Engaging the Public in Protecting Cemeteries

Anne Arundel County is home to an abundance of historic cemeteries including several burial grounds for enslaved African Americans. The Cultural Resources Division in Anne Arundel County is working with the community and other partners including through workshops and story maps, to figure out ways to record history and develop consensus around how to capture and store data on cemeteries, particularly African-American cemeteries.
Partners: Anne Arundel County Cultural Resources Division, Maryland State Highway Administration, Coalition to Protect Maryland Burial Sites
Six to Fix

THE PROBLEM

Anne Arundel County is home to an abundance of historic cemeteries including several burial grounds for enslaved African Americans. Many of these cemeteries are not documented and do not have a dedicated steward.

THE FIX

Preservation Maryland will work with the County’s Cultural Resources Division, the community, and other partners to conduct workshops, develop story maps, and tackle hard questions and work towards a consensus about how to capture and store data on cemeteries, particularly African American cemeteries.

Volunteers from the Coalition to Protect Maryland Burial Sites, April 2019.

Updates

OCTOBER 2020

Preservation Maryland convened a webinar on October 15, 2020 to discuss the recent successes of creating a statewide approach to documenting and inventorying Maryland’s burial sites.
WATCH THE WEBINAR

MARCH 2020

Each year, the Coalition to Protect Maryland Burial Sites hosts a statewide conference to provide relevant resources and engaging new research to all those interested in the history and preservation of cemeteries in Maryland. Preservation Maryland is pleased to support the all-volunteer organization’s efforts by recording their conference sessions and helping share it with a wider audience – all in support of the Coalition’s mission.
WATCH THE CONFERENCE

NOVEMBER 2019

As part of the organization’s on-going work to protect Maryland’s historic cemeteries, Preservation Maryland will offer public cemetery documentation workshops this winter. Regional meetings have been held across the state and well-attended. All attendees will be contacted in the new year with follow-up information.

REGIONAL WORKSHOP SCHEDULE

RESOURCES

Resource Guide to Historic Cemeteries of Anne Arundel County (PDF)
Anne Arundel County

The Coalition’s Guide to Burial Site Stewardship
Coalition to Protect Maryland Burial Sites

Historic Cemetery Preservation
Maryland Historical Trust

Video: Coalition to Protect Maryland Burial Sites Annual Conference
Coalition to Protect Maryland Burial Sites

African American Voices, Memories, and Places: A Four Rivers Heritage Trail
Anne Arundel County

NEWS

07/20/2019
New “virtual trail” documents more than 370 years of black history in Anne Arundel County
The Capital Gazette

07/17/2019
African-American Voices in Anne Arundel History
WYPR

05/05/2019
Bones from a destroyed African American cemetery, stored in a box, await a resting place
The Capital Gazette

03/19/2019
New Statewide Cemetery Documentation Project Underway
Preservation Maryland

02/28/2019
African American Burial Ground Network Act Introduced in Congress
Preservation Maryland

11/30/2018
Official Statement: Historic Cemeteries Should be Protected and Preserved
Preservation Maryland

10/24/2018
WUSA Tells History of Mt. Hope Baptist Cemetery
Preservation Maryland

03/06/2018
Slave cemetery discovered on former Anne Arundel plantation
Fox 45 News

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Preservation Maryland isn’t just preserving the past – we’re investing in our future. In just the past year we’ve invested heavily in our work and refused to accept the mounting challenges as a reason to retreat or hold our position. You are making it all possible.

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