[Durham INC] Durham's Geer Cemetery Clean Up May 21

Fri May 18 08:22:56 EDT 2012

CITY OF DURHAM

Office of Public Affairs

101 City Hall Plaza

Durham, NC 27701

News Release

News Media Contact:

Amy Blalock

Sr. Public Affairs Specialist

(919) 560-4123 x 11253

(919) 475-7735 (cell)

Amy.Blalock at DurhamNC.gov 

Like: http://Facebook.com/CityofDurhamNC 

Follow: http://Twitter.com/CityofDurhamNC    

For Immediate Release: May 18, 2012

Durham Plans Geer Cemetery Clean Up May 21

City's General Services Department Partners with Keep Durham Beautiful
and Voyager Academy to Clean Up Historic Geer Cemetery

DURHAM, N.C. - On Monday, May 21, Durham's historic Geer Cemetery will
be transformed with the largest one-day clean up ever thanks to the
efforts of the City of Durham, a local nonprofit, and local high school
students.

Beginning at 7:30 a.m., the City's Landscape Services and Urban Forestry
Divisions with the General Services Department will partner with Keep
Durham Beautiful, Inc. and Voyager Academy High School to put forth the
largest one-day clean up of the historic cemetery that the City has been
involved with since the department assumed maintenance responsibilities
for the property.

Geer Cemetery, a four-acre plot of land located at 800 Colonial Dr.
between Camden Avenue and McGill Street, was sold in 1877 to Willie
Moore, John Daniels, and Nelson Mitchell for $50 to be used as a
cemetery for African-Americans. However, after more than 1,500 burials
on the land, the Durham County Health Department closed the cemetery to
burials in 1944 and the cemetery went abandoned.  

Efforts over the years to maintain the cemetery have been pieced
together by neighborhood volunteers and associations, including Friends
of Geer Cemetery and the Duke Park Neighborhood Association.
Unfortunately, formal maintenance was never in place due to the
"unknown" ownership status of the property according to the Durham
County Tax Office. As a property of "unknown" ownership, in 2003 the
City chose to step in and provide maintenance to allow pedestrian access
to the cemetery.  

In 2010, a monument was been erected at the entrance to the cemetery at
the intersection of Camden Avenue and Colonial Drive on what was once
the hearse drive. The monument was provided by Ron Bartholomew and
created by Durham Marble Works, then installed by Nathaniel McLaughlin
and William Turner. It now stands to mark the final resting place of
such post-Civil War African-American community members as Margaret
Ruffin Faucette, the founder of White Rock Baptist Church; Edian
Markham, the founder of Saint Joseph's African Methodist Episcopal
Church; and Reverend Dr. Augustus Shepard, the father of James Edward
Shepard, founder of North Carolina Central University and pastor of
White Rock Baptist Church from 1901 to 1911.

"This cemetery should be viewed as a place of historical significance to
this community," said Kevin Lilley, facilities operations manager for
the City's General Services Department, whose responsibilities include
directing both the Landscape Services and Urban Forestry Divisions as
well as providing leadership to Keep Durham Beautiful. "We have an
opportunity to highlight a place of reverence and reflection, but also
give this community an opportunity to pay respect to those that gave of
themselves to build Durham into the community that it is today. We're
committed to this effort today and tomorrow, and given the talents of my
divisions, the efforts of Keep Durham Beautiful, and the support of
local volunteers like Jessica Eustice of the Friends of Geer Cemetery,
this cemetery will once again take on the look of a place of reverence
and respect for the men and women that came before us."

For more information about Monday's clean-up project, contact Lilley at
(919) 560-4197, ext. 21227 or by email at Kevin.Lilley at DurhamNC.gov. 

For more information about the City's General Services Department, visit
http://DurhamNC.gov/ich/op/gs/Pages/Home.aspx. For more information
about Keep Durham Beautiful, visit http://www.KeepDurhamBeautiful.org.
For more information about Voyager Academy, visit 
http://www.VoyagerAcademy.net. 

About the General Services Department

The City of Durham's General Services Department is committed to
providing timely, cost effective, and high quality services to its
customers while achieving the highest levels of customer satisfaction.
The core business functions include: Administration/Business Services,
Facility Operations, Landscape Services, Urban Forestry, Real Estate,
Construction Project Management, Cemeteries, Keep Durham Beautiful, and
Deferred Maintenance. As guided by the City's Strategic Plan, General
Services serves as a steward of the City's physical assets. Through
annual and long-range facility planning activities, the department
plans, provides, and maintains the City's facilities infrastructure,
which supports the community's quality of life and serves as a
foundation of a healthy economy. For more information, visit 
http://DurhamNC.gov/ich/op/gs/Pages/Home.aspx.  

About Keep Durham Beautiful, Inc.

Keep Durham Beautiful, Inc. is a nonprofit, volunteer organization
working in partnership with the City of Durham's General Services
Department and the County of Durham to encourage private businesses,
residents, and community organizations to conserve and enhance the
appearance and environment of Durham through cleanup events,
beautification projects, and educational activities. For more
information, visit http://www.KeepDurhamBeautiful.org, "like" on
Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/KeepDurhamBeautiful, or "follow" on
Twitter at http://www.Twitter.com/DurhamBeautiful. 

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