Black Cemetery Group IDs Most Of Unmarked Graves

By Rosaland Tyler
Associate Editor
New Journal and Guide

About seven years ago, visitors did not know the names of at least 200 individuals buried at Helping Hand Cemetery, a 128-year-old Black burial site in Courtland, Va., which is located about 52 miles from Norfolk.

In May, members of the Helping Hand Cemetery hosted a Memorial Day ceremony to not only honor veterans buried at the gravesite but to also announce that 100 of the 200 unmarked graves had been positively identified. At least 500 Black Southampton individuals are buried at the site that was established in the 1800s. It is the final resting place for Black veterans, former sharecroppers, American Indians, entrepreneurs, musicians, local policemen, and religious and social activists.

At the recent event, volunteers told the audience that they had positively identified 100 of the 200 unmarked sites during a research project that gleaned information from censuses, family records, Bibles, and interviews.

Delores Peterson, the historian for Helping Hand Cemetery, said the effort to positively identify all of the unmarked graves became easier in 2020, when David Givens, an archaeologist used ground-penetrating radar to survey 80 percent of the burial sites.

“Whenever he stopped and pointed or looked at us, we knew to put a flag down,” Peterson said. “When we finished, there were approximately 175 to 200 flags on the ground.

The ground-penetrating radar was effective, Peterson said, recalling how her grandmother would use shovels to heap mounds of dirt to mark her great-great grandparents’ graves. So, Peterson asked Givens to aim his ground-penetrating radar in a specific section where she thought her grandparents were buried.

“And sure enough, underneath the ground right there were the remains of two bodies, which I knew to be my great-great grandparents,”  Peterson said. “So I was really thrilled that day.”

During the recent ceremony guests also observed a solar memorial fountain that was installed to honor and recognize those who have not yet been identified. Dominion Energy funded a “Shining a Light on Our Ancestors” grant that paid for the memorial fountain.

“We may not know all their names, we definitely don’t know where many of them are buried, but we’re going to light up their memories,” Peterson said.