Two departments at North Carolina Central University (NCCU) are researching a century-and-a-half old cemetery using both old obituaries and modern technology. Their work will be a starting point for a new NCCU course in researching African American and Native American cemeteries in central and eastern North Carolina.
In August 2024, an alumnus who serves as deacon at Hickory Grove Baptist Missionary Church in Chapel Hill contacted Calleen Herbert in the Office of Community Engagement and Service, asking if NCCU could assist in determining who and where people are buried in the church cemetery. Community Engagement and Service contacted Charles Johnson, Ph.D., chair of the history department.
Johnson, in turn, contacted Tim Mulrooney, Ph.D., an associate professor in the department of environmental, earth and geospatial sciences (DEEGS).
Ella Brown, an undergraduate studying public history and Bibi Miller a graduate student in history– will conduct research and develop a burial database. Sources of information could include genealogy records collected by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), census tracts, NC.org, newspapers.com, death notices, personal papers obituaries, etc.
The students will also interview members of Hickory Grove Baptist Missionary Church to learn about the church’s history and its member families.
“It will allow us, in a manner of speaking, to bring these people back to life,” Johnson said. “People in the community who were important and contributed to the community.”
Meanwhile, (DEEGS) will use drones and ground penetrating radar.
“Our goal is to help map the extent of the cemetery as there are possible unmarked graves as well as the forest, which is overtaking the southern part of the cemetery,” Mulrooney said. “Dr. Johnson pointed out some graves that are in the woods on the cemetery’s edge.”
That is typical.
“Unfortunately, indigenous and African American cemeteries are more neglected than other cemeteries,” Mulrooney said.
During a September visit, Mulrooney and a student flew a drone that captured 400 images. Those images will be developed into a single composite image.
Next, DEEGS will return with a drone equipped with infrared capabilities. Ultimately, the two departments will share their findings with the aim of developing a map with plots and records attached to a map that contains real world locations.
“It will give longitudes and latitudes that might line up with old cemetery records,” Mulrooney said.
“It’s a good marriage between humanities and STEM,” said Johnson.
The research is important for at least two reasons. First, the techniques applied at Hickory Grove Baptist Missionary cemetery could be used at other larger cemeteries, particularly larger ones. Those techniques include the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Second, “Protecting these places for the safekeeping of history and the historical voices of the community,” said Josue Millan, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher in DEEGS who is working on the project.
The end of the Hickory Grove project does not mean the end of such research. The two departments are developing a course on researching and mapping historic cemeteries, which will be jointly taught by Johnson and Mulrooney. They are currently seeking grants to fund the course and research.
