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Geer Cemetery

{{Short description|Historic cemetery in Durham County, North Carolina}}

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| name = Geer Cemetery

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| established = {{Start date|1876}}

| closed = {{End date|1939}}

| location = Colonial Street, northeast Durham, North Carolina, US

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| type = African American cemetery

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| size = {{Convert|4|acre}}

| graves = Over 1,500

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Geer Cemetery (1876–1939), is an African-American cemetery located on Colonial Street between McGill Place and Camden Avenue in northeast Durham, North Carolina. It has also been known as City Cemetery, Old City Cemetery, East Durham Cemetery, and Mason Cemetery.{{cite web | url=http://cemeterycensus.com/nc/durh/cem252.htm | title=GEER CEMETERY [CITY CEMETERY] | publisher=Cemetery Census | accessdate=June 25, 2019}} The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2024.{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/weekly-list-2024-08-09.htm|title=WEEKLY LIST OF ACTIONS TAKEN ON PROPERTIES: 8/2/2024 THROUGH 8/9/2024|publisher=National Park Service|accessdate=2024-08-05}}

History

It currently occupies about {{convert|4|acre}}, and contains the graves of over 1,500 African Americans, many born into slavery. It was the first cemetery for African Americans in Durham, and from 1876, when it opened, to 1924 it was the only one.{{cite news | url=https://www.friendsofgeer.com/2015-06-28-news.pdf | title=Geer Cemetery emerges as a historic cemetery | date=June 28, 2015 | last=Eustice | first=Jessica T. | newspaper=Herald-Sun (Durham, North Carolina)}} In 1939 it was closed as overcrowded by the health department, although there was a burial in 1944.{{cite news | url=https://www.friendsofgeer.com/2015-06-28-news.pdf | title=Laudable Effort for Cemetery | date=June 29, 2015 | newspaper=Herald-Sun (Durham, North Carolina)}}{{cite news | url=https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article231843963.html | title=A hope for reclamation and preservation at an old African-American cemetery in Durham | date=June 22, 2019 | last=Carter | first=Andrew | newspaper=News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina)}} The city of Durham lists ownership of the cemetery as "Unknown".

In 2004 the cemetery was "heavily overgrown and...nearly invisible"; it was impossible to walk through it. The city, in collaboration with Friends of Geer, a volunteer group, and Keep Durham Beautiful Inc., has cleared the site of trees, litter, and debris, suppressed vine and weed growth, restored tilted and fallen headstones, and smoothed a gravel road through the cemetery. A stone sign was erected on Camden Street. In 2015, the 150th anniversary of North Carolina's ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment, the Friends of Geer Cemetery held an event at the cemetery.

Since at least 2020, the Friends of Geer Cemetery have partnered with faculty at Duke University, particularly Professor Adam Rosenblatt, to research the history of the cemetery and the people buried there.{{Cite news |last=Frederick |first=Jack |date=November 10, 2021 |title=Reclaiming and Restoring a Black Burial Ground in Durham |work=Duke Today |url=https://today.duke.edu/2021/11/reclaiming-and-restoring-black-burial-ground-durham |access-date=August 17, 2022}}

Notable burials

References

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External links

  • [https://friendsofgeercemetery.org/ Friends of Geer Cemetery]
  • [http://cemeterycensus.com/nc/durh/cem252.htm List of known burials in Geer Cemetery]

{{Coord|36.0103|-78.8839|display=title}}

Category:African-American history in Durham, North Carolina

Category:Cemeteries in North Carolina

Category:History of Durham, North Carolina

Category:Tourist attractions in Durham, North Carolina

Category:African-American cemeteries in North Carolina

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Durham County, North Carolina

Category:Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina