Mount Pleasant regional neighborhood street where half-million-dollar homes surround the site. He recalled what an attorney told him after a judge ruled this cemetery could not be developed.

“This was very unusual that anybody would stand up and fight for this place,” he said, looking out at the old gravestones, the new white crosses and the groups of palms that signify this is a final resting place.

No database of storiesFew know where to look for such sites and even fewer can find the solace they seek as African-American burial grounds face an onslaught of modern threats: physical deterioration, bitter development battles and neglect when descendants move away or die before they can warn the next generation.

“Black people are generally treated as though they are invisible, and the things that were visible have become invisible through gentrification and other means,” said Ade Ofunniyin, founder of the Gullah Society, a nonprofit dedicated to rescuing and preserving neglected African and African-American burial grounds.

“The physical evidence of black people living in Charleston is disappearing quickly,” he said. “All we have are these graves and the voices of those who remain. The stories need to be told.”

No official national record or database currently exists for African-American burial ground locations. No centralized record of African-American burial grounds exists in South Carolina, either.

“I can’t tell you how many people come up and ask me about this,” said Jannie Harriot, vice chairwoman of the S.C. African American Heritage Commission.

The creation of a statewide database of African-American burial grounds is something Harriot said the commission will be discussing at its April meeting.
Harriot said she keeps hearing concerns from community members about the lack of records for abandoned burial grounds and cemeteries. Sometimes these sites are only discovered when construction projects inadvertently disturb the dead.

In Charleston, the remains of 36 anonymous people of African descent were uncovered in 2013 during construction of the Gaillard Center. They will be reburied in a small patch of ground near George and Anson streets this May.

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