Community’s help sought in identifying those believe buried in 604 unmarked graves at Woodland Cemetery on the Clemson University campus
Since the identification of 604 unmarked graves this past summer in Woodland Cemetery on the Clemson University campus, Dr. Rhondda Thomas, the Calhoun Lemon Professor of Literature at Clemson, has reached out to leadership in local African American communities for help in identifying who might be buried there.
Clemson also is seeking guidance from community members on how best to preserve and memorialize this historic and sacred site. The school has hired several historians to assist Dr. Paul Anderson, the university historian who is leading the research.
Dr. Thomas has formed a Community Engagement Board with representatives from the Clemson/Central, Anderson, Pendleton and Seneca areas to help guide the work. She and the committee members want to hear from anyone who believes they have information about those who might be buried in the unmarked graves.
The number of graves coupled with the locations suggest the possibility that some may pre-date the period when the land was part of Calhoun’s Fort Hill Plantation from 1830 to 1865. Many of the graves are thought to be those of enslaved people who worked at the plantation and later as sharecroppers and Black laborers, including convicted individuals involved in the construction of Clemson College from 1890 to 1915.
“We are committed to taking all the critically important actions to enhance these grounds, preserve these grave sites and to ensure the people buried there are properly honored and respected,” Smyth McKissick, chairman of the Board of Trustees, said in announcing the results of ground-penetrating radar work. “Clemson is dedicated to developing and sharing a full and accurate history of this area and to develop a preservation plan to protect it and those who rest here.”
Anyone with information is asked to call (864) 656-8855 or email afamburials@clemson.edu. Additional information about the project is available at https://www.clemson.edu/about/history/woodland-cemetery, a Clemson website dedicated to telling the history of the gravesite, documenting the university's role in Woodland Cemetery and giving voice to the African Americans who are buried there.
Inquiries about the operations of Woodland Cemetery should be directed to cemetery@clemson.edu or by calling (864) 656-5615.