The Nathanael Greene Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) recently honored a team of Clemson University faculty and staff for their historic preservation efforts at Woodland Cemetery and African American Burial Ground.
Calhoun Lemon Professor of Literature Rhondda Thomas, Genealogist Deborah Robinson and Historic Preservation Officer Rick Owens accepted the Excellence in Historic Preservation Certificate and Medal from the NSDAR on April 23.
“The work accomplished by the Woodland Cemetery team at Clemson University has rediscovered history and made strides to identify those who were buried in unmarked graves on the campus,” said Carolyn Coulter, chair of the Greenville-based Nathanael Greene Chapter of NSDAR, and a member of their E Pluribus Unum Committee, which presented the award.
“The historic preservation efforts undertaken by this exemplary team and these three honorees have provided essential opportunities for students to discover their passion for historic preservation and their future pursuits, as well as involving descendants and the community through their efforts,” she added.
Thomas, Robinson and Owens are each a part of Clemson’s Cemetery Hill Project team. The project emerged from concerns raised by two Clemson students, Sarah Adams and Morgon Molosso, about the neglect of a one-acre part of the cemetery site then known as “The Fort Hill Slave and Convict Cemetery.” Subsequent research, begun in 2020 using ground-penetrating radar, recovered more than 500 anomalies believed to be unknown graves throughout Cemetery Hill. Researchers believe the graves to belong to African American enslaved persons, sharecroppers, domestic workers, tenant farmers, convicted laborers, as well as wage workers and their families. In response to the discovery, the Clemson Board of Trustees established a Task Force and Legacy Council dedicated to preserving and telling the full history of the African American Burial Ground, Woodland Cemetery and the Andrew P. Calhoun Family Plot.
Research into the site has continued, identifying the people buried there, connecting to their living descendants and adding to the learning experience for dozens of Clemson students, faculty and staff as well as community members.
“Our team is honored by the DAR’s recognition of our work in preserving Cemetery Hill,” said Thomas, who also serves as the coordinator of research and community engagement for the Cemetery Hill Project. “Cemetery Hill is a special, sacred site, the only place on campus where all strands of the University rich and complex history meet and extend into local communities. Indeed, it is the epicenter of Clemson history.”
NSDAR’s presentation of the award was hosted by the Clemson Alumni Association at the Nieri Family Alumni & Visitors’ Center. Thomas is an honorary alumnus of Clemson as the 2021 recipient of the Class of ’39 Award for Excellence.
The NSDAR’s E Pluribus Unum Committee is led by President General Ginnie Sebastian Storage and seeks to recognize forgotten Patriots — members of cultural groups whose roles in forming the United States of America have not been fully acknowledged. Storage carries her own Clemson connection, as a lateral descendant of R.E. Bowen, one of the original members of the Board of Trustees appointed by Thomas Green Clemson.
“We understand that rigorous genealogical study, rediscovering the names and the lives of all the individuals buried here as well as reestablishing their links to the descendants and the local communities, benefits our whole state,” Coulter said.
