Item:
Title
Approval of Letter Authorizing the Friends of Geer Cemetery to Conduct Preservation Work at the Historic Geer Cemetery
Body
Date of BOCC Meeting: February 26, 2024
Request for Board Action:
Agenda Text
The Board is requested to authorize the County Manager, to sign a letter stating that the County has authority over the Geer Cemetery as an abandoned cemetery under NCGS ?65-113 and authorizing the Friends of Geer Cemetery to perform work at the cemetery per their grant application.
This authorization from Durham County as the entity authorized to oversee abandoned cemeteries, such as the Geer Cemetery, per G.S. ?65-113 is one of the requirements of a grant application to the Unity Cemetery Preservation Fund.
The Friends of Geer Cemetery, a local non-profit corporation, is applying for a grant provided by the Unity Cemetery Preservation Fund to support the preservation of Geer Cemetery. The Geer Cemetery was Durham's primary African-American burying ground between 1877 and 1927, after the city first began providing a public cemetery for African-Americans. There are more than 1,650 graves in Geer. The Geer Cemetery is an important part of Durham's history, as it is among the most important artifacts and monuments of the African-American experience in Durham.
Should the grant money from the Unity Cemetery Preservation Fund be awarded to the Friends of Geer Cemetery, they will develop a descendant and community-advised landscape and land conservation plan for the cemetery. This will include measures to address threats from damaged and fallen trees and from soil erosion, restoring broken and fallen monuments, and stabilizing and preserving fragile grave evidence by using best practices.
This request to Durham County by the Friends of Geer Cemetery is only for the limited purpose of helping the Friends of Geer Cemetery make this grant application and carry out the scope of work if the grant funds are received. The County will not be responsibl...
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