Project CommUNITY: Lexington residents discuss next steps for slave gravesite
A survey done last year discovered 32 anomalies in the African-American section of the Lexington City Cemetery, and now, the community wants to discuss next steps on how to properly honor the site.
A survey done last year discovered 32 anomalies in the African-American section of the Lexington City Cemetery, and now, the community wants to discuss next steps on how to properly honor the site.
A survey done last year discovered 32 anomalies in the African-American section of the Lexington City Cemetery, and now, the community wants to discuss next steps on how to properly honor the site.
The Lexington community learned more about a piece of history: a slave gravesite in the Lexington City Cemetery. Much of the work behind discovering the site wouldn’t have been possible without the work of Lexington resident Tyrone Terry.
Tyrone Terry, born and raised in Lexington, says he used to pass the Lexington City Cemetery off North State Street every day for school. During a time, where he says, segregation ruled.
"Where we went in the back doors of restaurants and drunk our black and white-water fountains,” Terry said. "This is the way I went to school, I used to pass by here. Every day on my way to school, and that's really where it dawned on me.”
At the time, Terry didn’t know about the history inside. It wasn’t until a man one day told him about a slave gravesite located in the oldest section of the cemetery.
"For some reason, I guess it was God, I thought about it," Terry said. "When I first found it, it kind of brought me to my knees. It was hard to believe that people would treat people like this. Even in death, people would treat people like this. I shed some tears, I shed some tears since."
With the help of Terry and community organizers, the city got a historic preservation grant to conduct a survey on the site in July 2023, using ground penetrating radar. Cayla Cannon, with Richard Grubb and Associates, was the lead specialist.
"We identified 32 potential unmarked burials. 18 of them were identified as probable burials and 14 were identified as possible.” Cannon said. "The burials that we did find in the section, we felt really, really strongly about them because they appeared in 6 congruent rows that were in line with the surface burials and headstones.”
Since then, both Terry and the city of Lexington have honored the site through memorial events and library exhibits. Thursday night community members gathered at St. Stephen United Methodist Church to discuss ways to best honor the site.
"We’ll keep working with the committee, as all of the ideas are kind of brought together, we will provide them with the support to get this project done.” Lexington city manager Johnnie Taylor said.
Something Terry said is long overdue but a way to pay tribute, to those who came before us.
"They're drawing people together, Black, white, Hispanics, Asians. They're drawing us all together and they're talking," Tyrone said. "They're talking, they're just using myself and others as a vessel to speak to a bigger crowd."
Cannon says it's possible that there are even more burials in that section. Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. plans to host the memorial event Feb. 18 at 3 p.m.