10 September 2020, Wilson, North Carolina. Here lie the graves of thousands of African-American dead.
Odd Fellows Cemetery, sprayed with herbicide.
A garbage bag dumped inside the treeline at Odd Fellows.
Trash strewn at Vick Cemetery.
Rountree Cemetery fully festooned in late-summer foliage.
Again, Rountree Cemetery.
Odd Fellows. Samuel H. Vick, who died in 1948, is buried in that jungle.
Thank you Lisa for your diligence in reporting out on the sacred grounds of African American families.
Since reading your posts, recently I linked out to the Wilson Genealogical Society and was able to purchase the book that you referenced that contain the names of African Americans buried in these cemetaries that contain the remains of our people. After 71 years I was able to find the grave of my sister who was buried in Rountree / Vick Cemetary back in 1949. Because of your passion to do this work, I am able to go to Wilson this weekend to push thru the weeds and leave a memento for my mother’s child, my sister who lived for 6 days and died ….but is not forgotten.
THANK YOU…WE BE BLESSED EVEN MORE FOR WHAT YOU ARE DOING.
That’s wonderful, Judy! My father’s stillborn brother was buried there in 1928 — probably in Vick — and my great-grandparents are somewhere out there, too.
Correction:
“Be blessed….